Monday 28th May!

Presentation Day!

Monday was long over due. I feel that if we had done this earlier in the course it would have really helped with my Critical Review. I felt a real sense of achievement from the morning and it felt great to meet BAPPers! Here is the edited version of my Prezi:

http://prezi.com/dhwoyskevt3v/copy-of-body-conditioning-and-training-a-dancer-to-maintain-peak-physicality/

Here are some of my notes to clarify the points I made:

Interviews

Advantages:

· Questions can be explained to avoid misinterpretation

· Answers can be expanded with further questioning

· Can gage positive or negative reactions

· Added a personal approach and encouraged professional networking skills

· Improved communication between myself and my employer

· Answers are more natural rather than researched therefore more opinionated

Disadvantages:

· May be bias and opinions too personal

· Time consuming and hard to arrange with busy professionals

· Note taking and transcribing seemed tedious

· I’m shy and it was really hard to pluck up the courage

Surveys

Advantages

· Ideal for restricted time slots and free

· Easy to collate and analyse

· No location restrictions

· Can collect a small or large amount of data

Disadvantages

· Answers may be misinterpreted

· Hard to collect if the participants are unreliable

· Lazy answers for example one word or hard to understand

Literature

Advantages

· Widely used, stated facts that will be seen by many therefore are to be accurate.

· Already exists

· Can be accessible

· Can be revisited

Disadvantages

· May just be authors opinion

· Can be outdated

· Sometimes specific literature is hard to acquire

· Can be expensive

Observations

Advantages

· Primary Source, first hand information

· Lots of classes to choose from at LCPA

Disadvantages

· Time consuming

· Could be bias or inaccurate for example students varied attendance/punctuality or behaviour maybe unnatural due to being watched

Interview Findings

A. From her experience: Pilates mat work. High level of demonstration. Anatomy teaching advised. Strict attitude as a teacher to motivate.

B. Thinks he should have had a better training regime. As injury meant that dancing job was affected. Swings are not always available.

C. Her training regime was aimed at body composition maintaining fat percentage, her image was important for her. Which is also a huge factor…

D. Eating healthy. Pilates principles—breathing. Need to support dance technique. To aid injury prevention. Imbalance is caused by the  dancers having a preferred side or foot to work from - this amongst other factors needs addressing.

2 others:

Another dancer and a dancer turned personal trainer.

Observation Categories

Cardiovascular Fitness: 1-Struggles to perform choreography due to lack of stamina -heart and lung capacity.

10 -Easily performing all exercises and dance combinations in class

without visible fatigue.

Muscular Strength/Power: 1-Struggles to leap higher than the ballet barre when performing a leap.

10- Far exceeds the height of the ballet barre when performing a leap.

Muscular Endurance:1-Struggles to balance in extensions. 10-Finds it easy to balance in extensions.

Flexibility: 1- Struggles to perform the splits.

10- Easily perform the splits.

Postural Alignment: 1—Bad Posture and alignment.

10- Excellent Posture and alignment

Critical Reflection

· Keeping up to date with skills and methods out there.

· Continue research.

· Communicate frequently using Web 2 tools and online networks.

· Add a standardises fitness test and assessment every term.

· Keep up communication between peers.

· Implementing recommendations in the advice I give.

As predicted anatomy and physiology will be a part of the course as the BTEC diploma will be introduced, however the Course Director endorses my involvement in teaching the Anatomy and Physiology with methods/skills I have learnt through my Inquiry.

I had great fun creating this and found I really got to grips with the processes I went through this year. I feel I have learnt a lot and that there is still so more to come now I have found my niche in the workplace.

Presentation

Laura Jane Wier posted a presentation online and I found the same site very useful. I personaly think I should have created my PREZI presentation before writing my Critical Review. The process helped put into perspective all I had learn't over the three modules. It also enhanced my critical thinking. With everything in order, in a visual sense it helped clear the path and show the journey I have been on. I really enjoyed creating this presentation and will use this online tool again!

Take a look:

http://prezi.com/tskunbl4cthm/present/?auth_key=336qbsu&follow=gle7jiol4fvo

Dance Training and Body Composition

“Dance training is intensely physical and the body needs to be strong and healthy, well-nourished and powerful to perform” (Rose, E. 2012)

I’m so glad I stopped and read this blog from Emily Rose. In my inquiry I am looking at training dancers and specifically looking at the components of fitness within Body Conditioning classes. One of the components of fitness is Body Composition. This essentially is the percentage of body fat to lean muscle mass, bone and water. I have mentioned in my critical review that I don’t want to draw too much attention to this during the training as dancers are under a lot of pressure already to ‘look good’.  The conclusion of this blog sums this up perfectly as dancers need energy to move the way they do. Restricting the intake of nutrition will limit the progression of the dancers. Muscle atrophy, and fatigue due to lack of nutrition will inevitably lead to injury. More problems will also occur in later life, particularly with bone density. This means that if the essential vitamins, minerals and ‘good’ fats are restricted it can cause deficiencies in all parts of the body now, later on in a dancer’s career and here after.

Reference

1.      http://emilyrose91.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/thinspirational.html?showComment=1336426424035

Blog about blogging

When looking through literature sources I found this Article in Athens. The 'Professional Strength & Conditioning'. This is an extract from an Interview by Dave Cripps with Vern Gambetta in a section called The Five People you Meet in Heaven. 'Dave is a strength and conditioning coach currently working at Leicester Tigers Rugby Academy and Coventry University.' Vern Gambetta is acknowledged as one of the most influential and experienced sports coaches in the world, having worked in the field for over 39 years. He has worked in athletic development across a vast number of sports including baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, swimming and football. Furthermore, he has lectured internationally, been actively involved in coach education programmes, authored books and regularly writes on his acclaimed blog ‘Functional Path Training’

"DC: You have a great blog, mainly because you discuss

a variety of wide ranging topics and I genuinely believe

that you say what you honestly think. There are also

some other great coach blogs out there. Do you think

the blogging culture within the field, has led to certain

issues? I ask having read your blog post titled

‘intellectual incest’

VG: I never have had difficulty in saying what I think.

‘Intellectual incest’ really bothers me. In sport there

are few original ideas, we all stand on the shoulders of

giants. I believe that you MUST give credit where credit

is due. I have no tolerance for gurus and charlatans.

There are too many posers out there who have never

had to legitimately coach, supervising a weight room is

not coaching. I do read many blogs and training sites

on the internet, but there is too much bullshit and not

enough substance. I would rather read books, study

research and interact with people who are willing to

share ideas. Remember there is no filter on the

internet!

DC: So referring back to your previous statement, you

very much rely on your network of colleagues to learn

new things and develop?

VG: I sure do, and sometimes daily. There is a group

of us that are almost in constant communication. In

addition, there is the network from the GAIN

Apprentorship that is proving very valuable as a source

of good, solid information and for sounding. We may

not all agree, but we do speak a common language, so

we understand where everyone is coming from." [1]

The blogging process is extremely useful and I am now trying to reach professionals in my field outside the BAPP course. Vern Gambetta knows what he is talking about, he has extensive training and experience behind him and I look to him for inspiration. I now wish to extend my blogging networks as I feel this will be incredibly beneficial to my professional practise. Maybe one day my Blog will be as useful as Gambetta's.

Reference:

1. Cripps, D. 2009 Professional Strength and Conditioning: The Five People you Meet in Heaven No. 15 Autumn ed, UK Professional strength and conditioning assoc. [Online] http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/566/52855/UKSCA_15.pdf