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Unit 8 Assignment 1. Fitness Requirements and Physical Characteristics that Contribute to Effective Training and Performance.
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Fitness Requirements and Physical Characteristics That Contribute to Effective Training andPerformance
I am going to start work as an Assistant Coach at Sobell Leisure Centre. I will be coaching a
taekwondo athlete, firstly by evaluating the physical characteristics of taekwondo, the fitness
demands, the movement patterns used, the energy systems/energy expenditure and factors
that influence training programme design to create a specialised training programme aimed at
improving the performance of a taekwondo athlete.
The taekwondo athlete I will be working with is Pharrell Drummond who is 17 years old and has
joined Karoon taekwondo to improve his taekwondo ability. He has been doing Taekwondo for
11 years and has been British Junior Taekwondo Champion 3 times at 13, 14 and 15 years old,
but has struggled since his move up to the cadet heavyweight category which Pharrell feels
physically is a huge step up and much more demanding. Since his move to heavyweight,
Pharrell has only won regional tournaments and has not placed nationally. He would like to
improve his physical ability, strength and conditioning and overall taekwondo performance in
order to potentially be selected for Team GB taekwondo. Pharrell’s ultimate dream is to
become Olympic Taekwondo champion, hence selection for Team GB is vital.
The Demands of Olympic Taekwondo
A taekwondo bout consists of 3 x 2-minute rounds with 1 minute rest in between each round. A
taekwondo athlete, if successful, will have 4-5 fights during each 1-day tournament, with
typically a minimum of 45-minute rest in between bouts.
Taekwondo is a short duration sport as each round is only 2 minutes and the total duration of a
fight is 8 minutes including 2 x 1 minute rest periods.
Taekwondo is a full-contact sport meaning you are allowed to hit your opponent as hard as you
like without being penalised unlike in some other combat sports such as Karate (Kumite). To
score points in taekwondo, you must generate fast, powerful kicks and punches to register
points on the electronic scoring system of the trunk protector, however, while contact is not
limited, you only need to make minimal contact for points to register on the electronic scoring
system of the head protector. Only kicks are allowed to the head, whereas both kicks and
punches are allowed to the body.
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,Elite level taekwondo athletes will train 2-3 times a day for 5 days per week with 1 light session
and a complete rest day at weekends. Taekwondo athletes will compete every 2 months on
average. High level amateur level taekwondo athletes tend to train anywhere between 2-4
times a week. Amateur taekwondo athletes will fight in lower-level competitions, but they still
compete every 2-3 months on average. Taekwondo athletes usually give themselves 2 months
to both recover from previous tournaments, reassess their performances, make technical
adjustments and train for future tournaments. Most commonly, taekwondo athletes recover
for 1-2 weeks and train for fight camp for the other 6-7 weeks (about 1 and a half months).
Summary and Importance of Knowing the Olympic Taekwondo Demands
It is important to know that taekwondo bouts are 3 x 2-minute rounds per fight as this will
determine the predominant energy system that is used during a taekwondo bout. Taekwondo
athletes must fight continuously for 2 minutes at a time meaning that the predominant energy
system used is the glycolytic energy system as this energy system provides energy to athletes
for 2-3 minutes. Taekwondo athletes will still use the ATP-PCr energy system throughout the
contest as taekwondo attacks are highly explosive in nature, often with fighters throwing
explosive multiple strikes at their opponents to score points.
Kicking velocities in taekwondo elite level performers have been recorded ranging from
7.97m/s (Diniz et al 2021) to 10.9m/s (Sullivan & Fife, 2015). This is highly influenced by the
ATP-PCr system as this requires remarkably high rates of force development (RFD). Round
house kicks used in taekwondo have movement times of 210-340ms (Nien, Chang, Chang &
Wen-Tzu, 2007). Considering that the opportunity to develop peak force may require
approximately 600 – 800ms (Komi & Nicol, 2000), we are able to justify the need to develop the
ATP-PCr system and the fighters explosivity of movement to help Pharrell become more
successful. The difference between scoring or missing is quite literally milliseconds. Attacks are
then followed by the fighters moving around on their toes to recover and refocus from their
previous attack so that they can both reevaluate their strategy to make necessary changes, or
to attack again.
This pattern of explosive attack followed by moving around on the toes is repeated several
times for each 2-minute round. This means that the training programme should aim to improve
Pharrell’s ATP-PCr energy system as well as his glycolytic energy system to give him good
anaerobic-endurance for fights. Aerobic energy development is still important for taekwondo
athletes as this supports the Pharrell’s ability to maintain repetitive high-intensity actions
during a bout, plus promote recovery between bouts, so this should not be ignored within the
training programme. However, it is the least dominant of the three energy systems used in
taekwondo. That said, elite level male taekwondo competitors have an average VO2 max of 44
to 63ml-kg -1 min (Bridge et al, 2014), hence development of aerobic fitness cannot be ignored.
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, However, too much time spent on the aerobic energy system can be detrimental to a fighter in
terms of movement speed and explosivity, hence more attention should be focused on
developing the ATP-PCr and glycolytic energy systems as they provide the primary sources of
energy for high-impulse movements (Laursen & Buchheit, 2019).
It is important to know that taekwondo is a full-contact sport and Taekwondo athletes will
require suitable impact absorption conditioning training to ensure that they are prepared to
withstand full-contact strikes. Although taekwondo athletes wear head and trunk protectors,
knockouts can still occur, hence Pharrell must learn and drill techniques and movements to
specifically minimise the impact absorption of strikes, whilst learning how to block/move away
from incoming shots from opponents during exchanges. Strengthening the neck muscles
provides additional stability when absorbing the impact forces of head kicks (not punches as
punches are only allowed to the body). Whilst it is better not to get kicked in the head, it is
inevitable that Pharrell will get kicked in the head during his career, many times.
Exercises that focus upon strengthening (in particular) the trapezius and sternocleidomastoid
muscles may reduce the risk of Pharrell being knocked out as these muscles help to keep the
head and neck more rigid and stable during the impact of a head kick, assuming Pharrell is fast
enough to brace these muscles in response to an oncoming attack. Bracing these muscles and
general neck musculature means that the brain is less likely to collide with the sides of the skull,
which potentially is the main cause of unconsciousness.
Abdominal conditioning, such as medicine ball strikes helps the muscles to become more
resistant to high impact strikes, meaning that Pharrell is less likely to be winded or hurt by body
strikes. These strikes can result in knockouts but are almost always a drain on the athlete's
energy when receiving them. When athletes are winded, they may stop fighting and curl over in
pain. In taekwondo if you go to the ground, you award your opponent a penalty point, so it is
vital that Pharrell can withstand the impact of body strikes to maintain energy and avoid giving
away penalty points. Furthermore, if a fighter is severely winded and cannot continue after a
count of 10, the match is awarded to the opponent.
A key point to consider is that taekwondo athletes have around 2-3 months between
tournaments, allowing for training to be tailored around the individual requirements of the
Pharrell. The final 2 weeks prior to a tournament, taekwondo athletes work more on fighting
specific skills, timing, and speed techniques to prepare them for the tournament. Training
volume would be reduced to ensure that Pharrell is not fatigued prior to competing as this
could negatively affect his performance. This type of reduced volume training is called tapering.
A duration of 2 weeks tapering which sees training volume reduced by 41-60% appears to be
the most efficient strategy to maximise performance gains (Bosquet, Montpetit, Arvisais &
Mujika, 2007.)
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