Criterion A / Part 1- Introduction

Sport is a multifaceted activity that allows living a healthy life, learning about different cultures, focusing on
oneself, working with a group, and socialising. Throughout this unit, I plan to think from two different perspectives,
both as an athlete and as a coach, to research and develop the effects of sport on my own life and on my athlete,
as well as to improve my athlete's health and gymnastics skills through making the right physical activity choices
for her. Sport has played an important role in our lives since the past and has beneficial physical effects such as
muscle, bone, and balance development, preventing excess weight gain, reducing the risk of cardiovascular
diseases and body fat, as well as mental health such as avoiding stress and anxiety, etc. According to the World
Health Organization (2022), children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 17 should engage in physical
activities that strengthen muscles and bones with high intensity at least 3 days a week, such as cycling, regular
walking and sports, these activities are important that develop personality and psychological characteristics such
as discipline, responsibility, and self-confidence. Some internal and external problems may occur that may cause
the person to keep away from these activities. For example, family dynamics, which is an external problem, that
can affect the athlete's motivation and the sport he/she chooses. If a secure and supportive family model is proud
and supportive of the athlete's success, the athlete would be more successful in his/her career, but a family that is
the opposite will demotivate the athlete and cause future successes to be disrupted or not realised. The choice of
friends, which is an internal problem, can affect the athlete's career positively or negatively. The group of friends
who have wrong habits such as smoking, drinking alcohol can lead the athlete on the wrong path and cause him/her
to adopt wrong habits, while the group of friends who are the opposite of this can support the athlete and motivate
her/him.

Nowadays, healthy life has started to play a very important place, compared to the past, with the developing
technology, people are now aware of how to eat healthier, what wrong habits such as smoking and high alcohol
intake can lead to, and how important it is to do sports. While the cause of many diseases was unknown in the past,
now they are solved with the help of many medicines, proteins, vitamins, and antibiotics. Conscious parents teach
their children healthy habits at an early age to make them more aware of themselves, and some of these habits are
healthy nutrition, personal hygiene, and regular sports.

In recent years, according to the World Health Organisation, 60% of the factors regarding to individual health and
quality of life are related to lifestyle. An individual with an unhealthy lifestyle is more likely to encounter metabolic
diseases, joint and skeletal problems, cardiovascular diseases etc. (PubMed Central 2015). Bad or good events in
the past can affect our future in a positive or negative way. A cigarette used in the past can damage our lungs,
airways, and air sacs (CDC 2021), causing permanent health problems in the future if action is not taken, such as
stopping smoking or exercising. On the contrary, healthy habits such as drink one litre of water daily can cause us
to be healthier in the future.

Part 2 – Client background and her current fitness, health, and skill level: Athlete Profile

Table 1: Personal Information: Table 3: Lifestyle

Age 15 years old
Sleep Patterns 8 hours per day
Gender Female
Nutritional Habits My athlete does not have a specific
Height 1.60cm eating habit; however, during the week
Weight 46.5 kg she usually consumes carbohydrate
products such as pasta, rice,
Body mass index (BMI) 18.2kg/m2 sandwich(bread) etc. She also said that
she rarely consumes dairy products
Table 2: Fitness components
such as yoghurt, cheese etc. because
Beep Initial Performance 22 laps she does not like them.
Flexibility Initial 15cm Stress and pressure My athlete talks to people and eats, to
Performance Management relieve stress.
2 feet long jump initial 1m.24cm Social Habits My athlete meets with her friend every
performance: weekend.
Agility initial performance: 11.79 Physical activity Walking and running/ one hour per
each in one week.
Push up initial performance: 1
Curl up initial performance: 35
Analysing; Table 4: Sports background information
Weaknesses + Relationship to physical performance: Sports currently practicing. Non
Based on my interview with my athlete, she does not have Sport’s background Bale, gymnastic and
any dietary habits. Throughout the week, her primary food swimming
consumes are carbohydrate products and stated that she Any specific aspects that My athlete uses her right
does not like dairy products, resulting her to consume less. impact the sports practice, hand.
Although there are no eating habits, her current diet is not such as dominant leg or
balanced and healthy. A balanced diet gives your body the hand.
nutrients it needs to effectively work such as protein, fat, Experience performance She does feel anxiety
carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals, and water (MedlinePlus anxiety in public, and if so, performing in public
how do you navigate it? however she doesn’t
2023). Especially for a person who does not do sports and
know how to navigate it.
only jogs and walks for one hour a week, this amount of
Injuries or health history My athlete never faced
carbohydrates is not healthy and can cause overweight and
with any health or injury
health problems in the future such as hight blood pressure problem.
and unhealthy cholesterol levels. I will suggest my athlete
to try more balanced diet if this work for her current routine.

Providing a balanced and healthy diet is an important key to performing well in both at the training and final
performance in any sports. According to MNT (Medical News Today), there are five food groups that must be
eaten to balance the diet; vegetables, fruits, grains, protein, dairy products. If the athlete doesn't include these five
food groups in their diet, they may face digestive problems, imperfect bone development, diabetes, poor
concentration, etc., which can affect their normal life and performance success. My athlete face with anxiety
performing in public and has hight stress level in general. She describes herself as stressed in her daily life and
responds to problems by talking to someone or eating. During training there is a high rate of low productivity
(which is the think that we don't want) due to injury or a problems from everyday life. In these cases, I will suggest
my athlete to talk to me as a coach instead of eating something.

My athlete's flexibility baseline performance according to FITESCOLA is two times below than average.
According to FITESCOLA, the flexibility value that a normal healthy 15-year-old girl should have 30.5cm,
however, the flexibility value of my athlete is 15cm. Even though my athlete has done gymnastics and ballet in the
past, a long break from the sport has caused her to lose her flexibility again. It is an important component to be
flexible for gymnastics; therefore, it is a disadvantage for an athlete to be inflexible before starting training, but
based on this limitation, I will improve my athlete's training programme through adding exercises to improve
flexibility, such as Seated Forward Bend, until the final performance. At the same time, we should not forget that
the sit and reach test only helps to measure the extensibility of the hips and lower back, therefore I will make sure
to focus and develop flexibility in other parts of the body that will be necessary for the movements we have decided
in the training plan (arabesque, Cartwheel, and candlestick).

Current well-being+ Strengths: If we look at my athlete's social life, we do not encounter any negative factors,
her social life does not contain negative factors that affect her performance and training, on the contrary, meeting
with her friends reduces her stress level. In addition, she runs and walks for an hour every week, running has
very positive effects on the body; it improves cardiovascular fitness, strengthens muscles, and can increase the
ability to cope with existing mental tension. It is a great advantage for my athlete to cope with high stress levels
in normal life through social and physical activities. According to CDC 2020, the recommended daily sleep time
for 13-18 years old is between 8 and 10 hours, my athlete has sufficient sleep time according to CDC data, which
is eight hours a day. As an overall there are no limitations on the overall well-being of my athlete with respect to
physical, mental, emotional, and social health factors.

My athlete’s greatest strength among the fitness components is Curl-up, (35) which is the perfect amount for a
healthy female according to FITESCOLA. Strong abdominal muscles are essential component for gymnastics
movements such as cartwheel, candlestick etc. therefore, it is a great advantage for the athlete to has strong
abdominal muscles before starting training and allowing us to focus on another component that is not strong during
training. The main reason for my athlete having twice as strong abdominal muscle values than a normal healthy
individual may be the swimming sport, she did about two years ago. Swimming works all the muscles in the body,
but consistently fully engages the abdominal and core muscles. These muscles help you to keep your balance and
stay on the surface of the water, as well as increase your speed in the water.
Research the features of correct execution of the main skills and Analysing my athlete’s initial performance;

Image 1: Correct Arabesque: The gymnastic arabesque movement is a gymnastic gesture, also used
Arabesque
arabesque posture in ballet and known as the one-legged pose. When performing the movement, one
posture leg (supporting leg) should be stood either bent or straight, and the other leg should
be lifted into the air from behind (Common back leg angles are 45° and 90°) as
shown in the image 1. The aim is to lift the leg as high in the air as possible while
maintaining an upright posture and keeping your head facing forward. The
movement can be performed on a floor or on the balance beam. Arabesque requires
a harmonious combination of balance, strength, and flexibility; standing confidently
on one leg requires balance, while at the same time carrying the whole-body pain
on one leg and keeping one leg up for a certain period of time requires core muscles,
strength and stability, lastly lifting the back leg as much as possible is a movement
that requires flexibility. There are several drills to improve this three component
(balance, strength, and flexibility) such as back and hip stretches to improve
flexibility, planks to strengthen the core etc. In elite gymnastics (Only the athletes
that are at the National Team Level), arabesque is often combined with another skill, such as the position a gymnast
holds when making a turn or as a landing position on the balance beam. The way of doing arabesque for normal
athlete on the floor: Stand on both legs with your feet close together, spread your arms out to the sides so that your
balance is not disturbed in the following movements, transfer your weight to the support leg, start lifting the other
leg behind you and upwards and slowly lean forward to balance (make sure that your toes are pointed and your
arms help you to maintain your balance without disturbing the starting position). Continue lifting your leg upwards
as long as you can keep your balance and stay in the final position for about five seconds.

Image 2: My athlete’s Based on the first experience of my athlete, she followed a successful process.
initial arabesque posture As can be seen in Image 2, on a floor, the back leg is almost 90 degrees apart,
the hands are placed correctly, the head is kept facing forwards and the balance
is well maintained. While performing the movement, she followed the correct
order; first she waited straight, then she opened her hands so that her balance
would not be disturbed in the following movements and gave her body weight
to the support leg and then slowly leaned forward. In the last position she stood
for about five seconds but did not point her feet fingertips during this time,
therefore I will be careful about this during the trainings, and I will inform my
athlete. As her coach, I conclude that for her to be better in this movement,
her leg flexibility should be better so that she can open her back leg more,
therefore, through the necessary stretching movements, I aim to increase her
leg flexibility and open her leg angle by approximately 20 degrees more, which is 110 degrees in total. At the same
time, I will suggest my athlete to bend more, which will provide better balance and to open her leg better. The
gymnastics level of my athlete is Level 1 (an introductory level to prepare gymnasts for competition, and into the
mindset of learning routines). There are some compulsory movements that must be followed for a level 1 floor
series, one of them is forward roll. For my athlete to comply with these rules, she will start her series with a forward
roll immediately after the Arabesque movement.

Image 3: Correct Candlestick posture Candlestick: This movement, also known as "shoulder stand", is
one of the basic skills of artistic gymnastics. When performing the
movement, the body is in a straight line and the athlete stands with
support from the back of the shoulders with feet pointed as shown in
the image 3. The sequence of the movement starts with the athlete
standing straight, then squats down and rolls backwards to take the
candlestick position and remains in the final position for five seconds
(make sure that during this time both legs are adjacent to each other,
and the toes are pointed). The role of the arms in this movement is to
support and stabilise the athlete by pushing them to the ground or
above the athlete's head or to the sides. Keeping the feet up for a
certain of time without help of the hands in the candlestick position
will develop and require the core muscles (transverse abdominis, multifidus, internal and external obliques, erector
spinae, diaphragm, pelvic floor muscles, abs, the rectus abdominis) and improve body awareness and control.
 Image 4: My athlete’s If we look at the first performance of my athlete, some deficiencies can be
initial Candlestick posture observed, first of all, according to the rules of the movement, the body should
be straight, the legs should be adjacent to each other and the toes should be
pointed, but if we look at the performance of my athlete, the legs are bent and
separated, the toes are not pointed and the hands support the waist instead of being at
the sides or above the head. The main cause of these problems may be the lack of
strength of the athlete's core muscles; keeping the legs straight in the air without hand
support for a certain period of time increases the need for the lumbar muscles (lower
back and middle back) and abdominal muscles, and as a result of the lack of these
two muscle groups in the athlete, efficient performance and movement cannot be
performed correctly. When we look at the order in which my athlete performs the
movement, she does not start standing because she moves from a sitting position to a
candlestick, this will reduce her speed and make it difficult for her to pull her feet up, which is one of the reasons
why my athlete is not performing correctly in her performance and causes the movement to be incomplete,
therefore, during training, I will make sure that I teach my athlete the correct sequence of the movement and do
not add a seated movement before Candlestick movement. One of the level 1 floor routine requirements is the
backflip. By connecting the candlestick movement in the series with the backflip, she will complete the backflip
by throwing her legs backwards after keeping her legs (candlestick) in the air for five seconds.

Image 5: Correct Cartwheel movement Cartwheel: The Cartwheel is one of the most common movements
in gymnastics and is uses in more than one place. It is usually done
on the floor exercises or on the balance beam, differs according to
the gymnastics levels and is connected with many movements/skills
such as handstands, leaps and turns. The beginning of the movement
starts by extending the foot you use or the foot you are more
comfortable with forward and placing your hands on the sides of
your head. Then, it requires you to turn 180 degrees by placing your
hands on the floor at 90 degrees and kicking your legs over your
head, during this move, it should be noted that the fingertips are
pointed, and the legs are separated as shown in the Image 5. When putting your feet on the ground, the foot opposite
to the one you extended forward at the beginning of the movement, should touch the ground first and you should
land on the ground by making a movement in the opposite direction you started from. When you land on the
ground, your arms should be next to your head, your front leg should be slightly bent, and your back leg should be
straight. Cartwheel requires a lot of skill and strength, in the absence of these, we cannot have the necessary
strength for balance. If the arms are not strong enough for the Cartwheel, it cannot support the body weight during
the somersault and will cause you to fall, therefore the arm muscles are one of the important muscles required for
a good Cartwheel. Core muscles also play an important role in this movement like many gymnastic movements,
if there is not sufficient core muscle, the balance and coordination in the body will be disrupted. One of the level
one floor routine requirements is the cartwheel movement and the stretch jump. For my athlete to complete these
two, I will add a stretch jump immediately after cartwheel movement. My athlete did not do Cartwheel in her first
performance, but she will learn and will do it in the final performance.

Analyse of my athlete’s current performance; 1) Gymnastics is known as a versatile sport and is a sport divided
into many different branches, it has different components in each branch, plays an important role in terms of
physical health. It requires strong muscle values, strengthens muscle development while at the same time
improving balance, posture, flexibility, and social connection values. During the training sessions with my athlete,
we will give each other plenty of ideas, talk and evaluate each other, which will provide us to strengthen each other
socially while strengthening each other physically. 2)As a result of my observations according to limitations and
strengths, I concluded that my athlete's muscles need to be stronger and more flexible. Most of the muscles required
in Arabesque, Cartwheel and Candlestick movements are common and belong to the core muscles. As a coach, it
is important to choose the right exercise for the athlete's muscle development and health, as well as for the
movement she focusses on. One exercise that will develop all three movements is the plank. Standing in the plank
position for a certain amount of time (about one minute) strengthens the core muscles such as the lower back and
hips. According to Harvard Health Publishing 2012, our core muscles balance our body, therefore strengthening
our core muscles with the plank allows us to maintain our balance and be more stable in movements such as
Arabesque and Cartwheel. In addition to the physical change, the plank pose also has very important effects on
health, one of which is that it improves body balance and posture; it works many muscle groups, preventing the
use of a single muscle group during exercise, and it also plays an important role in aligning the bones in the spine,
helping to alleviate, delay or prevent back pain, especially in the elderlies. One of the exercises that will help
develop my athlete in Arabesque is leg stretches, based on the first performance, I observed that my athlete needed
a leg flexion. Standing in the air on one leg is the same leg flexibility needed to open splits, and a common exercise
to develop this is the Piriformis stretch. The Piriformis stretch, like the split stance, is performed by bending one
leg and extending the other backwards for the convenience of beginners and stretches the hamstring and gluteal
muscles in the back of the leg. Spending about two minutes on this movement during training allows the athlete to
perform more flexible and successful movements in the final performance. 3) Being a good coach is an important
person to choose the right exercises according to the initial performance, considering the physical and mental
health of the athlete. Any wrong exercise not only affects the athlete's health, but also can lead to injury and failure
to achieve an effective result in the final performance, therefore fitness tests, interviews and observation of the
athlete's initial performance skills and research plus selection of the right exercises play a very important role in
the development of the athlete. People have been doing sports from past to present to have fun, to maintain their
lives in a healthy way and because they enjoy it. Wrestling, archery, and swimming, known as the first sports, were
among the activities that people did in the name of sport in 7000 BC according to the results of cave painting
(Rules of Sport 2022). The main reason for the formation of these sports was based on fighting, hunting, and
swimming, which are the elements that people do to survive. Nowadays, as the living standards started to get better
after years, the conditions that people lived in before gradually evolved into sports, for example, while swords
were used to kill people in the past, today the sport of Fencing has been formed. The word gymnastics, derived by
the Greeks, was once practiced only by dancers, and acrobats, such as somersaults, however over time it became
an activity for health and then became a sport characterised by modernity.

Analyse current health; When we look at the health factors of my athlete, there is no genetic disease factor that
can affect her social, education and sports life, except for the genetic cancer disease found in her family. At the
same time, her social life; none of the factors such as hanging out with her friends and participating in social
activities have any bad habits. Regarding sleep patterns, she sleeps for about eight hours a day, which is enough
for a 15-year-old girl to reduce stress and improve her mood, as well as to maintain a healthy weight
(MyHealthfinder 2023). My athlete has enough budget for medicines and medical treatment in case of illness, e.g.
flu, and she goes at least one checkup a year, which is a lot for a person under 50 years old, but it is not a limitation.
When I ask my athlete, she states that she is not exposed to pollutants in her environment that would affect her
health. The only limitation I have observed in my athlete that could negatively affect her health is her diet, a diet
based mostly on carbohydrates is unhealthy, unbalanced and can lead to health factors such as high body fat
formation in the future, therefore I will recommend my athlete to include vegetables, fruits, grains, protein, and
dairy product food groups in her weekly meals to balance her diet.

Part 3- Solution; In summary, there is a lack of balanced intake in my athlete's diet, primarily focusing on
carbohydrates throughout the week. To address this, I will recommend including different types of foods in her
diet, such as beans, vegetables, and fruits, so that she has a balanced diet. Although the way to reduce high levels
of anxiety in athletes can be complex, the activities(well-being) my athlete does, such as meeting with friends and
engaging in physical activities during the week, such as running and walking, help to reduce her stress and clear
her mind. However, there are also some wrong solutions she has, which is eating when stressed, especially for
someone who gets stressed very quickly, eating can lead to rapid weight gain and health problems in the future, so
I aim to increase efficiency in training by suggesting my athlete to talk to me before training when she feels
stressed, I will also suggest her to talk to counsellor at school instead of eating when she is stressed in her daily
life. According to the fitness tests and interviews, I have observed that some changes need to be made in my
athlete's physical health and development as well as mental health. According to the fitness test results, it is
generally below than an average healthy individual, therefore, I will include some exercises in her training to
develop flexibility and arm muscle, which is especially necessary for gymnastics. Flexibility is one of the basic
elements of gymnastics, the arabesque movement, requires flexibility, therefore, I will include at least one
flexibility exercise during the training. The Piriformis stretch, which is the exercise I plan, will help to stretch the
back leg higher in the arabesque, as well as helping to open the splits. My athlete's push-up baseline performance
according to FITESCOLA is seven times below average, which may be mainly due to a long break from the sport.
I will include arm muscle training, such as dumbbell work, in the training plan to improve my athlete's low arm
muscle value. In gymnastic many of the movements including cartwheels, handstand, etc., require arm muscles to
carry and support the weight of the body. While it causes a challenge for my athlete to have a weak arm muscles,
as her couch I will create a training plan to overcome these limitations and improve her performance in gymnastic.