Week 4

Date: Monday 28th January 2013
Time: 11:10 - 11:30
Location: Training Grounds - Inside (During Hours)
Skill: Progressive Muscular Relaxation
Measuring Tool: Body Language

Progressive Muscular Relaxation is a mind to body technique that reduces anxiety within the muscles. This skill involves the active contracting and relaxing of muscles, when a muscle is tightened for 4 to 6 seconds and then relaxed, the muscle returns to a more relaxed state. Athlete's in a relaxed state experience one of two sensations the feeling of warmth or the feeling of heaviness in completely relaxed limbs, during the relaxation process concentration should be focused on one of these sensations.

At the end of the session the athlete would be optimally excited this is where they feel nervous but in control, looking forward to the competition but apprehensive, thinking positively and feeling good. The goal of this relaxation technique is to be able to recognize some of the signs of stress such as tension in the body and to let the tension flow out of your body.

Action: Before training starts as a pre warm up the athlete uses the PMR skill for 10 minutes and then a further 10 minutes after the normal warm up has been completed. There is a 2 minutes rest period after each of the muscle groups has been stretched and relaxed in order for them to recover and be strong enough for the performance you are about to give.

Here are examples of the exercises that should be completed each time this skill is used:

• Tighten your biceps: Move your attention to your arms, draw your forearms toward your shoulders, creating a bicep, hold for up to 5 seconds and then release for 15-20 seconds. As you release and imagine the tension flowing out of your biceps.

• Forehead and scalp: Move your attention to your forehead, as you inhale lift your eyebrows and wrinkle your forehead, hold for up to 5 seconds and then release for 15-20 seconds. As you release, feel the relaxation of the muscles of the forehead.

• Neck and shoulders: Now bring your awareness this region, shrug your shoulders towards your ears. Feel the tension in the surrounding muscles. Hold for up to 5 seconds and then release for 15-20 seconds, feel the tension in the muscles ebb away.

• Upper back/shoulders: Now bring your awareness between the shoulder blades, push your shoulder blades back as if you were trying to get them to touch. Feel the tension in the surrounding muscles, hold for up to 5 seconds and then release for 15-20 seconds. Feel the tension in between the shoulder blades ebb away.

• Upper chest: Now bring your awareness to your upper chest. Tighten the chest muscles and hold, feel the tension in the upper chest muscles, hold for up to 5 seconds and then release for 15-20 seconds. Feel the tension in the chest muscles flow away.

• Stomach: Now bring your awareness to your navel area, try to draw your navel in to your backbone, feel your stomach muscles tighten. Hold for up to 5 seconds and then release for 15-20 seconds, feel the tension in the abdominal muscles dissipate.

• Thighs: Now bring your awareness to your thigh muscles, try not to contract your stomach muscles as you consciously tighten your upper thigh muscles. Hold, hold hold…and now release for 15-20 seconds. Feel the tension in the thigh muscles dissipate.

• Calves: Now bring your focus to your calf muscles, consciously tighten your calf muscles by pointing your toes. Hold, hold hold…and now release for 15-20 seconds. Feel the tension in the calf muscles flow away.

 

• Feet: Now bring your focus of attention to your feet. Tighten your feet by curling your toes toward the ground. Hold, hold and hold some more…and now release for 15-20 seconds. Feel the tension in the feet flow away. 

Evaluation: This skill was useful for athlete X to use because it helped their performance look better as their muscles where relaxed which meant that their tension had decreased when it came to performing. However the athlete did suggest that it was not as effective as the previous techniques and skills that have been used and have asked that they not do another session where this technique is used so this advise has been taken on board and is something that I will work on in the future.


Progression: Athlete X does not need to use this all the times because they have stated that they did not like it very much which is fine it just means that the next session will have to be twice as effective in order to increase their motivation and confidence levels.


Measure: I think that by looking at athlete X's body language it is clear that this technique helped within their training regime and this is because when they were worked up about not getting the technique right from performing the block from the previous session  the athlete was able to calm themselves down so they do not lash out essentially harming their performance. Athlete X's body language told me that they were able to release the tension that they had which made them perform the skills more easily without stress or worry affecting their game.