LESSON COMPENDIUM IN

PEd 211 – PRINCIPLES of MOTOR CONTROL and

LEARNING of EXERCISE, SPORTS and DANCE
ESSU Maydolong Campus
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This Learning Compendium is exclusively for the use of ESSU for its flexible learning
modality and is not for sale.

Made possible through the effort of:

PASEL RAMIREZ- DERATAS, EDD-PE

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 MOTOR CONTROL
AND LEARNING IN
EXERCISE
In this chapter, students will be equipped with the knowledge on motor control and
learning in exercise with the following objectives.
1. Gain basic understanding on the principles of exercise.
2. Identify physical exercises and its corresponding motor activities.
3. Perform the basic motor controls in exercise.
4. Appreciate the importance of motor control and learning in exercise.

Physical Exercise

A. MOTOR ACTIVITY
Motor activity involves movement quality and quantity that both influence and are
influenced by states of arousal. Imbedded in activity levels are the qualitative aspects of
movement that include muscle tone, posture, coordination, symmetry, strength,
purposefulness, and planning, or praxis.
Gross Motor Activities

Gross motor activities are whole body movements that involve large muscles in our
torso, legs, and arms. Gross motor skills are used for all sorts of physical activities,
from running to raking leaves.
Most people use these skills easily and automatically. But gross motor skills are
more complex than they might seem.
They involve the coordination of the muscles and the neurological system. They
impact balance and coordination. They also form the basis for fine motor skills that
help us make small movements like using a pencil.
Gross motor skills are related to other abilities. These include:
• Balance
• Coordination

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 • Body awareness
• Physical strength
• Reaction time
Having poor gross motor skills can impact people in all areas of life. It can make it
hard to do key tasks and school, work, and home. Difficulty with motor skills can also
take a toll on self-esteem.
https://www.understood.org/articles/en/all-about-gross-motor-skills

Fine Motor Activities

Fine motor activities are body movements which involve the use of small muscles
in our hands, wrists, fingers, feet and toes. These small movements come so naturally
to most people that we usually don’t think about them.
It uses fine motor skills which are complex as they involve a coordinated effort
between the brain and muscles. They’re built on the gross motor skills that let us
make bigger movements, like running or jumping.
Here are some examples of when we use fine motor skills:

• Holding a pen or pencil

• Drawing pictures and writing neatly
• Using a keyboard
• Using scissors, rulers, and another tool

People also need fine motor skills to do daily tasks like getting dressed and
brushing their teeth.
Example of Fine Motor Skills Using Physical Exercise
• warm up period
• 10-meter running
• crawling exercises
• finger exercises.
• squeezing rubber rings
• throwing bean bags
• balance beam activities
• pushing a tire

B. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND EXERCISE

Physical activity is movement that is carried out by the skeletal muscles that requires
energy. In other words, any movement one does is actually physical activity.

Exercise, however, is planned, structured, repetitive and intentional movement

intended to improve or maintain physical fitness. Exercise is a subcategory of physical
activity
Physical activity or exercise can improve your health and reduce the risk of
developing several diseases like type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Physical activity and exercise can have immediate and long-term health benefits. Most
importantly, regular activity can improve your quality of life.

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 Research provides significant evidence that ALL physical activity positively
contributes to overall health and well-being. Exercise also assists with the improvement of
physical fitness, which consists of five specific components:

-Cardiorespiratory fitness
-Muscular strength fitness
-Muscular endurance fitness
-Flexibility fitness
-Body composition
Source: https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/5460/physical-
activity-vs-exercise-what-s-the-difference

C. MOTOR LEARNING IN EXERCISE

Motor Learning means you move in some way that will teach you to move the body
with more skill, coordination or efficiency. Doing pushups, pullups, squats or lunges place
the body under stress in a way that will stimulate adaptations in muscle performance.
Motor control exercise is a popular form of exercise that aims to restore co-ordinated
and efficient use of the muscles that control and support the spine.
Example of motor control exercise- A Segmental Stabilization

❖ See a Video on Motor Control Exercise

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k3aHTk-CEY

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 Principles of Exercise

A. THE EXERCISE PRINCIPLES

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Exercise Principles: What Every Physical Educators Should Know by Heart

With 79% of adults participating in sport and recreation activities every week
and 34.9% of adults currently signed up to a fitness club or center, it’s fair to say that
physical activity plays a large role in peoples lives in the whole world .

Whether people take part in activity for enjoyment or because they’re aiming to
achieve a specific goal, exercise will place stress on our bodies. Understanding
exercise principles allows physical educators and exercise trainers to monitor the
stress (exercise load) placed upon their client in order to make the training safe and
effective, helping the client to achieve their goals.

The Ten (10) Principles of Exercise

1. Individualization. Exercise should be specific to the individual completing

the training.
People respond differently to exercise so in order to maximize the benefits,
therefore training programs should be built around the person’s needs and
capabilities.

2. Specificity. Exercise should be specific to the client’s goals, needs and

capabilities.
Our bodies response to training is based on the specific stimulus (training)
applied. So, to increase adaptation (results) exercise should be specific to an
individual’s goals, tasks, movements and capabilities.

3. Overload. Exercise should overload the body in order for a positive

adaptation to occur.
For the body to adapt it needs to be overloaded. This means it needs to be
placed under greater stress than it is accustomed to.
This is accomplished by using the F.I.T.T principle to make the body do more
than it has done before.

F = Frequency of training
I = Intensity of training
T = Type of training
T = Time of training (duration)

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4. Progressive Overload. Exercise needs to continually overload the body if
positive adaptations (change) are to continue to take place.
For the body to keep adapting to exercise the stress it is placed under should
progressively increase. Therefore, the intensity and loads should continually
increase over time. Similar to overload, stress can be gradually increased using
the F.I.T.T principle.

5. Variety. Exercise needs to be varied for optimal adaptation to occur, avoiding

boredom, overuse, injury or hitting a plateau.
For optimal change to occur and to decrease the risk of an individual getting
bored, overtraining, getting injured or reaching a plateau, the training must
constantly be varied.

6. Rest and Recovery. Rest and recovery are required to allow the body time to adapt
to exercise.
Optimal adaptation requires recovery time. It is only during the recovery phase
(days between workouts) that the body is able to change and adapt to the stress
of the workout.
Recovery can be improved in a variety of ways, such as effective nutrition and
hydration, light aerobic exercise and stretching sessions. It is believed that
90%+ of an individual’s time is spent recovering from exercise. If gotten this wrong,
positive adaptations will not occur as quickly.

7. Reversibility. If you don’t use it you lose it.

Adaptations which occur through exercise are reversible, so when training is
stopped for prolonged periods the adaptations from previous exercise will be lost.

8. Maintenance. Fitness can be maintained by altering the F.I.T.T

principle.
By maintaining the intensity of training and decreasing the volume or frequency
of training by 1/3 – 2/3 the current fitness levels of an individual can be maintained.

9. Ceiling. Room for positive development decreases the fitter you become.
As one gets fitter, the amount of improvement possible decreases based on
the client getting closer to their genetic potential (ceiling).

10. Interference. Training contrasting fitness components at the same time can
reduce adaptation (results) in both.
Training certain components of fitness at the same time can lead to
interference. For example, training to increase muscle size and increase aerobic
endurance at the same time will lead to the client making slower progress to both
goals, even though there will be increases in both of the components being trained.

Source: https://nzihf.ac.nz/personal-training/exercise-principles/

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B. THE FITT PRINCIPLE
FITT PRINCIPLE: A mnemonic formula of factors important to determining the
correct amount of physical activity
F = Frequency: How often one does the activity each week.
I = Intensity: How hard one works at the activity each session.
T = Time: How long one works out at each session.( Duration)
T = Type: Which activities one selects.

1. The FITT Principle for Cardiorespiratory Endurance

Frequency: Exercise 3–5 times per week.
Intensity: Train at 60 to 85 percent of target heart rate zone.
Time: Exercise for 20–60 minutes per session (recommended).
Type: Any aerobic activity that keeps heart rate within the target heart rate
zone.
Examples include running, bicycling, swimming.

2. The FITT Principle For Muscular Endurance

Frequency: Weight train 2–4 times per week.
Intensity: To build endurance, lift lighter weight (less resistance) with more
repetitions (8–15). Add or maintain weight and repetition during the workout.
Time: A total workout of about 30–60 minutes.
Type: Any activity that allows the muscles to perform a physical task over a
period of time without becoming fatigued. Examples include resistance
training, yoga, Pilates.

3. The FITT Principle For Muscular Strength

Frequency: Weight train 2–4 times per week.
Intensity: To build strength, lift heavier weights (more resistance) with fewer
repetitions (3–8).
Time: A total workout of about 30–60 minutes.
Type: Anaerobic activities such as weight lifting and sit-ups.

4. The FITT Principle For Flexibility

Frequency: Daily stretching.
Intensity: Stretch muscles and hold beyond their normal length at a
comfortable stretch.
Time: Hold stretch for 10–15 seconds, with the stretching workout lasting15–
30 minutes.
Type: Stretches that allow the body to move through the full range of motion
Source:https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/healthfitness/standards/physicaleducation
termsglossary.pdf