A Study into the Effect of Varying Length of Warm Up on Performance of 400 Metre Sprint The WritePass Journal

A Study into the Effect of Varying Length of Warm Up on Performance of 400 Metre Sprint Abstract A Study into the Effect of Varying Length of Warm Up on Performance of 400 Metre Sprint )   looked at stretch warm-ups performed for varying amounts of time before sprint. They found that sprints performed within 5 minutes of warm-up were adversely effected by sets of stretches, however their studies involved 10 and 20 metre sprints only, and their sample set contained only 16 athletes.  Ã‚   There are relatively few studies exploring.   Hajoglou et al (2005) look at the impact of warm up time, but upon performance in cycle trials. They found that 4-5 minute endurance cycling trials were performed better after warm up, but found no evidence for warm-up duration having an impact.  Ã‚   Arnett (2002) looked at the difference between prolonged and reduced warm ups, and found increased duration of warm up was not beneficial to performance,  Ã‚   but this study examined swim performance. Therefore, while a number of studies explore the types of warm-up activities which work best, less attention has been paid to the relationship between time spent on warm-up and performance.   Additionally, some studies use different types of athlete, and are hence less relevant to sprinters. For example, studies carried out amongst rugby players can offer only limited insights to sprint performance.   To the extent that existing studies look at sprint, they also tend to look at short sprint performance, typically 30m or less. In the light of this, it is felt that the current study will add new insights into   the understanding of how to achieve optimum sprint performance.  Ã‚   Not only has the link between warm-up time and sprint performance been under-investigated, there is no investigation at all of the impact of different warm up times on 400m sprint.  Ã‚   There seems to be mixed evidence about the impact of warm up generally on performance, both in sprint and other types of sport. The following research hypothesis will therefore be tested by the study: Length of time spent on warm up has an impact upon performance in 400m sprint. A number of research questions will be investigated in the study: Does length of time spent in warm up have an effect upon sprint performance? What length warm up time is associated with fastest sprint performance? What are the mechanisms linking warm up time and sprint performance? 3. Methodology This section sets out the way in which the research study will be carried out. It divides into logical subsections to cover the different areas involved. 3.1 Participants The study will involve 40 athletes.   For the purposes of this study, athletes are restricted to men and women aged 16-30 who take part in competitive running at least once a month, who are a member of a sports club or association, and who train daily for at least an hour.  Ã‚   The researcher will contact a number of sports bodies including local running clubs and the university running association in the first instance, to find suitable participants to take part.  Ã‚   Initially, contact will be made by the administrative secretary or similar by telephone or email to explain the purpose of the study, and to request help in finding suitable candidates to take part. Care will be taken to ensure that the sample is representative of the wider population of interest (sprinters), and that bias is avoided in the selection procedure (Monsen and Horn 2007). 3.2 Materials and Procedure The study will involve 40 athletes performing the same warm up routine. The routine includes jogging as well as dynamic and static stretching. Each athlete will perform a 5 minute warm up, then their performance running the 400 metres will be timed.   Two days later, the same athletes will be timed running, this time after a 10 minute warm up. This will be repeated twice, each time after two days, and each time increasing the warm up time by 10 minutes (to 20 minutes and 30 minutes).  Ã‚   The aim is to investigate which warm up time produces the same results. One issue with this approach is ensuring that conditions are equivalent on each day that the test is carried out. If weather conditions differ, this may cause differences in running speed (Hawley 2000).   Equally, diet variations or other variations personal to the athletes might cause changes in recorded running speed, but these are less of a problem as, unlike the weather, they will probably not affect all the athletes who take part.  Ã‚   One way of dealing with results being impacted by variables aside from the one tested would be to randomly assign athletes into four groups, each of these are tested on the same day, and each warms up for a particular length of time. However, this would reduce the sample size for each group, and larger sample sizes yield more reliable results (Ware and Brewer 1999).   The first procedure will therefore be adopted. Because the study involves human subjects, ethical considerations need to be observed to ensure that no one involved comes to any harm or gains unfair advantage by being included in the study. 3.3 Data Analysis The data will be quantitative in nature (that is, expressed as numbers rather than text).   It will be entered into a statistical computer programme, such as SPSS, in order to carry out descriptive and other statistical tests. The ANOVA test will be performed on the data. It is a   widely used statistical procedure which compares data from investigations where there are more than 2 conditions. Rather than using several t-tests to compare means, the ANOVA test compares all sets of results, to indicate whether the results differ significantly from condition to condition (Brace et al 2006). 4. Conclusion The above has given an overview of the methodology and relevant literature for this proposed research study, looking at whether variations in warm up time have an impact upon performance for athletes completing a 400 metre sprint. 4. References Alter, M J (2004) Science of flexibility (3rd edn.), Human Kinetics, USA Arnett, M G (2002) ‘Effects of prolonged and reduced warm-ups on diurnal variation in body temperature and swim performance’, Journal of Strength Conditioning Research, 16:2, 256-261 Binnie, M J, Landers, G and Peeling, P (2011) ‘Effect of different warm-up procedures on subsequent swim and overall sprint distance triathlon performance’, Journal of Strength and Conditioning   Research. Bishop, D (2003) ‘Warm Up II: Performance Changes Following Active Warm Up and How to Structure the Warm Up’,   Sports Medicine, 33:7, 483-498. Boyle, M (2004) Functional training for sports, Human Kinetics, USA Brace, N, Kemp, R and Snelgar, R (2006) SPSS for psychologists: a guide to data analysis using SPSS for Windows, Routledge, London Bradley, P S, Olsen, P D and Portas, M D (2007) ‘The effect of static, ballistic and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching on vertical jump performance’, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21:1, 223–226 Brooks, D (2004) The complete book of personal training, Human Kinetics, USA Carr, G A (1999) Fundamentals of track and field (2nd edn), Human Kinetics, USA Dintiman,   G B and Ward, R D (2003) Sports speed (3rd edn), Human Kinetics, USA Girard, O, Carbonnel, Y, Candau, R and Millet, G (2009) ‘Running versus strength-based warm-up: acute effects on isometric knee extension function’, European Journal of Applied Physiology, 106:4, 573-581 Hajoglu, A, Foster, C, De Koning, J J, Lucia, A, Kernozek, T W and Porcari, J P (2005) ‘Effect of Warm-Up on Cycle Time Trial Performance’, Medicine Science in Sports Exercise, 37:9, 1608-1614 Hawley, J A (2000) Running,   John Wiley Sons, USA Hilfiker, R, Hubner, K, Lorenz, T and Marti, B (2007) ‘Effects of drop jumps added to the warm-up of elite sport athletes with a high capacity for explosive force development’,   Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21:2, 550-555 Kraemer, W, Fleck, S and Deschenes, M (2011) Exercise Physiology: Integrating Theory and Application, Lippincott Williams Wilkins, Baltimore, MD McArdle, W D and Katch, F I (2009) Exercise Physiology: Nutrition, Energy, and Human Performance (7th edn), Lippincott Williams Wilkins, Baltimore, MD MacAuley, D and Best, T M (2007) Evidence-based sports medicine (2nd edn.), John Wiley Sons, Hoboken, NJ Mitchell, J B and Huston, J S (1993) ‘The effect of high- and low-intensity warm-up on the physiological responses to a standardized swim and tethered swimming performance’,   Journal of Sports Sciences, 11:2, 159-165. Monsen, E R and Horn, L V (2007) Research: Successful Approaches (3rd edn), ADA, USA National Coaching Foundation (2007) Motivation and Mental ToughnessCoachwise 1st4sport, USA Nelson, A, Driscoll, N, Landin, D, Young, M and Schexnayder, I (2005) ‘Acute effects of passive muscle stretching on sprint performance’, Journal of Sports Sciences, 23:5, 449-454. O’Sullivan, K, Murray, E and Sainsbury, D (2009) ‘The effect of warm-up, static stretching and dynamic stretching on hamstring flexibility in previously injured subjects’, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 10:37. Stewart, M, Adams, R, Alonso, A, Van Koesveld, B and Campbell, S (2007)   ‘Warm-up or stretch as preparation for sprint performance? Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 10:6,   403-410 Stewart, I B and Sleivert, G G (1998) ‘The effect of warm-up intensity on range of motion and anaerobic performance’, J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 27:2, 154-161. Tomaras, E K and MacIntosh, B R (2011) ‘Less is more: standard warm-up causes fatigue and less warm-up permits greater cycling power output’, Journal of Applied Physiology 111, p. 228-235 Turki, O, Chaouachi, A, Behm, DG, Chatara, H, Chtara, M, Bishop, D and Chamari, K (2012) ‘The effect of warm-ups incorporating different volumes of dynamic stretching on 10- and 20-m sprint performance in highly trained male athletes’, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 26:1, 63-72. Vetter, R E (2007) ‘Effects of six warm-up protocols on sprint and jump performance’, Journal of Strength Conditioning Research, 21:3, 819-823. Ware, M E and Brewer, C L (1999) Handbook for teaching statistics and research methods (2nd edn), Routledge, London

Six

Six Executive Summary In medical facilities, cost incurred in different sectors need to be managed in an effective manner. Both medical and support staffs need to be incorporated in designing of policies and mechanisms to maintain their expenses at low costs and yet offer quality services.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Six-Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Quality medical attention is a human right, to ensure that they are available at an appropriate cost, all sectors in the hospital need to be analysed and areas of inefficiency recognised. Six-sigma is a management tool that approaches management from a scientific angle; it analyses an entire organizations processes and by creating relationships and data analysis, the area with a deficit is recognized, then coming up with appropriate strategies to minimize threats brought about by the inefficient system. Background Academic Medic al Centre  is a leading medical facility situated in Bijlmer, Netherlands; it doubles as a medical facility and a teaching centre for    University of Amsterdam. To give quality services, resources are required; however, resources are limited, there is need to use the available resources in an appropriate manner. When resources are used in the right manner, then the facility will offer services at an affordable rate and support research and development projects that are crucial in a medical facility. Efficiency in medical facilities has numerous benefits to the business; for example, it gives a facility competitive advantage in terms of expertise, research and customer base. When a company implements a six sigma procedure, it ensure that there is efficiency in all processes in a business it uses scientific methods like data analysis to make decisions in a certain area. The process aims at attaining specializations in areas of interest in a way that the result will give an overal l efficiency in an organization (Snee Hoerl, 2002). It creates special infrastructure and labels the users of such processes as â€Å"Belts†. There are â€Å"green belts† and â€Å"barrack belt† among others. Analysis of six-sigma policy in Academic Medical Centre When implementing a six-sigma policy in business, a number of steps that need to be followed, they follow the policy of DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control). All the above areas are looked into when developing a Six-sigma element in an organisation. Let us analyse the steps involved in each section: Define Academic Medical Centre  has to understand the need to develop a six-sigma management tool; the tool should be taken as a strategic management tool when the company have recognised a deficit between the planned operation and the real operation. In a medical facility, the areas to consider include the costs expenditure, the satisfaction  of patients and customer care. Concerns of customers are noted, the trade of profit is analyzed.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More After the problem has been defined, the next stage is for the management to gather all relevant data and facts. Using the facts and data, alternatives of choices are formulated; customers who have complained may be called to give more details, budgets and corporate plans reviewed compare the company with other companies in the same industry, consider data from published and UN published sources. The information gotten will assist is establishing potential benefits (IPBs) and critical to quality factors (CTQ). Measure This stage the management takes time to identify the key factors that influence potential benefits (IPBs) and critical to quality factors (CTQ); it is the stage that is more time consuming because the management need to device measurement to be use to gauge the performance of the entire organization. This stage the management with the assistance of departmental head should devise minimal standards required to be set for an appropriate implementation; they are guided by the corporate plan that was initially operating in the company. This happens after understanding the potential of a certain process. It is appreciated that it may not be possible to get a 100% outcome out of the projects/process in an organization; however, there is a minimal level that the system should not go (Pande, Neuman Cavanagh, 2001). Analyse At this stage having, the potential benefits (IPBs) and critical to quality factors (CTQ) and the key factors that affect them, then an analysis of the root causes of the problem is embarked. The relationship among different variables is established and the areas that require immediate attention recognised. Inefficiency in one-area leads to an inefficiency in another area, thus the source area should be interpolated and p roblem addressed directly. There are different method of analysing data, they include, Z-test, T-test, the chi-square and F-test. The method to be used in on particular approach is dependent with the organisation. Since Academic Medical Centre, has a variety of customer form different social classes, it is important to use Z-test (Pyzdek Paul, 2009). Improve With deep problem understanding and having analysed data, the next stage is to choose the best alternative to implement. Since in a hospital situation there are a number of departments, various alternatives may need to be developed each responsive to the needs of a certain department. Implementation team has a deep understanding of the problem at hand, has a well-defined picture of what is going on in an organization, understand departments with inefficiencies and the financial implications of the gaps. Alternatives are derived and the best alternative among the many is considered.Advertising We will write a custom as sessment sample on Six-Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is important to follow a scientific managerial decision making process. Managerial decision-making is the process through which managers arrive at the alternative solution to a given challenge facing an organization. The success of an organization is dependent on the quality of decision made its manager. One of the major attributes that make a good manager stand out is his or her decisiveness. The quality of decisions made will directly be reflected in the performance of his or her organization. Control The last stage is control of the implemented project; controlling teams need to have a experienced personnel’s who have been recognized to have a certain efficiency level in an area, they should be empowered to conduct their duties. Though it is the final stage, it carries a lot of weight since it oversees that every process in the organizat ion has been fully upgraded. Feedback is of importance and considered for further decision making. The following are some of the tools for this work quality control process charts, control charts, and standardization practices. Repeatedly there may be possibility that the company devise better ways of doing things and this should not be locked out be the system (Pande, Neuman Cavanagh, 2001). Recommendations and Conclusion Academic Medical Centre  need to develop an efficient Six-sigma management system; under the system the company will establish its areas of weakness and determine the appropriate strategies to implement to improve the overall performance of a the medical facility. Other than focusing in one area, the policy will assist the company look into both medical staffs and support departments. The managers will be able to control cost so as they can offer quality services at an affordable rate and have enough finances for research and development. References Pande, S., Neuman, P., Cavanagh, R. (2001).  The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola, and Other Top Companies are Honing Their Performance. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Professional. Pyzdek, T., Paul, A. (2009).  The Six Sigma Handbook. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Snee, D., Hoerl, W. (2002).  Leading Six Sigma: A Step-by-Step Guide Based on Experience with GE and Other Six Sigma Companies. Upper Saddle River: FT Press.

Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research Paper Example He asks Molly, who is his backup, to get back to work as she was engaged in a chat even after lunchtime. Molly resorts to chatting claiming that Dan cannot boss her around. He thinks of reporting this to the floor supervisor, Mr. Davis who at that time was reviewing low performance of his employees and was thinking how to get the employees to become efficient. Evaluation of the Scenario Promoting Cultural Diversity   In the given case, Karishima has a different cultural background and is having problem in adjusting. Similarly all the other employees are having a problem in adjusting with her because of her accent and other differences such as her inability to dress up the way other call centre employees do. The management should inform the existing employees of a new /foreign employee being hired. This is because it will prepare them to face the differences. Moreover, the employee being hired should be trained a little. This can be done by giving the employee an orientation for abo ut 2 weeks at least. In this way, the employee won’t be working formally but will get to know people at work and will start communicating with them. The strategies for cultural diversity are based on complexity theory. Solving Problems   One obvious problem in the case above is that, there are many problems but apparently no one is trying to reach solutions. Susan has a problem with her co worker, Karishma but she does not take the case to her supervisor rather she complains about it to her friend and instead of trying to reach a solution she laughs it off with her. Joy does not appreciate what her colleagues are gossiping about related to Karishima and wants to correct them but concludes otherwise leaves to go back to work in a sour mood. Even here she does not try to reach a solution for the problem; rather she ignores it and spoils her mood. Whenever a problem is observed, employees should be asked to discuss the problem with the management or with the senior staff. More over, they should be encouraged to discuss the problem on a horizontal level as well. This will help employees to learn more about each other and will bring them closer to one another. This strategy is based on Cognitive resource theory, which states that a leader obtains effective group performance by first making effective plans, decisions and strategies, and then communication them through directive behavior (Robinson, pg 351, 1998). Furthermore, the head should communicate with those working under him so that he can learn about problems faced by the lower staff thus becoming able to solve their problems efficiently. This can be based on University of Michigan Studies which state that there is an employee oriented leader and a task oriented leader. In this case, the leader should be employee oriented so that he can emphasize on interpersonal relations (Robinson, pg 357, 1998). Motivating Employees In the given case, employees are not motivated. They just work for the sake of mone y or because it is necessary for them. However, it is important that employees at a workplace are motivated or else they lose interest in work and are not able to perform their best. In this case, Mr. Davis is reviewing low employee performance and he knows it is because the employees are not motivated. Employee motivation is imperative for an organization. Employees can be motivated intrinsically as well extrinsically. In order to give them extrinsic motivation, the management can announce