Active Future Programme – Week 2 – HIIT, Portion Sizes and Relaxation

Posted October 21, 2016

Extract from shaneodonnellblog

With week 1 off to a flying start I was excited to hear how week 2 went down with the adolescents of Tullow Secondary School. There were 5 new participants this week bringing the total number of active participants up to 20. The feedback I received on week 2 was really positive. Here is what we covered this week!

Physical Health Input

An excellent physical health input was delivered by the Sports Science students on portion sizes. The students informed the participants on the appropriate portion sizes for boys and girls, and for varying levels of physical activity. The students then tested the knowledge of the participants on portion sizes with in some really innovative ways.

Physical Activity Input

The focus of this week’s physical activity session was high intensity interval training or as most know it HIIT. The Sports Science students put the participants through their paces with a fun and engaging session using various exercises such as ball slams, battle ropes, and resisted sprints to keep it interesting.

Mental Health Input

As always Michael Byrne of the Tullow School Completion Programme delivered an excellent and interesting mental health input, this time on relaxation. Michael went on to describe how relaxation can be passive and active, with the potential benefits including clearing of the mind, helping with injury prevention in sports, slowing down of heart rate, and helping with stress levels. He guided the participants through a ‘Body Scan Technique’ wherein individuals focus their attention on different parts of their body from the feet upwards which created a sense of calm whilst controlling the breathing.

Read Shane’s full post in here and follow the development of his Active Future Programme every Friday on the NowWeMOVE blog and YOTM website.