SPEX 102 Exams Questions and Answers 2025-2026 Study
Guide
1. Why should we consider these(exercise related) issues?: Acute - perfor- mance,
injury risk- time performance
Chronic - skill, fitness - skill, fitness, misunderstaning
Practical - employment - health, resources, unintended barriers
Knowledge - knowledge - misunderstanding
2. Why do we warm up before sport?: Reduce likelihood of injury
Enhance performance
3. Balance value of warm-up against its potential adverse effects: - conflicting time
- conflicting physiology
- conflicting use of substrates - water and fuel stores
4. What is warm up: 1. Warm up likely proportional to the intensity of the effort to be
performed
2. And therefore inversely related to the duration
3. Also clinical status is important
4. Warm up does incur costs, so keep in perspective
5. Why do we have to practice?: - the human body is complex
- voluntary, coordinated movement is the result of numerous sub-systems working
together to satisfy task and environmental demands
- repetition via practice enables the human movement system to ( perceive, decide, act)
- learning rarely happens in the absence of feedback or error
6. Andres Ericsson: Expertise in different performance domains acquired over 10 years
or 10,000 hours of practice
- implicitly adopted by many talent identification and development systems
7. Accumulation of Deliberate practice: - differs from play
- emphasis is on learning
- no immediate rewards
- high intrinsic motivation
8. Deliberate practice: - increasing performance
- long- term gains
- not fun
- structure/taught
9. Deliberate play: - intrinsic motivation
- immediate gratification
- enjoyment
- unsupervised
10. What should we practice: - it used to be thought that you only learn what you
practice
, SPEX 102 Exams Questions and Answers 2025-2026 Study
Guide
Transfer of practice can occur
- information (perception)
- movement (action)
- practice content should reflect the performance environment (representative learn- ing)
11. How difficult is practice content: Changing task difficulty influences practice
effectiveness
- instruction
- assistive devices
Difficulty should be modified to meet the demands of the task for the learner optimally
The basis of 'challenge point' framework
12. Post- practice strategies: - emerging research field suggesting that sleep soon after
practice consolidates learning
- one night of sleep= 20% increase in motor speed without loss of accuracy
- quality sleep has important physical, emotional and mental benefits
13. The contextual interference effect: High
- random order of trials of all task variations
Medium
- random repetition of short blocks of trails of each task variation
- serial repetition of short blocks of trials of each task variation
Low
- non repeated blocks of trials of each task variation
14. What limits our ROM: Active structures
- muscle fascicles
passives structures
- tendons, aponeuroses, joint capsules, and ligaments contribute to ROM restrictions with
passive muscle elongation
Viscosity
- as the composition of a human can range from 50% to 78% fluid, dependent on age,
sex, hydration, and other factors, the viscosity of the tissues can substantially affect
flexibility
Central Nervous System
- furthermore, a highly activated centra nervous system could increase muscle tonus and
with a less relaxed muscle inhibit flexibility
, SPEX 102 Exams Questions and Answers 2025-2026 Study
Guide
Discomfort
- pushing a joint to its maximum ROM can be uncomfortable or painful, and thus the
ability to tolerate this discomfort or pain may allow some individuals to stretch further than
other more pain-sensitive individuals
15. Is muscle stretching anatomically possible: Easily stretched
- hamstrings
anatomically impossible
- tibial is anterior, masseter
16. Does stretching increase ROM: Yes
- both acute and chronic increases in ROM have been observed in hamstrings and
gastroc
But
- trivial results regarding impact to muscle stiffness
17. How does stretching increase ROM: Acute effects
- thixotropic effects
Tonic muscle reflexes
- static stretching = disfacilitation of motonuron from suppression of monosynaptic
spinal reflex - stress relaxation, effect is global
- dynamic stretching = excitation of myotatic reflex
Chronic effect
- increased stretch tolerance
- morphological mechanisms
18. Does stretching reduce the risk of injury: It depends
- reduce ROM is a significant risk factor for hamstring injury
- trivial to no significant effects of chronic stretching on injury in recreationally active
people
Problem
- in most athlete studies not enough injuries to determine cause effect relationships
19. Does stretching improve performance: Has a negative impact on perfor- mance
- strength
- power
- speed
- agility
- balance
Mean deficit 1% (<30s) to 5% (>30s)
, SPEX 102 Exams Questions and Answers 2025-2026 Study
Guide
20. Fitness: Is a key determinant of health, and alongside skill and psychological
factors, also of performance
21. Components of physical fitness: Cardiorespiratory fitness
- ability of heart and lungs to supple oxygen and nutrients to working muscle
- aerobic endurance - ability to sustain aerobic power
- Graded exercise tests (GXT)
- submaximal tests
Musculoskeletal fitness
- muscular strength - ability to produce maximum force
- muscular endurance - ability to maintain submaximal force over a period of time
- bone strength - related to risk of fracture
Body weight and body composition
- size or mass of the person
- absolute and relative amounts of fat, muscle and bone
Flexibility
- ability to move a joint or series of joints through a full ROM
Balance
- ability to maintain centre of gravity over base of support in static position, perform- ing
voluntary movements, or reacting to external disturbances
- functional balance - ability to pick up objects from floor, dressing and turning to look
behind you
22. Principles for exercise programming: Specificity
Overload
Progression
Initial values
Individual differences
Diminishing returns
Reversibility
Periodisation
23. Principle of Specificity: Implication is that a specific exercise will elicit a specific
training response. However, some forms of exercise drive adaptations that are not
necessarily what you would expect. Overloading the high force anaerobic system is
used to increase muscle strength. Running a marathon requires the ability to produce
energy constantly via the aerobic/oxidative energy system thus running long distances
is require
Guide
1. Why should we consider these(exercise related) issues?: Acute - perfor- mance,
injury risk- time performance
Chronic - skill, fitness - skill, fitness, misunderstaning
Practical - employment - health, resources, unintended barriers
Knowledge - knowledge - misunderstanding
2. Why do we warm up before sport?: Reduce likelihood of injury
Enhance performance
3. Balance value of warm-up against its potential adverse effects: - conflicting time
- conflicting physiology
- conflicting use of substrates - water and fuel stores
4. What is warm up: 1. Warm up likely proportional to the intensity of the effort to be
performed
2. And therefore inversely related to the duration
3. Also clinical status is important
4. Warm up does incur costs, so keep in perspective
5. Why do we have to practice?: - the human body is complex
- voluntary, coordinated movement is the result of numerous sub-systems working
together to satisfy task and environmental demands
- repetition via practice enables the human movement system to ( perceive, decide, act)
- learning rarely happens in the absence of feedback or error
6. Andres Ericsson: Expertise in different performance domains acquired over 10 years
or 10,000 hours of practice
- implicitly adopted by many talent identification and development systems
7. Accumulation of Deliberate practice: - differs from play
- emphasis is on learning
- no immediate rewards
- high intrinsic motivation
8. Deliberate practice: - increasing performance
- long- term gains
- not fun
- structure/taught
9. Deliberate play: - intrinsic motivation
- immediate gratification
- enjoyment
- unsupervised
10. What should we practice: - it used to be thought that you only learn what you
practice
, SPEX 102 Exams Questions and Answers 2025-2026 Study
Guide
Transfer of practice can occur
- information (perception)
- movement (action)
- practice content should reflect the performance environment (representative learn- ing)
11. How difficult is practice content: Changing task difficulty influences practice
effectiveness
- instruction
- assistive devices
Difficulty should be modified to meet the demands of the task for the learner optimally
The basis of 'challenge point' framework
12. Post- practice strategies: - emerging research field suggesting that sleep soon after
practice consolidates learning
- one night of sleep= 20% increase in motor speed without loss of accuracy
- quality sleep has important physical, emotional and mental benefits
13. The contextual interference effect: High
- random order of trials of all task variations
Medium
- random repetition of short blocks of trails of each task variation
- serial repetition of short blocks of trials of each task variation
Low
- non repeated blocks of trials of each task variation
14. What limits our ROM: Active structures
- muscle fascicles
passives structures
- tendons, aponeuroses, joint capsules, and ligaments contribute to ROM restrictions with
passive muscle elongation
Viscosity
- as the composition of a human can range from 50% to 78% fluid, dependent on age,
sex, hydration, and other factors, the viscosity of the tissues can substantially affect
flexibility
Central Nervous System
- furthermore, a highly activated centra nervous system could increase muscle tonus and
with a less relaxed muscle inhibit flexibility
, SPEX 102 Exams Questions and Answers 2025-2026 Study
Guide
Discomfort
- pushing a joint to its maximum ROM can be uncomfortable or painful, and thus the
ability to tolerate this discomfort or pain may allow some individuals to stretch further than
other more pain-sensitive individuals
15. Is muscle stretching anatomically possible: Easily stretched
- hamstrings
anatomically impossible
- tibial is anterior, masseter
16. Does stretching increase ROM: Yes
- both acute and chronic increases in ROM have been observed in hamstrings and
gastroc
But
- trivial results regarding impact to muscle stiffness
17. How does stretching increase ROM: Acute effects
- thixotropic effects
Tonic muscle reflexes
- static stretching = disfacilitation of motonuron from suppression of monosynaptic
spinal reflex - stress relaxation, effect is global
- dynamic stretching = excitation of myotatic reflex
Chronic effect
- increased stretch tolerance
- morphological mechanisms
18. Does stretching reduce the risk of injury: It depends
- reduce ROM is a significant risk factor for hamstring injury
- trivial to no significant effects of chronic stretching on injury in recreationally active
people
Problem
- in most athlete studies not enough injuries to determine cause effect relationships
19. Does stretching improve performance: Has a negative impact on perfor- mance
- strength
- power
- speed
- agility
- balance
Mean deficit 1% (<30s) to 5% (>30s)
, SPEX 102 Exams Questions and Answers 2025-2026 Study
Guide
20. Fitness: Is a key determinant of health, and alongside skill and psychological
factors, also of performance
21. Components of physical fitness: Cardiorespiratory fitness
- ability of heart and lungs to supple oxygen and nutrients to working muscle
- aerobic endurance - ability to sustain aerobic power
- Graded exercise tests (GXT)
- submaximal tests
Musculoskeletal fitness
- muscular strength - ability to produce maximum force
- muscular endurance - ability to maintain submaximal force over a period of time
- bone strength - related to risk of fracture
Body weight and body composition
- size or mass of the person
- absolute and relative amounts of fat, muscle and bone
Flexibility
- ability to move a joint or series of joints through a full ROM
Balance
- ability to maintain centre of gravity over base of support in static position, perform- ing
voluntary movements, or reacting to external disturbances
- functional balance - ability to pick up objects from floor, dressing and turning to look
behind you
22. Principles for exercise programming: Specificity
Overload
Progression
Initial values
Individual differences
Diminishing returns
Reversibility
Periodisation
23. Principle of Specificity: Implication is that a specific exercise will elicit a specific
training response. However, some forms of exercise drive adaptations that are not
necessarily what you would expect. Overloading the high force anaerobic system is
used to increase muscle strength. Running a marathon requires the ability to produce
energy constantly via the aerobic/oxidative energy system thus running long distances
is require
