SACE Stage 2 Physical Education cheat sheet

FITT principle: Frequency (sessions per week), Intensity (effort as % HRmax, RPE, or load), Time (duration per session), Type (mode of exercise); a programme must specify all four to be measurable.

Karvonen method for target heart rate: THR = ((HRmax − HRrest) × intensity%) + HRrest, where HRmax is estimated as 220 − age; the percentage is of heart-rate reserve, not of HRmax.

Percentage of HRmax method: THR = HRmax × intensity%; this underestimates effort at low intensities compared with the Karvonen method because it ignores resting heart rate.

Progressive overload: training load must rise over time (volume, intensity, or density) for adaptation; the overload must stay within recoverable limits or overtraining results.

Specificity (SAID principle): adaptation is specific to the muscles, joint angles, energy system, and velocity trained; a cycling programme will not improve swimming performance.

Reversibility (detraining): measurable losses in aerobic capacity and strength begin within roughly 2–4 weeks of reduced training; tapering preserves fitness while reducing fatigue.

Three energy systems: ATP-PCr (phosphagen) supplies maximal effort for about 0–10 s; glycolytic (anaerobic) about 10 s–2 min; aerobic system dominates beyond about 2–3 min.

Muscle fibre types: Type I (slow oxidative) is fatigue-resistant and suited to endurance; Type IIa (fast oxidative-glycolytic) is intermediate; Type IIx (fast glycolytic) produces high force rapidly but fatigues quickly.

Acute responses to exercise include increased heart rate, stroke volume, ventilation, and body temperature, plus redistribution of blood flow from splanchnic beds to working skeletal muscle.

Skill classification continua: open vs closed environment; gross vs fine muscle involvement; discrete, serial, or continuous; externally paced vs self-paced.

Fitts and Posner stages of learning: cognitive (large errors, high conscious attention), associative (refinement, fewer errors), autonomous (automatic, minimal attention, able to dual-task).

Motor learning variables: practice distribution (massed vs distributed), practice variability (blocked vs random), and feedback type (intrinsic vs extrinsic; knowledge of results vs knowledge of performance).

Newton's laws applied to movement: first law (inertia), second law (F = ma, so force determines acceleration), third law (action–reaction) explains ground reaction forces in running and jumping.

Levers: first class (fulcrum between force and load, e.g. neck extension), second class (load between fulcrum and force, e.g. calf raise), third class (force between fulcrum and load, most common in the body).

Projectile motion: horizontal velocity stays constant (ignoring air resistance) while vertical velocity changes at −9.8 m/s²; optimal release angle for maximum range in a vacuum is 45°, lower when release height exceeds landing height.

Angular motion: angular velocity = angular displacement ÷ time; moment of inertia depends on mass distribution about the axis, so a tucked diver spins faster than an extended one (conservation of angular momentum).

Force–velocity and length–tension relationships: force output peaks at moderate shortening velocities and at mid-range muscle length; both extremes reduce force production.

Performance analysis tools include notational analysis (tallying discrete events such as passes or turnovers), video analysis with frame-by-frame comparison to a skilled model, and time-motion analysis of work-to-rest ratios.

WHO physical activity guidelines: adults need 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week, plus muscle-strengthening activity on at least 2 days.

Children and adolescents (5–17 years) need on average at least 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, plus vigorous activity and strength work at least 3 days per week.

Social-ecological model levels: individual, interpersonal, organisational/institutional, community, and public policy; barriers and enablers exist at every level, not only at the individual level.

Determinants of participation include age, gender, socioeconomic status, cultural background, geographic location (rural/remote access), disability, and previous experience of physical activity.

Equity differs from equality: equality gives identical opportunities, while equity allocates resources according to need so that disadvantaged groups can access the same participation outcomes.

Barriers are commonly classified as personal (time, cost, confidence, health), social (peer support, family norms, cultural expectations), and environmental (facilities, transport, safety, climate).

The socioecological approach to increasing participation combines individual education, social support, environmental modification, and policy change; single-strategy interventions show weaker sustained effects.

Sedentary behaviour is a distinct risk factor from physical inactivity: meeting activity guidelines does not fully offset long periods of uninterrupted sitting.

Components of fitness: aerobic power, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, speed, power, agility, balance, coordination, reaction time, and body composition.

Reliability vs validity in fitness testing: reliability is consistency of results across repeated trials; validity is whether the test measures the fitness component it claims to measure.

Aerobic tests include the multi-stage fitness test, 20 m shuttle, Yo-Yo test, and 12-minute run; muscular strength is commonly assessed by 1RM or grip dynamometry; flexibility by sit-and-reach.

Training principles: overload, specificity, progression, reversibility, individuality, recovery, variety, and periodisation; these operate together rather than in isolation.

Periodisation divides a training year into macrocycle (annual), mesocycle (weeks to months), and microcycle (typically a week), varying volume and intensity to peak for competition.

Session structure: warm-up (raise temperature, mobilise joints, rehearse movement patterns), conditioning phase, and cool-down; static stretching before explosive activity can transiently reduce power output.

Nutrition for performance: carbohydrate is the primary fuel for high-intensity aerobic work; glycogen depletion underlies fatigue in prolonged events, and protein supports repair rather than acute fuel.

Hydration: sweat losses of 2% or more of body mass impair thermoregulation and endurance performance; fluid replacement should approximate losses without overdrinking (risk of hyponatraemia).

Recovery includes sleep, active recovery, nutrition timing, and load management; sleep is the single strongest recovery variable and should be treated as part of the training plan.

A performance improvement plan (PIP) or investigation requires a clear focus question, a rationale grounded in evidence, a measurable baseline, an intervention, and post-intervention re-testing.

Data should be reported as both central tendency (mean, median) and spread (range, standard deviation); a mean without a measure of spread is incomplete evidence.

Validity threats in student investigations include uncontrolled variables (sleep, nutrition, other training), small sample size, and tests that do not match the fitness component targeted.

Ethical requirements for human research: informed consent, voluntary participation, confidentiality or anonymity, and the right to withdraw without penalty.

Referencing must follow the school's required style; sources should be current, credible, and directly relevant, with statistics traced to their original publication rather than secondary summaries.

Evaluation of an intervention should separate outcome (did performance change?) from process (was the programme delivered as planned?) and should acknowledge limitations explicitly.

Graphs must have labelled, scaled axes with units; a broken axis or inconsistent scale misrepresents the size of any change and is a validity problem in reporting.

Tactical decision-making models progress from game appreciation to tactical awareness, decision-making, skill execution, and performance; skill is executed in response to a tactical problem.

Offensive principles: creating and exploiting space, penetration, support, width, depth, and maintaining possession; defensive principles: pressure, cover, balance, delay, and compactness.

Skill execution criteria should be observable and measurable (body position, timing, follow-through, accuracy), enabling consistent self- and peer-assessment.

Feedback should be specific, timely, and focused on one or two correctable points; excessive or delayed feedback reduces uptake, and feedback on performance differs from feedback on results.

Work-to-rest ratios determine which energy system a drill targets: short maximal efforts with long rests (1:10 or more) train the ATP-PCr system; moderate efforts with short rests train aerobic capacity.

Observation checklists and match statistics (possession, turnovers, shots, errors) turn subjective impressions into evidence that can be compared across games.

An athlete profile combines fitness test data, skill assessment, and match statistics; strengths and weaknesses should be ranked so that training priorities are justified.

Work = force × distance (joules); Power = work ÷ time (watts); a high power output requires either more work or less time to perform it.

Velocity = displacement ÷ time (vector); speed = distance ÷ time (scalar); acceleration = change in velocity ÷ time (m/s²).

Momentum = mass × velocity (kg·m/s); impulse = force × time and equals the change in momentum, which explains why a follow-through or a bent-knee landing reduces peak force.

Body mass index = mass (kg) ÷ height (m)²; BMI does not distinguish fat from lean mass and should be interpreted alongside other measures.

Cardiac output (Q) = heart rate × stroke volume; during aerobic training Q rises mainly through stroke volume at rest and through both heart rate and stroke volume during maximal exercise.

Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) scales, such as the 6–20 Borg scale, give a subjective intensity measure that correlates with heart rate and is useful when heart-rate monitoring is impractical.

1RM is the maximum load lifted once with correct technique; training loads are commonly prescribed as percentages of 1RM (e.g. about 60–70% for strength-endurance, 85%+ for maximal strength).