BGCSE Physical Education cheat sheet

The skeleton has five functions: support, protection of organs, movement via levers, mineral storage (calcium, phosphorus) and blood cell production in red marrow.

Long bones grow at epiphyseal plates; bone remodelling is controlled by osteoblasts (build) and osteoclasts (break down), with peak bone density reached in the late teens to early twenties.

A joint is classified by tissue: fibrous (immovable, e.g. skull sutures), cartilaginous (slightly movable, e.g. vertebrae) and synovial (freely movable, with cartilage, capsule and synovial fluid).

Synovial joint types match movement: hinge (elbow, knee), ball-and-socket (shoulder, hip), pivot (neck), saddle (thumb), gliding (wrist carpals) and condyloid (knuckle).

Agonist = prime mover contracting; antagonist = opposing muscle relaxing under control; fixator stabilises the origin; synergist assists the movement.

Muscle fibre types: slow-twitch (type I) are fatigue-resistant and aerobic; fast-twitch (type II) contract fast and powerfully but fatigue quickly and rely on anaerobic glycolysis.

A lever has a fulcrum, load and effort; the body's bones are levers, joints are fulcrums and muscles supply effort, giving mechanical advantage when the effort arm is longer than the load arm.

Cardiac output = heart rate x stroke volume; stroke volume rises with training, so a trained athlete reaches the same cardiac output at a lower resting heart rate.

The pathway of blood: right atrium to right ventricle to lungs to left atrium to left ventricle to aorta to body, with valves preventing backflow and the left ventricle wall thickest.

SPORT principles: Specificity, Progressive overload, Reversibility, Tedium variation - plus individual differences and recovery; overload must rise gradually to avoid injury.

FITT formula: Frequency (sessions per week), Intensity (heart rate, %1RM or RPE), Time (duration) and Type (mode of exercise).

Aerobic training zone is roughly 60-80% of maximum heart rate; estimated maximum heart rate = 220 minus age.

Anaerobic and strength gains need 70-90% of one-repetition maximum with low repetitions (1-8) and long rest (2-5 minutes).

The Borg RPE scale runs 6-20, where 6 is rest and 20 is maximal effort; RPE 12-14 corresponds roughly to moderate intensity.

Progressive overload variables: increase load, repetitions, sets, frequency or reduce rest; change one variable at a time to control adaptation.

Reversibility means detraining occurs after about 2-4 weeks of inactivity; endurance capacity falls faster than strength.

Warm-up raises muscle temperature and blood flow and reduces injury risk; cool-down aids venous return and reduces blood pooling and soreness.

Health-related fitness components: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition; skill-related components include speed, agility, balance, coordination, power and reaction time.

Skill classification continua: open vs closed, gross vs fine, discrete vs serial vs continuous, and externally paced vs self-paced.

Fitts and Posner stages: cognitive (thinking, many errors), associative (refining, fewer errors) and autonomous (automatic, low attention demand).

Types of practice: massed (little rest), distributed (rest between), blocked (same skill repeated), random (mixed skills) and part vs whole; random practice improves retention but slows early performance.

Guidance types: visual, verbal and manual; feedback types: intrinsic, extrinsic, knowledge of results (outcome) and knowledge of performance (technique).

Observational learning (Bandura) requires attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation for a model to be copied effectively.

Drive theory: performance rises with arousal in a near-linear way; inverted-U theory says performance peaks at moderate arousal and falls at high or low arousal.

Catastrophe theory: beyond an optimum arousal point, performance drops sharply and does not recover smoothly, especially on complex tasks.

Goal setting works best with specific, measurable, achievable, recorded and time-phased (SMART) goals, mixing outcome, performance and process goals.

Attribution theory: success attributed to internal, controllable factors (effort) increases motivation more than attributing it to luck or fixed ability.

Components of health-related fitness link to lifestyle disease risk: inactivity raises risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and coronary heart disease.

BMI = mass in kilograms divided by height in metres squared; a BMI of 25-29.9 is classed overweight and 30 or above obese, though BMI ignores muscle mass.

Physical activity guidelines for adolescents: about 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity daily, including vigorous and muscle/bone strengthening activity at least three days a week.

RICE for acute soft-tissue injury: Rest, Ice (about 15-20 minutes, not directly on skin), Compression and Elevation in the first 48-72 hours.

Balanced diet: carbohydrates are the main fuel, protein supports repair, fats provide energy and fat-soluble vitamins; hydration should start before thirst in hot conditions.

Dehydration signs: dark urine, thirst, headache and reduced performance; heat exhaustion gives heavy sweating and dizziness, heat stroke gives hot dry skin and confusion and is an emergency.

Performance-enhancing drugs include anabolic steroids, stimulants, EPO and diuretics; blood doping raises red cell count and endurance but carries clotting and cardiac risks.

Concussion signs include headache, confusion, memory loss, nausea and balance problems; a suspected concussion means immediate removal from play and no return the same day.

Smoking and excess alcohol reduce aerobic capacity, impair coordination and recovery, and increase long-term cardiovascular and respiratory disease risk.

Performance analysis cycle: observe, measure or record, compare against a model of correct technique, diagnose strengths and weaknesses, then plan and re-test.

Objective data (timings, counts, distances) are measurable and repeatable; subjective data (observer opinion, rating scales) are affected by bias and need more than one observer.

Notational analysis records frequency and location of actions, e.g. passes completed, shots on target, turnovers, to build a performance profile.

Video analysis allows slow motion and freeze frame to check joint angles, body alignment and timing of phases of a skill.

Skill phases for analysis: preparation, execution (force production) and follow-through/recovery; faults are traced to the phase where they begin.

A performance profile uses a scale (often 1-10) for each component, plotted as a radar chart, to rank strengths and prioritise two or three weaknesses.

Training programme design: set SMART goals, apply FITT and SPORT, include warm-up and cool-down, and schedule a review date with re-testing.

Validity means the test measures what it claims; reliability means repeated tests give consistent results under the same conditions.

Fair testing requires the same protocol, equipment, surface, warm-up and recovery for every performer, and results should be compared with normative data for the performer's age and sex.