CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Enhancement of Athletes' Performance has been subject to many types of research.

There are numerous ways to improve an Athlete's Performance; these are through Nutrition

and Dietetics, Intake of Performance-enhancing drugs, and the utilization of Biomechanics,

and so forth. Likewise, Improvement of athletes' technique and Athleticism has been an ever-

changing topic from the days of the great Jesse Owens breaking every record in sprinting up

to the days of Michael Phelps having the most medals in the Olympics. This subject will

evolve through time, as it has ever been from the past up to the present, gone are the days of

athletes running a 3-hour marathon, in the present day we have Eliod Kipchoge running a full

marathon under 2 hours, this example shows what can changes and evolution do to the

Performance of athletes. This study is entitled "Enhanced Athleticism after Plyometric,

Weightlifting, and Combined (Weightlifting + Plyometrics) Training." This study will

revolve around the improvement of the Athletic Abilities of Selected Students of the

University of Eastern Pangasinan.

In order to achieve superiority in a sporting event, one must have an excellent Athletic

Ability. Coaches have different methods to enhance the Athleticism of their players. From

the Oxford Learner's Dictionary, Athleticism means the quality of being physically strong, fit,

and active. Breese (2020) stated that Athleticism is formed by ten critical components that

make up balanced physical fitness or referred to as complete Athleticism. These are strength,

speed, power, agility, anaerobic capacity, aerobic capacity, mobility, balance and

coordination, mental resilience, and stability.

One of the many methods to enhance Athleticism is to have a weight-training program. As

stated by Hori (2005), Weightlifting exercises can be useful for enhancing Athletic
Performance that requires high-load speed strength such as football, basketball, volleyball,

and track & field events because of their biomechanical characteristics of high force and

power output. In many athletic events, Athletes have always demonstrated their power and

strength. Power is the ability of the neuromuscular system to perform work over a given

period or the product of force that can exert at a given velocity of a movement. For the

majority of sports performances, power output is the critical mechanical quantity required

rather than force production, that is, strength. As proposed by Newton and Dugan (2002),

independent qualities contribute to an athlete's power capacity: maximum strength, high-load

speed-strength, low-load speed strength, rate of force development, reactive strength, skill

performance, and power endurance.

Another effective method is to integrate Plyometrics to the training regimen. Plyometrics has

its roots from Europe, where it was first known as "jump training." The actual term

plyometrics was first coined in 1975 by Fred Wilt. Based on Latin origins, plyo + metrics

means "measurable increases." As stated by Chu (1998), Plyometrics are exercises that

enable a muscle to reach maximum strength in as short a time as possible. This speed-

strength ability is known as power. Although most coaches and athletes know that power is

the name of the game, few have understood the mechanics necessary to develop it. These

seemingly exotic exercises were responsible for the rapid competitiveness and growing

superiority of Eastern Europe in track and field events at that time.

Apart from the methods mentioned above, there are many more methods to enhance

Athleticism. Many coaches resort to cross-training, water activities, and many more methods.

Having an athletic physique can genuinely benefit a sportsperson; in our generation, some

athletes, naturally have an athletic physique, most of them have nurtured their physique

through training, and regular gym workouts. Some of those athletes are LeBron James and

Cristiano Ronaldo, who have been playing in the top level of their respective sports for quite
some time, and also dominating their respective fields. They are the most recognizable

example of athletes benefiting from their physique; although some other factors positively

affect their Performance, their Athleticism stands out from the rest.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study will concentrate on the Athleticism of selected UEP Students after

Weightlifting, Plyometrics, and Combined (Weightlifting + Plyometrics) Training. With the

technological advancement in our time, most students became reluctant to physical activity,

and most of the time, they are spending their entire time using their smartphones and other

technological gadgets. Thus resulting in poor athletic ability and much more prone to

diseases, the researcher would want to enhance the students' athletic abilities by conducting

different training and conditioning methods. The researcher will also want to determine if the

effects of Weightlifting, Plyometrics, and Combined (Weighlifting + Plyometrics) Training

correlate with the socio-demographic traits of the learners in terms of sex, and age. Apart

from this, the researcher will also identify if there are more alternative methods to enhance

Athleticism. Furthermore, the researcher will also examine other factors affecting the

enhancement of the students' athletic abilities.

THEORETICAL & CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The conceptual paradigm below will illustrate the relationship between the

independent and dependent variables to-be studied in this research subject. This study

conceptualizes Socio-demographic Characteristics such as age and sex of the respondent. The

researcher will also identify the effects of Weightlifting, Plyometrics, and Combined

(Weightlifting + Plyometrics) to the Students Athleticism. Additionally, the correlation

between the socio-demographic traits and the effects of the training method will also be

determined.
 Figure 1. The paradigm of the study

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT VARIABLES

SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

 AGE
 SEX
 SPORTS EVENT
EFFECTS OF TRAINING
METHODS IN TERMS OF
TRAINING PERFORMANCE OF ATHLETES
PROGRAMS/METHODS OF
ATHLETIC COACHES TO ENHANCE
ATHLETICSM

The paradigm of the study illustrated the

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Generally, this study aims to know the effects of Weightlifting, Plyometrics, and

Combined (Weighlifting + Plyometrics) Training to the Athleticism of selected UEP

Students.

To be specific, this study aims to:

1. Determine the after-effects of Weightlifting, Plyometrics, and Combined

(Weighlifting + Plyometrics) Training to the Athleticism of selected UEP Students.

2. Determine the socio-demographic traits of the UEP Students in terms of Age, Sex,

and Sports Events.

3. Identify the correlation between the effects of different training methods and the

socio-demographic traits of the students.

4. Determine the results of the different training methods in terms of their effects on the

students' athletic ability.

6. Identify other training methods used by Athletic Coaches to enhance Athleticism.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of the study is to provide information to individuals who would want

to enhance their Athleticism. Also, this study will supply data to coaches in terms of different

training program variations. Furthermore, this study will also be significant to the

respondents by getting marginal changes to their Athleticism. Moreover, sports experts will

find this study to be substantial for them as it can provide information regarding the

improvement of an Individual's Athleticism. Lastly, this study can also be beneficial to

Athletes and Coaches by giving them sufficient information regarding different training and

conditioning methods.
 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURE

RESEARCH DESIGN

This study is experimental research. This topic will be a longitudinal study, four

weeks to be exact; wherein four groups will be going to participate. The researcher will use a

Pretest-Posttest Design by Allen (2017). This design is an experimental design, which

compares the change that occurs within three different experimental groups and separate

control group on some dependent variable (the outcome) by measuring that variable at two

time periods, before and after introducing/changing an independent variable (the

experimental manipulation or intervention). The four groups will have different treatments.

Experimental group no. 1 are the subjects for Weightlifting Training, Experimental group no.

2 are the subjects for Plyometric Training, and Experimental Group no. Three are the subjects

for Combined (Weightlifting + Plyometric) Training. The researcher will implement two

assessment dates in order to see if there are changes to the results of the student's continuous

physical conditioning.

The author will adapt the Standardized test system of health-related physical fitness

for Thai college students from the study of [ CITATION Soo15 \l 13321 ]. The author shall

modify the test by adding other physical exercises to cater to the students' improvement of

their Athleticism completely. The whole test shall compose the following physical exercises;

Sit and Reach, Shoulder Girdle Flexibility Exercise, Abdominal Curls, Push-ups, Step-ups, 3-

kilometer run, 40-yard dash, Vertical Jump, Broad Jump, and Hexagonal Drill. To be

specific, the author will conduct health-related and skill-related fitness exercises to the test

subjects.
 The researcher will conduct two tests before and after the conditioning training of the

students; this is to identify the students' initial fitness levels or athletic abilities and determine

the changes to their athletic abilities after the conditioning intervention.

PLANNED INTERVENTION

The test subjects shall perform a standardized warm-up that will include 10-minute

jog with dynamics, stretching exercise and will also have a standardized cool-down.

Weightlifting Program. The training program shall consist of 5 Olympic-Style Exercises:

snatch from a squat position,high-pull, power clean, half-squat, and clean and jerk. This

exercise focuses on most leg muscles. While the exercises for the upper body shall consist of:

Bicep Curls, Tricep Curls, Bench Press, and Dumbbell Chest Press. During the first two

weeks of training, the subjects shall perform four sets of 4 repetitions for the leg exercises

and two sets of 8 repetitions for the upper body exercises. The respondents shall have varied

training, e.g., Days 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 shall be allocated for Leg muscle training, while

Upper body training days are on Days 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14. For weeks 3 and 4, the volume of

training will increase significantly. For the leg workouts, the subjects shall perform four sets

of 6 repetitions; on the other hand, the upper body workout will also increase significantly,

the subjects will perform three sets of 10 repetitions. Subjects will have 2-minute rest

between sets on the first two weeks, and will only have 1-minute rest between sets on the last

two weeks of training

Plyometrics Program. This training program includes eight plyometric exercises: double-leg

hurdle hops, alternate single-leg hurdle hops, double-leg hops, half-squats, plyo push-ups,

box jumps, bounding, single-leg bounding, and burpees. The respondents in this experimental

group shall perform four sets of 6 repetitions for each exercise. The hurdles for the double-leg

and single-leg exercise shall have a height of 60 cm. This intensity of the training shall be
observed on weeks no. 1 and 2. For the last two weeks of training, the performers will

increase the training's intensity, by performing six sets of 8 repetitions. In terms of rests, the

test subjects will have 1-minute rest in between sets on the first two weeks and shall have 30-

second rest on the last two weeks of training.

Combined (Weightlifting + Plyometric) Program.