Assignment Task
Case Information: Jack is a 25-year-old male university student, currently balancing his studies with basketball training. He has played with his local club for several years and enjoys attending team training twice each week. He practices shooting hoops at home. Whilst he is not an elite athlete, he attends almost all training sessions and weekend games, unless university assessment items are due.
Question
1. Jack has been refining his technique for shooting hoops, trying to get as many shots into the net as possible.
2. Jack enjoys basketball practise, sometimes playing for 2 or 3 hours without needing to eat, although he does regularly sip water. Jack’s fitness watch shows that his heart rate can rise up to 190 beats per minute when he is running across the basketball court.
3. Yesterday, at the end of his evening basketball practice, Jack found out that his team has made it into the semi-finals of the local competition at the end of the month, but he has one large university assignment due the day after the competition. He was very annoyed, and stressed, upon finding out about the timing of the competition, as he knows he is going to have to miss some training sessions, and possibly even miss the competition, due to having to work long hours on his assignment.
4. Two hours later in that day, while quietly eating dinner at home, Jack noticed on his fitness watch that his heart rate had declined considerably, though not yet returned to normal.
Case study B: Ellen
Case Information: Ellen is 25 year old female, who is 30 weeks pregnant, and looks forward to the birth of her first child. Ellen goes for a walk every day, as she has throughout her pregnancy, and her medical advice is that this is safe for her to do this walking. Prior to this pregnancy she walked for 60 minutes each day at a brisk pace, but now that her pregnancy is advanced, she walks slowly for 30 minutes.
Question
1. As Ellen’s pregnancy has been advancing and her body shape and size changing, she finds it increasingly awkward to walk in a smooth manner, and requires increased focus on simply walking smoothly and maintaining her balance.
2. During Ellen’s 30 minute walks, she doesn’t eat, and doesn’t usually eat for approximately 1 – 2 hours after her walk is finished, although she does regularly sip water. Ellen’s fitness watch shows that her heart rate can rise to 150 beats per minute while walking in the last few weeks.
3. Ellen is looking forward to the birth of her baby, but sometimes becomes concerned about how she will manage, and hopes that she will be able to provide the best care that she can for her baby. Occasionally she becomes stressed and panics, wondering how she will be able to manage her new role as a mother. Ellen has discussed her stress with her health care providers.
4. Earlier today, Ellen had another episode of stress. Two hours after the worst of the stress had passed, she sat down while quietly eating lunch at home, and looked at her fitness watch, and found that her heart rate had declined considerably, although was still not completely back to her normal level that she has been experiencing in recent weeks of her pregnancy.
