Exercise Physiology and Touch Football

Exercise physiology and Touch football
Exercise physiology and Touch football
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Exercise physiology and Touch football
Introduction
Touch football is considered to be a variant/branch of American football, its basic rules
and regulations are similar to those of American football, they only differ in very small aspects,
for instance when making a tackle, the person holding the ball just needs to be touched by the
opponent (Mazanov & Huybers, 2010).
Well, the purpose of this report is to discuss some of the major aspects of touch football. A
number of this will be mentioned such as the energy systems used in touch football, fitness
components that are specific only to touch football, these fitness components will then be ranked
from the most important one to the least important one. Energy demand for touch football is also
another very important component of touch football that will be looked at (Dragoo & Braun,
2012).Graphical representations will be used in this paper to show some fitness test data of my
partner and me.
Major systems and energy systems used in touch football
There are certain major energy systems that are used in touch football. These are;
Creatine phosphate (ATP PC) energy system, the lactic acids system and the aerobic system.
Each system has certain specific features that enable them to play different but very vital roles
during the game.
ATP energy system is usually found in all the living cells in a human body, it is known to be a
chemical form of all the muscular activities in the body and it is responsible for the performance
of all the possible functions in the human body. ATP has a lifespan of 10-30seconds.

Exercise physiology and Touch football
The ATP system is thus used in touch football and is used for extremely short durations of up to
10 seconds, it does not require any oxygen, and thus it is considered to be anaerobic. In the game
it is usually used in at least a 50m sprint or less (Chornobay, 2012).
After the ATP-PC energy has been exhausted, the lactic energy takes over. It lasts for
approximately 40 seconds. It is this special characteristic that makes it suitable for use in the
game especially during the very quick and repetitive rucks.
The last energy system that is used in touch football is the aerobic energy. It usually takes over
after say 40 seconds and it is believed that it is in a position to sustain the human body
indefinitely.
The three energy systems mentioned above are very important and must be considered and put
into use during both training and playing of touch football (O’CONNOR, 2017).
Fitness components used in touch football
There is various fitness components in touch football, these components are outlined
below;
 Flexibility; This is often defined in the elasticity of a person’s muscle.
 Muscle endurance; Ability of the body to exert muscles repeatedly without getting tired
for a considerable amount of time.
 Agility; Ability to change the body’s direction accurately and quickly without any
difficulties.

Exercise physiology and Touch football
 Balance; This refers to the body’s ability to maintain at equilibrium either when it is in
motion or when it is moving.
 Strength; Exerting force that is expressed either through lifting or controlling one’s own
body.
 Aerobic capacity; Maximum amount of energy that a body can consume within a given
time of exercise. It is important to note that aerobic capacity is measured after or during a
small period of high intensity exercise ( Pope & Grant, 2017).
From the components of fitness of touch football lifted above, the most important to the
least important one fall in this order; Muscle endurance, Aerobic capacity, Agility, Strength,
Flexibility and Balance.
There are certain fitness components that are related. For instance, flexibility is related to muscle
endurance, they all relate to the tactical capability of the body’s muscle (Clarke, 2018).
Appropriate fitness tests for each fitness component
1. Flexibility
The most appropriate measure of flexibility is the sit and reach test. It is
specifically designed to measure flexibility on both the hamstring and lower muscle. The
diagrams below indicate how it is conducted.