GCSE Physical Education Key Terms & Vocabulary

400 m race

fuelled mainly by the anaerobic systems (largely the lactic acid system), NOT the aerobic system.

Abduction

movement of a limb away from the midline of the body.

Adduction

movement of a limb toward the midline of the body.

Alveoli

adapted for efficient gaseous exchange by their large surface area, very thin (one-cell-thick) walls, moist lining and rich capillary blood supply.

Alveoli

the tiny air sacs in the lungs where gaseous exchange between air and blood takes place.

Aorta

the main artery carrying oxygenated blood from the left ventricle to the body.

Appendicular skeleton

the limbs plus their girdles: the arms, legs, pelvic girdle and pectoral (shoulder) girdle.

ATP molecule

adenosine plus three phosphate groups; energy is released when the bond to the third phosphate is broken (forming ADP + Pi).

Axial skeleton

the central core of the body: it includes the skull (cranium), the vertebral column and the ribcage (ribs and sternum).

Bursa

a small fluid-filled sac in a synovial joint that reduces friction between moving tissues (e.g. tendon over bone).

Capillarisation

a training adaptation in which capillary density around the muscle fibres increases, improving oxygen and nutrient delivery.

Cardiac hypertrophy

the thickening and enlargement of the heart muscle (especially the left ventricle) caused by training.

Cardiac output (Q)

calculated as stroke volume × heart rate (Q = SV × HR).

Carpals

the wrist bones, named collectively.

Clavicle

the scientific name for the collar bone.

Radiocarpal (wrist) joint

a condyloid joint, allowing flexion/extension and abduction/adduction but not rotation.

Cranium

the scientific name for the skull, the dome of bone that surrounds and protects the brain.

Diastole

the relaxation and filling phase of the cardiac cycle.

Diastolic blood pressure

the pressure in the arteries when the heart relaxes between beats.

Diastolic blood pressure

the pressure in the arteries when the heart relaxes between beats — the lower of the two readings.

Expiratory reserve volume (ERV)

the extra air that can be forcibly exhaled beyond a normal breath out.

Extension

a movement that increases the angle at a joint (e.g. fully straightening the knee).

Fibula

the thinner bone running alongside the tibia in the lower leg.

Fixator

a muscle that stabilises a joint (or the origin bone) so the agonist can work effectively.

Sternum (breastbone)

a flat bone; flat bones are broad and thin and protect organs / provide muscle attachment.

Flexion

a movement that decreases the angle at a joint (e.g. bending the arm at the elbow).

Gluteus maximus

the prime mover in hip extension.

Haematocrit

the percentage of total blood volume made up of red blood cells (not plasma).

Humerus

the bone of the upper arm.

Inspiratory reserve volume (IRV)

the extra air that can be inhaled beyond a normal tidal-volume breath.

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Agility

the ability to change direction quickly while keeping control of the body.

Body composition

the ratio of fat mass to lean mass (muscle, bone, organs, water) in the body.

Circuit

made more cardiovascular (rather than strength-focused) by using aerobic activities at each station with shorter rests.

Continuous training

sustained aerobic exercise at a steady pace for a prolonged period without rest.

Coordination

a skill-related (not health-related) component of fitness.

Cardiovascular endurance (aerobic power)

the ability of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen so the body can exercise for long periods without fatigue.

Cardiovascular endurance

a health-related component of fitness.

Dynamic balance

maintaining control of the body while moving or changing direction.

Fartlek

not only for aerobic athletes: by varying pace it also develops anaerobic fitness.

Individual needs/differences

programmes must be tailored to each athlete's age, fitness level, sport and goals.

Moderation

avoiding excessive training loads that cause injury, illness or burnout.

Muscular endurance

the ability of a muscle (or muscle group) to contract repeatedly over time without fatiguing.

Muscular endurance

developed with lighter weights and high repetitions, NOT very heavy weights and few reps.

Overtraining

training too frequently without enough rest, which leads to a decline in performance (and injury risk).

Mechanism behind plyometrics

the stretch-shortening cycle: a rapid eccentric contraction immediately followed by an explosive concentric contraction.

Power (explosive strength)

the product of strength and speed — force × velocity — applied explosively.

Progressive overload

gradually increasing the training load over time so the body adapts and fitness improves — NOT keeping the load constant.

Progressive overload

applied to resistance training by gradually increasing the weight, sets or reps over successive sessions.

Reaction time

the time taken from a stimulus to the start of the movement response.

Reversibility means fitness gains

lost when training stops or is reduced.

Reversibility

not faster the harder you trained; how quickly fitness is lost does not depend on how hard the earlier training was.

Specificity

training should match the demands of the sport (the muscles, movements and energy systems used).

Speed

how quickly a body (or body part) can move over a distance.

Static balance

maintaining stability in a stationary (held) position without movement.

Strength

the maximum force a muscle can exert in one contraction; power adds speed to that force (force × velocity).

Variance (avoiding tedium)

varying training to maintain motivation and prevent boredom/staleness.

VO2 max

the maximum volume of oxygen the body can take in and use per minute; it is a measure of aerobic capacity.

Altitude training works by stimulating EPO and INCREASING red blood cell production in response to low oxygen, raising oxygen-carrying capacity (it does not reduce red blood cell production).

The multi-stage fitness test (bleep test) measures cardiovascular endurance via a progressive 20 m shuttle run.

BMI cannot distinguish fat mass from muscle mass, so very muscular athletes can be classed as overweight despite low body fat.

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Ability

classed as a stable attribution because it is relatively fixed over time, whereas effort is unstable because it varies from one performance to the next.

Attention control (concentration)

focusing on task-relevant cues while blocking out distractions.

Centering

a breathing-and-focus technique that lowers cognitive anxiety and refocuses attention on the task.

Closed skill

performed in a stable, predictable environment and can be repeated the same way each time (e.g. a free throw, a serve, a gymnastics vault).

Cognitive anxiety

the psychological side of anxiety: worry, negative thoughts and doubts about performance.

Intrinsic feedback

internal, coming from the performer's own proprioception — the feel of the movement through muscle and joint sensors.

Manual guidance

physical contact in which the coach moves the learner's body through the correct movement (e.g. supporting a gymnast through a vault).

Mental rehearsal (imagery/visualisation)

mentally practising or "seeing" a skill or performance in the mind's eye without physically doing it.

Open skill

performed in a changing, unpredictable environment and must be adapted to external factors (e.g. a tackle in rugby, a pass in football).

Optimal arousal

high for simple, gross skills (e.g. shot-put, a rugby tackle) but low for complex, fine skills (e.g. golf putt, snooker).

Over-justification effect

when external rewards (money, medals) reduce a person's pre-existing intrinsic motivation for an activity they already enjoyed.

Pre-performance routine

a consistent, repeated sequence of actions carried out before performing to reach optimal arousal and focus.

Process goals

more effective for sustaining motivation because they are within the athlete's own control, so progress is achievable regardless of the opponent.

Ringelmann effect (social loafing)

the tendency for individual effort to decrease as group size increases.

Self-efficacy

a task-specific belief in one's ability to succeed at a particular task, as opposed to broad, general self-confidence.

Serial skill

several discrete skills linked together in a set sequence to make one movement (e.g. a triple jump, a gymnastics routine).

Skill

a specific learned action performed to achieve a result (e.g. a tennis serve, a basketball free throw). It is not the same as the sport itself (tennis, basketball), nor a natural ability you are born with.

SMART goals

Specific, Measurable, Achievable (AQA: Accepted), Realistic and Time-bound.

Somatic anxiety

the physical side of anxiety: symptoms such as sweating, increased heart rate, muscle tension and nausea.

Task cohesion

a team's shared commitment to a common goal; social cohesion is the personal relationships and friendships between members.

Trait anxiety

a general, enduring personality disposition to feel anxious; state anxiety is a temporary, situation-specific feeling of anxiety.

Verbal guidance

using spoken words and instructions to describe or explain how to perform a skill.

Visual guidance

showing or demonstrating the correct technique (a live demo, a video, a diagram) so the learner can see and copy it.

Attribution retraining aims to change an athlete's attributions from stable "lack of ability" to unstable, controllable "lack of effort", restoring motivation.

Blaming a loss on "bad luck" is an external (outside the athlete), unstable (changeable) attribution.

Biofeedback gives the athlete real-time physiological data (e.g. heart rate) so they can learn to control their own arousal.

A continuous skill has no clear beginning or end and is repeated in a cycle (e.g. swimming, cycling, running).

Controlled/deep breathing lowers arousal by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing heart rate and muscle tension; it is one of AQA's three required mental-preparation techniques.

A discrete skill has a clear beginning and end and is performed as a single action (e.g. a penalty kick, a golf swing).

Drive theory predicts a linear relationship between arousal and performance: as arousal increases, performance increases (best when the skill is well-learned).

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Age

a socio-cultural factor that can act as a barrier to participation (e.g. fewer opportunities, perceived unsuitability, time pressures).

Beta-blockers

banned in precision sports such as archery and shooting because they lower heart rate and reduce hand tremor, giving an artificial accuracy advantage.

Blood doping

re-infusing stored red blood cells (or using EPO/artificial oxygen carriers) before competition to boost oxygen-carrying capacity and endurance.

Deviance

behaviour that breaks the written rules or laws of sport, such as doping or violence.

Disabled adults

about twice as likely to be physically inactive (around 43%) as non-disabled adults (around 23%).

Diuretics

misused for rapid weight loss in weight-category sports and as a masking agent to dilute urine and hide other banned drugs.

Performance-enhancing drug use

unethical because it gives an unfair advantage and violates the principle of fair competition.

EPO (erythropoietin)

used in doping because it stimulates red blood cell production, increasing the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity and aerobic endurance.

Hawk-Eye

the ball-tracking technology used to review officiating decisions in cricket and tennis.

Image rights

the financial value attached to an athlete's personal image and brand, which they can license for money.

Professional athlete

paid to compete, whereas an amateur is not.

Sportsmanship

playing fairly within the spirit of the game; gamesmanship is bending the rules to gain an advantage without technically breaking them.

Participation typically peaks in youth (school age) and then declines after people leave school.

Anabolic steroids mimic testosterone to increase muscle mass, strength and the ability to train harder — they do NOT decrease muscle mass.

A professional athlete can be treated as a commercial commodity: image rights, endorsements and transfer fees are tradeable assets.

Autologous blood transfusion uses the athlete's own previously stored blood; homologous transfusion uses another (donor's) blood.

A common barrier for people from lower socio-economic groups is cost — equipment, membership fees, facility charges and transport.

Disability acts as a barrier through inaccessible facilities, lack of adapted equipment and limited specialist coaching support.

Under-representation of a group in the media reduces the number of visible role models, which can discourage participation by that group.

Cultural or religious factors can act as barriers where dress codes, prayer times or requirements for gender-segregated settings conflict with mainstream sport norms.

Commercialisation does not benefit all athletes equally — high-profile men's sports attract far more money than women's sport and minority sports.

Specifications link physical activity to broader social, emotional and economic factors, not just physical fitness.

Etiquette in sport is the unwritten code of customary, respectful behaviour (e.g. shaking hands, kicking the ball out of play when an opponent is injured). It is distinct from the written rules and from gamesmanship.

Lower media coverage of women's sport reduces role models and cultural normalisation, a key driver of the gender participation gap.

The "golden triangle" is the interdependent relationship between three parts: sport, the media and sponsorship.

Human growth hormone (HGH) stimulates muscle growth and recovery but risks acromegaly and heart disease.

The media influences modern sport through funding (broadcast-rights fees), exposure (raising profiles), and control (changing kick-off times, formats and rules to suit broadcasters and sponsors).

Media coverage raises a sport's profile, attracting more spectators, sponsors and revenue.

Minority sports struggle to attract sponsorship because low media coverage means smaller audiences and a lower return on investment for sponsors.

National initiatives to raise participation in England include Sport England, the This Girl Can campaign and the Active Lives survey.

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Second Law

written F = m × a, NOT F = m ÷ a.

Inertia

a body's reluctance (resistance) to change its state of motion.

A bicep curl works through a third-class lever while a calf raise (plantarflexion) works through a second-class lever.

A cartwheel (side-to-side rotation) takes place in the frontal plane, rotating around the sagittal axis.

A first-class lever in the body is the neck: nodding/extending the head about the atlanto-occipital joint, with the joint as the fulcrum between the neck muscles (effort) and the weight of the head (load).

In a first-class lever the fulcrum lies in the middle, between the effort and the load.

The frontal (coronal) plane divides the body into front and back halves; abduction/adduction movements occur in it.

The harder a player strikes a ball (the greater the applied force), the greater the ball's acceleration, because for a fixed mass F = ma — a hard kick sends the ball faster and further than a soft one. [TeachPE, Newton's Laws of Motion] (retrieved 2026-06-11)

In the body the bone is the lever, the joint is the fulcrum, the muscle provides the effort and the body part (or external weight) is the load.

Every lever system has three components: a fulcrum (pivot), an effort (force applied) and a load (resistance to be moved).

The longitudinal (vertical) axis runs from head to toe; rotational movements turn about it.

The order in which the parts sit in the middle for first/second/third class is fulcrum, load, effort — remembered as "1-2-3 = F-L-E" (Fulcrum, Load, Effort).

Newton's First and Second laws underpin momentum: a moving body keeps its momentum until a force changes it; this is why larger or faster players are harder to stop.

Newton's First Law (the law of inertia): a body remains at rest, or continues to move at constant velocity in a straight line, unless acted on by an external (net) force.

Newton's Second Law: the acceleration of a body is proportional to the net force applied and inversely proportional to its mass — written as force = mass × acceleration (F = ma).

Newton's Third Law: for every action force there is an equal and opposite reaction force.

Each plane pairs with the axis perpendicular to it: sagittal plane ↔ transverse axis, frontal plane ↔ sagittal axis, transverse plane ↔ longitudinal axis.

The sagittal (anteroposterior) axis runs from front to back; side-to-side rotations turn about it.

The sagittal plane divides the body into left and right halves; flexion/extension movements occur in it.

Plantarflexion at the ankle (rising on tiptoes / a calf raise) is a second-class lever: the ball of the foot is the fulcrum, body weight is the load and the gastrocnemius supplies the effort.

In a second-class lever the load lies in the middle, between the fulcrum and the effort.

A second-class lever has the load nearer the fulcrum than the effort, giving a mechanical advantage greater than one, so a small effort can move a large load.

A heavier shot needs a greater force than a lighter shot to reach the same acceleration, because F = ma (more mass requires more force for equal acceleration).

A spinning ice skater rotates in the transverse plane, around the longitudinal (vertical) axis.

A forward (or backward) somersault takes place in the sagittal plane, rotating around the transverse axis.

A sprinter pushes backward on the starting blocks (action); the blocks exert an equal and opposite force forward on the sprinter (reaction), driving them out of the start.

A stationary sprinter has inertia and must apply a net force against the ground to overcome it and start moving (First Law).

A swimmer pushes water backwards (action) and the water pushes the swimmer forwards (reaction), generating propulsion.

Most levers in the body are third-class: they sacrifice mechanical advantage (force) to deliver a large range of movement and high speed at the end of the lever.

In a third-class lever the effort lies in the middle, between the fulcrum and the load.

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BMI (Body Mass Index)

body mass in kilograms divided by height in metres squared (kg/m²).

Carbohydrate loading

maximising muscle glycogen stores before an endurance event by increasing carbohydrate intake.

Carbohydrate (glucose/glycogen)

the body's preferred fuel for high-intensity exercise.

Ergogenic aid

a substance or method that improves performance.

Health

overall well-being, whereas fitness is the ability to meet the physical demands of the environment — they are not the same thing.

Sleep

important for athletes because it allows muscle repair, growth-hormone release and cognitive recovery.

Stress

not only negative — some arousal can improve focus and performance, so stress can have performance benefits as well as risks.

Regular physical activity benefits emotional health by releasing endorphins, reducing stress hormones and improving mood and self-esteem.

Chronic alcohol consumption harms sports performance by reducing reaction time, coordination and recovery, and by increasing dehydration.

A BMI of 30 or above is classified as obese in adults.

Endurance athletes eat carbohydrate during a race to replenish glycogen and maintain blood glucose, delaying fatigue.

Emotional (mental) health and well-being is the ability to manage emotions, cope with stress and maintain a positive state of mind.

A person can be physically fit but still have poor health (e.g. fit yet injured, stressed or socially isolated).

Even mild dehydration reduces concentration, strength and endurance, harming performance.

The NHS recommends adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate (or 75 minutes of vigorous) physical activity per week, plus strengthening on 2+ days.

Obesity linked to poor diet and inactivity raises the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, joint problems and some cancers.

Physical health and well-being is having body systems that work well, being free from illness and injury and able to carry out everyday physical tasks.

Protein's main dietary role for athletes is muscle repair and growth, not as a primary fuel.

A sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of cardiovascular disease: inactivity contributes to plaque build-up in the arteries and raised blood pressure.

Adequate sleep benefits athletic performance by allowing muscle repair and growth-hormone release during deep sleep.

Social health and well-being is having positive relationships, social support and a sense of belonging.

The WHO defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Heart-rate range

calculated as maximum heart rate minus resting heart rate (e.g. 200 − 60 = 140 bpm).

Median

the middle value of a data set when all the values are placed in order.

Mode

the value that occurs most frequently in a data set.

Percentage improvement

calculated as (change in value ÷ original value) × 100; e.g. a 1-mile time improving from 10 to 8 minutes is a 2 ÷ 10 × 100 = 20% improvement.

Qualitative data

the quality of a performance, usually capturing a person's opinion; its advantage is that it explains the "how and why", but it takes longer to analyse.

Quantitative data

a measurement recorded as a number (e.g. time in seconds, distance in metres, heart rate in bpm); its advantage is that statistics can be produced, but it does not explain why a result occurred.

Win percentage

calculated as (matches won ÷ total matches played) × 100; e.g. 18 of 24 matches = 75%.

An anomaly (outlier / extreme value) is a data point that is significantly different from the rest of the data and does not fit the general trend.

A bar chart shows the size of a series of data categories; the category with the tallest bar has the highest value (e.g. the greatest fitness score).

On a line graph, a steep upward gradient shows a value rising rapidly (e.g. heart rate rising quickly as exercise intensity increases); a downward gradient shows it falling.

The mean of a data set is calculated by adding up all the values and dividing by the number of values (total ÷ count).

Comparing pre- and post-training test scores (e.g. VO₂ max) lets a coach judge whether fitness has improved; a higher post-training score shows improvement, justifying an increase in training load.

The range of a data set is the highest value minus the lowest value, and it measures the spread of the data.

On a graph of oxygen uptake against workload, a plateau in oxygen uptake despite increasing workload shows the athlete has reached their maximum aerobic capacity (VO₂ max).