M.M. Kovylin, professor, Ph.D.
A.A. Peredel'sky, associate professor, Dr.Hab.
Russian State University of Physical Culture, Sport, Youth and Tourism (SCOLIPC), Moscow

Keywords: educational experiment, BMX cycling, pre-season, psychophysical prevention, motor imagery practice.

Relevance. The study is relevant due to the necessity of presenting in the program-systematic form the results obtained during the psychophysical diagnostics of the level and quality of training of BMX racers (the material presented in the previous paper).

The purpose of the study was to develop the pre-season phase of the organization and conduct of the educational experiment with regard to the psychophysical support of the training process in BMX racing.

Results and discussion. Using the recommendations resulting from the psychophysical diagnostics together with the technical and tactical analysis, we can move to planning of general and special training sessions for BMX racers under a single experimental educational program developed on the basis of the stated psychophysical approach. So, thus we move from the preliminary, investigatory phase to the next phase of organization and conduct of the experiment claimed, namely to the preparatory phase of development of the pedagogical psychophysical program planning or maintenance.

This phase consists of several stages or levels:

- psychophysical prevention;

- general motor imagery training and body motor psychophysical activities;

- special motor imagery training and body motor psychophysical activities.

The psychophysical prevention level implies a strong skill to do regular comprehensive joint-muscle exercises and a specialized motor-respiratory set. The first one is required to maintain muscle tone and to provide a regular check of the performance and safety of the normal physical functions. The second is intended for a purposefully pursued enhanced regulation of respiration and intensive preparation of the body for overloads.

At the stage of the general motor imagery practice in the passive meditation mode, the subjects, lying on their back or sitting in a comfortable, relaxed position, develop certain figurative associative arrays of ideas with the view of emptying the mind and its liberation from all that is inessential up to the level of zero-sensory perception and merging with the mental image of the void. The implementation of this procedure and the achievement of the desired result should allow the cyclist to stop being afraid of losing the race, to learn not to be afraid for their physical bodies, to suppress or neutralize all the thoughts and feelings associated with these fears. As a result, owing to the well-trained psycho-physical biosomatic integrity it is possible to fully and without subjective influences and distortions realize and implement all its special, brought to automaticity, tried-and-tested skills.

At this stage and under the same conditions it is important to instill and internalize in the experimental contingent an ideological concept, transforming it from an external affirmation into an inner conviction, a conscious credo (a symbol of faith) and an unconscious impulse of life and behavior of each participant in the experiment. The essence of the given ideological concept is quite simple. Cycle track is a reduced and stylized model of our life. In turn, all of life's troubles and problems of a man stem from an incorrect understanding of the opposition and antagonism between him and the world around him. It should be understood that, in fact, we are all an integral and inseparable part of our world. Moreover, we always see the world through the prism of our own "self", being aware of it entirely subjectively. It should be reinforced in the view that we are the world around us. At least the surrounding environment should be perceived in this manner by our senses and presented to our consciousness in a particular area of life. Our behavior and activities in life in general and on the track in particular must be firmly and confidently built on the basis of the given affirmation. There can be no opposition between the track and the cyclist. They are the one and inseparable whole, so there are no chances or unpredictable and uncontrollable moments, but there is only a holistic, conscious of itself, self-governing system.

Mastering of the level of the overall work in an active-meditative body-motion mode involves studying and repetition of a specialized combat complex, simulating a circular sliding motion of a fighter through life (in our case - sliding of a cyclist through the track). Like the life journey, the track abounds with jumps and steep turns, ups and downs, it has its start and finish. This specialized system is designed to generate a motor skill of sliding through the track, its psychophysically competent passage from the beginning to the end, at maximum concentration, without any stops and delays.

The third stage of the described phase - the stage of special training or special work that involves multiple motor-imagery and direct body-motion psychophysical passing trough the track sections and the track as a whole. The ideal and the material work here include both the preliminary and the main parts.

The preliminary part is the outlined earlier, as a recommendation, subliminal autotraining and body-motion exercises done in a particular sequence on a stationary bike.

The main part is essentially a special training based on three levels of active meditation directly on the track. The number of training sessions on the track is determined by the degree of achievement of the highest possible and at the same time stable qualitative and quantitative result when passing through each set of relatively autonomous areas (parts, fragments) of the track and the entire track as a whole by each participant of the experiment. Conducting this kind of training does not double the scheduled special physical training program but rather gives this program a somewhat different quality, a greater depth and the ability to provide more detailed control and management on the part of a psychologist (as an assistant to the head coach of the BMX riders) and, accordingly, from the head coach himself relying on the said control and management lever in a sports and educational work.

Training session №1.

Subject: motor imagery work with an integral image of the track.

Exercises in passive meditation mode, seated on a stationary bike or cycling on a bike, at the starting position:

- take a quick look at the plan of the track or on the track itself; then close your eyes and mentally playback the image of the track, from memory; open your eyes and continue correlating the imaginary image of the track with the original one; repeat this procedure, ensuring a more rapid reproduction;

- take a piece of paper and a pencil, with your eyes closed, quickly, without lifting the hand, draw a scheme of the track; then open your eyes and correlate the drawn scheme with the original; do this a few times, speeding up the pace of drawing and striving for accuracy of the likeness;

- having drawn the track scheme with eyes closed and having left the pencil at the point where the drawing was finished, when directed by the teacher, move the pencil on a particular section of the track on the scheme, at the same time imagining this section, mentally as if it was real;

- with a plan of the track in mind, also mentally put a relative point (a cyclist) at the starting position and in the motor-imagery manner (ideomotorically) slide with this point passing through all sections of the route faster and faster, until the instant passage of all the fragments of the track is achieved. The task can be complicated by mentally placing yourself at the beginning of the mental image of the real track and consistently moving through the track.

Note: All results for each attempt of each of the examined subjects are carefully recorded and stored in a special journal by a teacher-psychologist. The number of attempts depends on the subjects' learning progress to the level of complete mastering of the task.

Training session №2.

Subject: A special breathing pattern during the motor imagery work.

Exercises in passive and active meditation modes on a stationary bike:

- setting the breath with eyes closed in different pedaling modes, simulating the passage of various sections of the track with mental playback of the images of these areas;

- motor imagery sliding of a relative point (a cyclist) through the scheme or an integral mental image of the track with the correct breathing mode, without pedaling;

- the same, but with pedaling in the appropriate mode.

Note: All the results are still noted and recorded by the psychologist; the number of attempts also depends on the state of the desired result achievement.

Training session №3.

Subject: a targeted stimulation of muscular work.

Exercises in the passive and active meditation modes on a stationary bike:

- alternating tension and relaxation of various muscle groups, individually, without pedaling, when being generally relaxed;

- Working on contraction of certain muscle groups while simulating the passage of certain sections of the track, but in the absence of pedaling;

- repetition of the first exercise with pedaling;

- repetition of the second exercise with pedaling;

- with your eyes closed imagine yourself passing throughout the track and synchronize together the modes of pedaling, breathing and contraction / relaxation of the targeted muscle groups.

Note: in this case the psychologist provides excessive number of attempts due to the difficulty of the task and for the stabilization of the result.

Training session №4.

Subject: passive and active meditation work with established image-associative systems (chains) and recommended exercises.

Exercises in the passive and active meditation modes on a stationary bike performed conditionally:

- at the starting position before the bar drops;

- at the starting position at the moment of the bar drop;

- when moving on the starting slope;

- during the passage of the take-off ramp;

- at the bend;

- while confronting a rival;

- when passing the whole track in general.

Training session №5.

Subject: Exercises in the three-level active meditation mode on the track.

Exercises in the active meditation mode at the cycle track, performed:

- at the starting position before the bar drops;

- at the starting position at the moment of the bar drop;

- when moving on the starting slope;

- when passing the take-off ramp;

- at the bend;

- while confronting a rival;

- when passing the whole track in general.

The amount of training sessions for each subject is determined by the appearance and stabilization of significant positive changes. The calculation is performed based on the last person in the experimental group.

Conclusion. In conclusion, it should be noted that thanks to the foregoing program plan one can move directly to the main or implementation phase of the educational experiment with elite BMX racers.

References

1. Peredel'sky, A.A. Drevnegrecheskoe fizicheskoe vospitanie i agonistika, drevnerimskiy sport kak antologicheskaya osnova dlya geneticheskogo opredeleniya ponyatiy «fizicheskaya kul’tura» i «sport” (Ancient Greek physical education and agonistics, Ancient Roman sport as an anthological basis for the genetic definition of "physical culture" and "sport") / A.A. Peredel'sky, S.A. Konikov // Fizicheskaya kul’tura: vospitanie, obrazovanie, trenirovka. – 2010. – № 5. – P. 59–64.

Corresponding author: kmm-74@mail.ru