PhD, Associate Professor S.A. Vorobiev¹
PhD, Associate Professor A.A. Baryaev^1
1 St. Petersburg Scientific Research Institute of Physical Culture, St. Petersburg

Keywords: 2012 Paralympic Games, athletic training system, theoretical and practical service, climatic and geographic characteristics, physical fitness, technical and tactical fitness.

Background. Training system individualization is ranked among the key athletic training system design principles for elite sports at any stage of an annual training cycle. Individualization may be described as the customized set of optimal training provisions, methods and tools sensitive to the personality traits and progress needs, with a special priority to the progress/ success motivations building aspects [8]. Paralympic sports are very special in this context as their training systems are necessarily individualized at every stage of the long-term training process as required by the athletes’ health conditions, past injuries, rehabilitations systems and usual shortages of the skilled human reserves for the national teams. The theoretical and practical support service in disabled sports should be sensitive to the individual health conditions/ diagnoses, responses to the training workloads and tolerance of every vulnerable bodily system to the sport-specific stressors. The health/ physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness test systems applied in disabled sports may yield totally different test rates for the seemingly equally fit and skilled athletes [1, 2].

Objective of the study was to analyze benefits of the individual-diagnosis-specific pre- Paralympic Games annual training cycle completion stage.

Methods and structure of the study. The individual-diagnosis-specific pre-Paralympic Games final-stage training model was designed on the following provisions: individual adaptability tests; individual training service with versatile physical training elements; and the perfectly timed workload-management trainings. Precompetitive trainings for top-ranking international events are always customized to the local climatic and geographic factors of influence on the athletes’ physical fitness and physiological functions, with acclimatization viewed as not only the physiological adaptation to a new climate and geographical location (new time zone) but also mental adaptation to the new environment. This was the reason for us to analyze the climatic and geographic specifics of the Paralympic Games site to effectively customize the individual training systems.

The 2020 Paralympic Games rescheduled for 2021 will be held in Tokyo (Japan) in the period of August 25 to September 6. Under the Köppen and Geiger classification that prioritizes the air temperatures and precipitation statistics, the Japan climate is rated high-humid (Cfa-warm, temperate, humid). In the Russian territory a provisionally close climate is found in Crimea on the Black Sea coast. The similar climates may be found in China, Brazil and Argentina, with the air temperatures for the last 20 years averaging 26.4°С in August and 22.8°С in September with the air humidity averaging 71%. A forecast for the 2021 Paralympic Games period gives summer thunderstorms with heavy precipitation up to a few dozen mm; typhoons (with 77 typhoons reported for the last 10 years for this period with the wind speeds above 15 m/s); and earthquakes, since the local statistics give on average 1.1 earthquakes with magnitudes above 4 points per annum.

The local weather statistics for the Paralympic Games area for the last four years shows that the event will be run in hot and humid weather, with virtually no differences in these aspects with the 2012/ 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in London and Rio de Janeiro. It means that the acclimatization recommendations should be much the same as for the last two Paralympic Games.

Our precompetitive training and test model was piloted in the training systems of the Russian Paralympic track and field, swimming, goalball and judo teams as provided by the integrated physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness test and analytical system developed for the 2019 Paralympic Games. For the purposes of the study, we formed a coordination team to analyze the training systems, actual training workloads and individual physical, technical and tactical fitness test data. The model tests in a few national Paralympic sport teams made it possible to analyze the Paralympians’ fitness for the upcoming event and produce individual-diagnosis-specific physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness building profiles [3, 4, 6, 7].

The trainings were also designed to improve the theoretical knowledge and practical skills of the Paralympic national team coaches, plus the coaching teams were trained to test and analyze the individual physical fitness and technical and tactical fitness test data and learn how to collect and analyze the training progress and test data. The new knowledge and skills made it possible for the coaching teams to efficiently manage the individual training systems on a progress stage specific basis. The new theoretical and practical service elements of the model helped improve the precompetitive fitness of the teams [5].

Results and discussion. The integrated precompetitive test system and the individual physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness profiles made it possible to improve the training process efficiency due to the efficient management based on the individual progress profiles. The elite athletes’ individual training systems were customized for the individual theoretical and practical progress needs and specifics with account of the potential factors of influence on the expected competitive performance. Given in Table 1 and Figures hereunder are the sample individual test profiles with the competitive goals.

Table 1. Sample individual test profile with the competitive goals

Given on Figures 1 and 2 are the sample individual technical and tactical fitness profiles for the Paralympic track events.

Figure 1. 100m sprint: speed and stride variation profiles

Figure 2. 200m sprint: speed and stride variation profiles

The new training and test data were used to form a competitive dependability/ fitness profile (see Figure 3). Such individual and group precompetitive fitness profiles were formed for the sampled Paralympians whose training systems were managed in the annual training cycle completion stage as required by the individual progress profiles.

Figure 3. Individual competitive mental controls test profile

The study data and analysis made it possible to formulate the following requirements to the pre- Paralympic Games training service: optimal recovery rates upon qualifier competitions of different levels; continuous progress in the competitive physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness; good mental control and effective precompetitive mental conditioning system; competitive environment modeling to set fair limits and provisions for the precompetitive training system; optimal final-stage precompetitive training service to reach the physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness peak as a prerequisite for a competitive success.

Conclusion. The individual progress tests and profiles of the Paralympic sport elite made it possible to find individual predispositions, progress needs, priorities and resources in the vocational sports and effectively design and manage the training systems as required by the actual physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness progress needs and competitive situations. The trainings should ensure the Paralympians with different anthropomentric characteristics, health conditions, technical and tactical skills and performance styles having equal chances for a competitive success. Based on the study data and analyses, we offered the following theoretically grounded and practically tested recommendations for the annual training cycle completion stage:

 1) Develop, update and efficiently use modern fitness test systems sensitive to the individual physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness progress needs and health conditions/ diagnoses;

2) Account the training and test process in the special logbooks on the way to the 2021 Paralympic Games;

3) Establish a coordination group to manage the training and test process and keep track of the individual physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness variations versus the training workloads and progress benchmarks;

4) Support the special research teams providing the physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness progress test and management service to the national Paralympic teams in the training camps;

5) Offer good retraining/ advanced training service to the coaching groups of the Paralympic national teams to keep them informed on and skillful in the modern physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness test and management methods and tools; and

6) Effectively use the training progress, competitive performance and physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness test data to make the individual progress profiles with a special priority to the individual sensitivities to the training service aspects.

References

1. Abalyan A.G., Vorobev S.A., Baryaev A.A. Integrated pedagogical control accompanied by training of elite Paralympic athletes. Study guide. St. Petersburg: SPbNIIFK publ., 2018. 78 p.
2. Baryaev A.A., Korotkova A.K., Korotkov K.G., Baryabina V.Yu. Approaches to individualization of athletic training in Paralympic track and field athletics at final stage of annual training cycle. Innovative technologies in the system of sports training, mass physical education and sports. Proc. nat. res.-practical conference with international participation (October 17-18, 2019). St. Petersburg: SPbNIIFK publ., 2019. pp. 226-229.
3. Baryaev A.A., Vorobiev S.A., Golub Ya.V. New methods for studying and training attention in Paralympic sports training system. Adaptivnaya fizicheskaya kultura. 2017. No. 2. pp. 51-53.
4. Vorobyev S.A., Baryaev A.A., Voroshin I.N. Scientific and methodological support of training and competitive process in Paralympic sports: guidelines. St. Petersburg: SPbNIIFK publ., 2017. 44 p.
5. Vorobyev S.A., Baryaev A.A. Actions to improve comprehensive monitoring of athletes' fitness. Adaptivnaya fizicheskaya kultura. 2018. No. 3. pp. 4-5.
6. Voroshin I.N., Vorobyev S.A., Baryaev A.A. Principles of filling types of scientific and methodological support for Paralympic national teams of the Russian Federation. Adaptivnaya fizicheskaya kultura. 2017. No. 3. pp. 49-50.
7. Golub Ya.V., Vorobyev S.A., Baryaev A.A. Teamwork assessment methodology. Adaptivnaya fizicheskaya kultura. 2017. No. 2. pp. 34-36.
8. Gorelov A.A., Noskov M.S., Tretyakov A.A., Drogomeretskiy V.V. Individualization as basis for increasing effectiveness of sports activities. Sovremennye problemy nauki i obrazovaniya. 2015. No. 1. Available at: http://science-education.ru/ru/article/view?id=19927 (date of access: 27.09.2019).

Corresponding author: barsey@yandex.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to analyze benefits of the individual-diagnosis-specific pre- Paralympic Games annual training cycle completion stage.

Methods and structure of the study. The individual-diagnosis-specific pre-Paralympic Games final-stage training model was designed on the following provisions: individual adaptability tests; individual training service with versatile physical training elements; and the perfectly timed workload-management trainings. Precompetitive trainings for top-ranking international events are always customized to the local climatic and geographic factors of influence on the athletes’ physical fitness and physiological functions, with acclimatization viewed as not only the physiological adaptation to a new climate and geographical location (new time zone) but also mental adaptation to the new environment.

Results and conclusions. The individual progress tests and profiles of the Paralympic sport elite made it possible to find individual predispositions, progress needs, priorities and resources in the vocational sports and effectively design and manage the training systems as required by the actual physical fitness / technical and tactical fitness progress needs and competitive situations. The trainings should ensure the Paralympians with different anthropomentric characteristics, health conditions, technical and tactical skills and performance styles having equal chances for a competitive success. Based on the study data and analyses, the authors offered the following theoretically grounded and practically tested recommendations for the annual training cycle completion stage.