PhD, Associate Professor T.N. Shutova
Dr.Hab., Professor L.B. Andryushchenko
Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow

Keywords: integrated approach, motor activity, university students, physical education, fitness, test exercises, health.

Background. Presently the modern fitness technologies designed for the physical education process fostering the self-discovery, self-learning, and self-fulfilment processes are still largely underused in the academic and school physical education process. The academic/ school programs are dominated by the following: traditional physical education methods that imply group sessions managed as required by the valid strict regulations; very limited choice of optional physical improvement and fitness courses; underestimation of the prudent physical training process management including due rest breaks; negligent attitudes to content of fitness systems and musical illustrations; domination of gender-unspecific and non-individualized sets of exercises; inadequate progress tests to rate, on the one hand, the exercise performance quality and techniques with the relevant muscular groups development rates and, on the other hand, strength, speed-strength and coordination qualities and static endurance rates in the relevant muscular groups plus their fitness for explosive physical exercises [4].

The above deficiencies and drawbacks of the academic and school physical education and health programs are detrimental for the efficiency of the regular physical education and health improvement processes in particular and the national physical culture on the whole. The situation is further aggravated by the inadequacy of the theoretical and practical basics of the health improvement gymnastics on the whole and its fitness component in particular in application to the academic physical training systems that should be rather designed as a key and systemic element of the healthy lifestyles fostering culture [8, 9].

The above opinion is supported by L.B. Andryushenko who states that time has come for an innovative physical education system based on sound theoretical grounds to enrich with senses and values and unite the presently disintegrated fields of the physical education theory reformation process. The reforms may be advanced in the national education system by a broad application of the science-intensive high technologies now used only in elite sports and special health improvement systems. Furthermore, the efforts to increase the students’ motivations for and values-driven progress in the academic physical education process will be more efficient if the relevant academic programs are duly customised to the students’ needs and expectations in the physical culture and sport domain on the gender-, age-, social-status- and demography-specific basis [1, 2].

The existing physical education system will be developed so as to make it more flexible and customised to the social values and behavioural models to offer emotionally appealing training programs for young people – to help them develop due positive and socially responsible behavioural models and opt for socially appreciated activities, with due regard to the local historical backgrounds and the most effective mechanisms to involve them into socially valuable and productive practices.

In the context of the ongoing reform, it may be pertinent to make an emphasis on the best international experiences of the European nations, US and, to a degree, homeland enthusiasts in terms of the increasingly popular physical education concepts giving a top priority to reasonable fitness practices that even sometimes referred to as “global sport for all”. As mentioned by V.I. Stolyarov, a typical case in point is provided by the Physical Best education system lately offered by the US theoreticians and practitioners that may be described as a multisided physical conditioning subsystem within a standard physical education system geared to help the trainees accumulate and build up necessary knowledge, skills, interests, behavioural models for a physically versatile, active and healthy lifestyle [7].

The above considerations confirm the need for the traditional physical education system being revised and reformed to meet the demand for innovative technologies; integrate the traditional academic sport disciplines with fitness practices; and offer new progress rating tests to lure students in the academic physical education and sports and thereby improve the students’ population physical fitness rates so as to make them fit, among other things, for the GTO Complex tests; reverse the negative health and physical fitness sagging trend on the way from the 1^st to the 3^rd year; and improve students’ health in general [1, 2, 8]. For the reform success, due efforts need to be taken to find the ways to foster the students’ conscientious attitudes to personal physical conditioning and excelling agenda within the academic team progress; ensure due versatility of the academic physical practices and training infrastructure; and apply productive competitive technologies in training sessions.

Objective of the study was to provide due theoretical grounds for a special academic fitness course supported by the progress rating tests in the academic physical education process.

Methods and structure of the study. The existing fitness systems, programs and the specific and integrated technologies give the means to flexibly design academic physical education practices on a customized, individualized and personality-developing basis to foster due specific competences in the physical culture and sport domain and ensure due academic progress in the functional and physical aspects by the physical intensity of the training sessions being duly designed and managed. It should be noted in this context that modern fitness practices embrace traditions and practices of classical general physical conditioning disciplines; wrestling sports; healthy-lifestyle-centred culture; socially appreciated and effective health improvement practices; are designed with due emphasis on the functional and developmental aspects of the process; and help shape up a socially appealing and fashionable fitness culture in students.

According to the Y.V. Menkhin’s classification (2002), fitness falls within the health improvement gymnastics domain [3]. Generally, fitness practices are designed to contribute to motivational, aesthetic, general conditioning, cognitive and strength and functionality developing components of the academic physical education on the one hand; and give the means to modify, vary and adapt the standard academic physical education forms. As provided by E.G. Saikina, fitness may be interpreted as the innovative physical culture domain integrating high training technologies, tools, methods and forms with the relevant modern equipment being applied to facilitate the health and physical performance improvement activity [5, 6]. The health improvement components of modern fitness practices include the following: athletic gymnastics, walking and running, aerobics, oriental health systems, basics of martial arts, swimming, team sports, pilates, fitball gymnastics, crossfit, water fitness and yoga.

A modern fitness program may be described as a special systemic form of physical practices driven mostly by health improvement and sporting goals. The health improvement domain of the fitness programs will be designed to scale down the sickness rates and health risks and develop and maintain the required physical fitness standards. Fitness programs are generally categorized by objectives and age-specific designs, technical provisions and effects on the trainees’ functionality. Furthermore, fitness programs will be designed with due priority to their innovative, integrative, flexibility, versatility and adaptive capability aspects to make them easily customizable to specific groups of trainees and at the same time highly aesthetic, harmonic, and health-efficient. As provided by the valid All-Russian Classification of Goods and Services, fitness programs are classified as follows: aerobics; bodypump, combined, dancing and oriental martial arts based programs.

Fitness technologies may be described as the combination of theoretically grounded tools, fitness programs and practical procedures designed for specific or inclusive purposes and including one or several fitness fields for the trainees’ functionality and physicality advancement based on body conditioning practices.

Subject to the study were 1050 young women and 406 young men, full-time first-to-third-year students of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics (PRUE) qualified with the regular and special health groups. The study was performed within the frame of the “Physical culture and health technologies for the PRUE students’ and personnel’s health protection and improvement” Research Project supported by the University own grant financing.

We have developed a model physical education system with the relevant design and content based on modern fitness practices and traditional academic sport disciplines duly adapted to the academic education environment; with the fitness-based physical education system including interval training, cycling, combined effect method, relevant modules (“meso-cycles”) and special gender-, primary-physicality- and health-specific programs.

We have also developed a initial training method for athletic gymnastics, aerobics, functionality training, crossfit and billiards practices for special health group students, the method being applicable in the regular academic physical education system. The development was supported by a fitness-driven physicality improvement education model to secure due fitness of the trainees for the GTO Complex tests.

Furthermore, we have developed and implemented a set of new progress rating test exercises derived from the modern fitness system to help manage the theoretical and practical learning process based on due progress tests and monitoring in the academic physical education process. Later on we are going to develop and implement gender-specific progress test standards for the regular and special health group students.

Study results and discussion

Test exercises

Plank Test Exercise (seconds) is designed to develop static endurance by intensive loads with a focus on the abdomen muscles. Starting position: forearm rest, the position being kept “to failure”, with the sagging waist being considered a fault. The static workload in the Plank Test Exercise helps strengthen the abdominal deep muscles, core muscles and the lower and upper limb muscles.

Jumping Squat Test Exercise (reps) is the progress rating test exercise designed to rate the trainee’s explosive strength i.e. the speed-strength qualities and anaerobic physical performance. Starting position: fully squatted posture on tips with the arms touching the floor, the jumps being executed on “start” command with an overhead clap in the top point and with the legs in aerial position fully stretched in knee joints, followed by landing to the starting position.

Static Strength of Legs Test Exercise (seconds) designed to test the static endurance of the lower limb muscles and the general fitness/ condition. Starting position: aerial sitting with one's back to the wall, legs bent at 90 degrees in the so-called “chair sitting” posture, with hands stretched in front of the body, the position being kept “till failure”. The exercise strengthens the musculus quadriceps femoris, semi-transverse muscles, musculus biceps femoris, gluteus muscles etc.

Barbell Lifting Overhead Test Exercise (times) is designed to rate speed-strength qualities, strength of musculus pectoralis major, musculus deltoideus, explosive strength of arms and shoulder girdle. Starting position: standing with 15 kg barbell for men and 7 kg body-bar for women on the chest. The weight is lifted overhead with arms fully stretched to make as many lifts as possible per minute. The exercise strengthens musculus pectoralis major, musculus deltoideus, musculus teres minor and major, broadest muscle of back, musculus trapezius and other muscles.

Back squats Test Exercise (points) designed to test coordination and physical strength. The exercise is performed standing with 20 kg barbell for men and 10 kg body-bar for women on the rack. Athlete will come to the rack, place the barbell behind the head on the shoulders in the zone of the 6-8 cervical vertebrae, take the barbell off the rack, move away from the rack and squat 10 times with the thighs parallel to the floor in the lower point. Rated by the test exercise is coordination skill, leg bending angle, correct posture, movement harmony and balance. Young women from the special health group will execute the exercise with a 5 kg body-bar. The exercise performance is rated on a 10-point scale.

Bench Press Test Exercise (points) designed to rate performance technique and strength, the exercise being standard for athletic gymnastics. The exercise strengthens musculus pectoralis major and minor. Starting position: back-down prone on a horizontal bench with feet on the floor, waist slightly arched, the barbell placed opposite the eyes and grip wider than shoulders (as indicated by marks on the barbell). The barbell will be taken off the rack, put on the chest and pressed up till the arms are fully stretched with the weight of 40 kg for men, 10 kg for women and 7 kg for the special health group women. The exercise will be performed 10 times, the performance being rated by experts. Subject to rating is the following: arms bending angle, movement trajectory, harmony of the bench press sequence, breathing technique and execution pace. The exercise performance is rated on a 10-point scale.

Deadlift Test Exercise (points). From the standing positions with feet wide apart, the legs will be bent till thighs are parallel to the ground; the loaded barbell will be lifted off the ground to the hips, then lowered back to the ground 10 times. The load is 30 kg for men and 7 kg for women. Subject to the expert rating is movement harmony, back position control, barbell lifting trajectory, breathing technique and legs bending angle. The exercise performance is rated on a 10-point scale.

Conclusion. The traditional academic sports integrated with the special fitness practices were found beneficial for the students’ physicality improvement as verified by the set of physical fitness rating test exercises (p<0.05) in the study taking one academic year, with the young men’ progress being particularly high in the following tests: plank test execution progress from 45 to 115 seconds; pull-ups; squatted jump test progress from 29 to 53 reps; push-ups; and the deadlift test progress from 5.6 to 9.0 points. The young women showed the following progress in the tests: the plank test progress from 35 to 86.7 seconds; the squats test progress from 4.4 to 8.9 points; and the static strength of legs test progress from 28.3 to 63 seconds. The progress of both gender subgroups was secured by the optimal combination of the special fitness practices with the traditional academic sport disciplines. A survey of the subjects by special questionnaire forms and interviews showed every gender- and age-specific subgroup self-rating own progress fairly high as a result of the special fitness course, with the individual well-being reported to improve from 5.5 to 7.1 points; and the academic physical education quality on the whole reported to improve from 6.8 to 8.5 points.

References

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Corresponding author: tany-156@rambler.ru

Abstract

The Russian national education system is in the process of the Bologna System implementation project designed to help integrate the national higher school with the European educational environment. The study was designed to consider the promising ways of the modern fitness technology application to help control, among other things, obesity viewed by many as a global epidemic. It is in this context that the international research community gives an increasingly high priority to the physical education system reforms to secure high educational and health standards worldwide. The article considers theoretical basics for the applicable fitness technologies and their benefits for the academic physical education system provided the relevant training processes are modernized with their contents, values, components and technologies being duly revised. An educational experiment under the study was geared to develop and test the design and content of the fitness-driven physical education process and offer a frame primary education model. As a result, a physical fitness building educational model was developed to help train students for the GTO Complex tests via the fitness-driven practices, the progress being verified by a set of test exercises.