44 KINESIOLOGIASLOVENICA 1995; 2 (1): 44-49 Antonin Rychtecky* Miloš Pauer* Vojtech Janouch * Bohuslav Sjkora* František Stejskal * EFFECT OF DIFFERENT PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES ON PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE AND SOME PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUNGSTERS AGED 11 - 14 YEARS UČINEK RAZLIČNIH TELESNIH AKTIVNOSTI NA ZMOGLJIVQST IN NIKATERE PSIHOFIZlOLOSKE ZN4CILNOSTI 11 DO 14 LETNIH UCENCEV IN UCENK ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to verify the effective- ness of physical activities of various levels of i ntensi- ty, realized within the range of compulsory, non- compulsory and other interest physical activities of pupils aged 11 - 14 years. A sample of 240 observed pupils was divided into two groups. One group (25 boys, 25 girls) with a high and the second one (25 boys, 25 girls) with low intensity physical activities. The intensity of physical activity was diagnosed by means of questionnaires and quantified in outputof energy given as a percentage of their basic metabolism. The results in other methods, such as the physiological tests (oxygen consumption; Ruffier's test), psychological tests (need for achieve- ment, EPI) and several motor abilities tests; confirm that children with intensive physical activity attain significantly: - better performances in most of the motor abilities tests, - higher values in oxygen con- sumption; nonsignificantly: - favourable indices in the ach ivement motivation test (net motivation). The final analysis recommends that teachers of physical education encourage positive attitudes towards physical activity in children for improvementof their regular physical activity (health and education be- nefits). Furthermore, they should support and de- velop the spontaneous physical activity of children together with the parents. Key words: physical activity, physical performance, effectiveness of physical activity, achievement moti- vation. *Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic IZVLEČEK Namen raziskave je bil preverjanje učinkovitosti ob- veznih in neobveznih telesnih aktivnosti različne in- tenzivnosti in drugih interesnih dejavnosti 11 da 14 letne šolske mladine. Vzorec 240 učencev in učenk smo razdelili v dve skupini. Ena skupina (25 dečkov in 25 deklic) se je ukvarjala s telesno vadbo zelo in- tenzivno, druga (25 dečkov in 25 deklic) pa manj in- tenzivno. Diagnozo intenzivnosti smo postavili s pomočjo vprašalnika, zmogljivost pa izmerili s pro- centom bazičnega metabolizma. Rezultati drugih metod kot fiziološki testi (poraba kisika, Ruffierjev test), psihološki testi (želja po uspehu, EPI) in več testov za ugotavljanje motoričnih sposobnosti potr- jujejo, da so učenci z intenzivno telesno vadbo sig- nifikantno napredovali: dosegli so boljše rezultate pri večini motoričnih testov, višje vrednosti pri pora- bi kisika. Nesignigikantno: ugodni kazalci pri testu za ugotavljanje motiviranosti za uspeh. Končna ana- liza pa priporoča učiteljem športne vzgoje, da spod- bujajo pri svojih učencih pozitivni odnos do telesnih aktivnosti za izboljšanje svoje redne športne vzgoje (zdravstvene in vzgojne koristi ). Nadalje naj bi pod- pirali in razvijali spontano telesno aktivnost skupaj s starši. Ključne besede: telesna aktivnost, uspeh, učinkovi­ tost telesne aktivnosti, motivacija Antonin Rychtecky, Miloš Pauer, Vojtech Janouch, Bohuslav Sykora, František Stejskal 4 5 EFFECT OF DIFFERENT PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES ON PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE ANO SOME PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL. .. lntroduction Asa consequence of the technical and technological progress the physical activity of young people is less intensive than before. This is detrimental because the function of movement for children, compared w ith the adult population, is more important. The optimal amountof physical activity for children is not only a means to improve health, physical efficiency and performance, but also an important factor in stimulating and coordinating their development. We should not forget this important educational func- tion. The development of individuals depend also on themselves. The subject selects from the enviro- ment the stimuli which are attractive to him. This ac- tivity increases during the ontogenetic development. The analysis of physical efficiency and performfnce of young people in Czechoslovakia indic~tes (PAVE K 1972, KOSTKA at al 1987; RYCHTECKY 1989) that the usual physical activities (locomotion, school pro- gram me, spontaneous games) and physical educa- tion in schools are notsufficient far their optimal de- velopment. Other forms of physical activities (school, sport clubs, spontaneous activity etc.) are also very important. These activities influence not only the physical development of you ng people, but they contribute to the formation of attitudes towards physical education and also other personality traits. The purpose of the present study was to verify the effectiveness of various physical activities of different intensity. The above-mentioned physical activities cover the range of compulsory, non-compulsory and other physical activities of interest in the develop- ment of the average pupil of 11 -14 years of age. It was hypothesized that youngsters - boys and girls in the followed age period involved in a more intensive motor regime attain in their development h igher norms in physiological (oxygen consumption, Ruffie'r s index), psychological (achivement motiva- tion) characteristics and higher indices in physical performance (tests of motor abilities) . Methods The resarch was conducted with pupils from two pri- maryschools in Prague, wh ich offers favourable con- ditions for physical education. The fo llowing meth- ods were used: l. Somatometry: - body height /cm/ - body weight /kg/ - body fat, measured of skinfold in musc. triceps brachii and estimate of the p~~centage of body fat, by approach, verified by PARIZKOVA (1977) /%/ II. Tests of motor abilities - standing broad jump /cm/ - flexed arms hang /si - sit-ups (120 s) /number/ - 50 m dash /si - 12-minutes-run /ml III. Physiology - everyday physical activities programme, registred by questionnai res, during a week. Output of energy in percentage of basic metabolism /% BM/ (SELIGER 1974) - efficiency of cardiovascular system - Rufrier's in- dex. In this testwe follow the changes in pulse rate (PR): 1) at rest; 2) after a standard workload (30 complete knee-bends in 45 seconds); 3) one minute after workload. Fram the sum of the three PR we than calculate the index according to the f I PR, + PR2 + PR3 - 200 ormu a: --'----"-----"---=-= 10 / index/, (STUBLLER 1966) - multi-stage 20 m shuttle run test (VOifml/kg* min-1/) (LEGER & LAMBERT 1982) - bicycle-ergometry test (VOifml/kg*min-1/) IV. Psychology - achievement need questionnary test, diagnosing the motivation behind total and netachievement / points/ (HOŠEK, MAN & KLIMA 1979) - personality traits, EPI - junior form / po ints/ EYSENCK (1960). In our study, in which 240 pupils took part, we used a questionnaire derived by SELINGER (1974), in or- der to estimate a complex of physical activities both organized and spontaneous, during a period of one week. The advantage of that method is evidently in the possibil ity to measure a long period of t irne. lts disadvantage results from great demands on a good collaboration between pupils and researchers and from the necessity to control the obtained data. The questionnaire, w hich is used quite frequently in practice, enables the expression of intensity of partial physical exerc ise and ali kinds of physical activity through the output of energy (percentage of indivi- dual rate of basic metabolism). The relationsh ip be- tween the data on movement activities acquired w ith the help of questionnaires and, on the other hand, by measuring energy output, i.e., pulse rate, has been verified by STEPHARD (1967). In our re- sarch the pupils filled in the forms carefully. They filled in all thei r physical act ivities for 24 hours dur- ing a whole week. Their writen reports were then transferred to a quantitative scale according to the intensi ty of thei r physical activity (there are eight 46 Antonin Rychtecky, Miloš Pauer, Vojtech Janouch, Bohu slav Sykora, František Stejskal EFFECT OF DIFFERENT PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES ON PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE ANO SOME PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL. .. 'l. of BH 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 GO 40 20 o BOVS 6IRLS high l'IOYel'lent - attiYity low l'IOYel'lent 0 attiYity * p < O. OS **P < 0. 01 Fig. 1. Results in physica/ activity (weekly movement activity pro- gram me) stages; from the first - lying down asleep, to the eigth - active movement of considerable intensity) and ex- pressed them as an output of energy (percentage of their basic metabolism). For our study 25 (boys, girls) w ith low physical acti - vities in their everyday program me were selected as were and 25 (boys, girls) w ith high physical activities in accordance with of their percentage of basic metabol ism (% BM), measured during a period of one week (see Fig. 1 ). The achievement need was diagnosed by the q~es- tionnaire MOWK-II-SK (HOSEK, MAN KLIMA 1979). This questionnaire tests two basic tendencies in the achievement need: the expecatation to suc- ceed (ES) and the fear of failure (FF). By adding these tendencis together (ES + FF) we get the total achievement motivation and by substracting them (ES - FF) we get the net achievement motivation. Results The results obtained from the measurementof phys- ical activities of the observed youngsters made it pos- sible to form two groups. One group with a high (out- put of energy more than 185% of BM) and the se- cond one with a low (output of energy less than 170% of BM) intensity physical activity. The results of other methods are presented in Table 1 (boys) and Table 2 (gi rls). The evaluation of somatometric data shows signifi- cant (p 0.01 ) differences in body weight and body fat. The boys and girls with a low intensity of physical activity have higher values of body weight (t = 3.009; t = 3.295) and body fat (t = 3.634; t = 3.500). These fi ndings correspond with the physio- logical results obtained in estimating oxygen con- sumption in the multi-stage 20 m shuttle run test (t= 13.363; t = 7.765) and in the bicycle-ergometrytest in the laboratory (t= 3.506; resp. t. = 2.700). The pupils (boys and girls) with a weekly regi me of high physical activities attained significantly (p 0.01; p O.OS) higher oxygen consumption in both tests.The higher indices of oxygen consumption in the multi- stage 20 m shuttle run test we explain by inter-indi- TABLE 1 Results in observed indices (boys, N = 25 in each group) Group with: High movement activity low movement activity more than 185 % BM less than 170 % BM indices Mean SD Mean SD Body height (cm) 148.20 6.23 153.50 8.59 Body weight (kg) 47.54 5.87 46.41 8.67 Bodyfat (%) 14.65 2.46 20.05 4.71 Output of energ. (% BM) 192.90 12.12 163.30 8.34 Ruffier's index (index) 8.65 3.28 17.67 3.47 20 m shutt. run (VO2/ml/kg*min- 1) 54.84 2.09 44.27 1.74 bic. ergom.NO2/ml/kg*min- 1) 47.61 4.28 41.92 3.77 Stand. broad jump (cm) 169.46 14.55 156.77 20.36 50 m dash (s) 8.64 0.62 9. 16 0.69 12 min run (m) 2451.25 263.43 2043.33 165.56 Bent-arms hang (s) 51.31 20.60 19.70 12.73 Sit-ups (numb/120 s) 68.46 18.05 50.62 10.83 Total motivation (points) 48.50 7.69 46.00 10.60 Net motivation (points) 33.15 9.63 31.55 7.93 Extroversion (poi nts) 14.92 4.89 16.50 2.53 Neurot. tendenc. (points) 11 .70 3.09 11 .80 5.54 * p < o.os ** p < 0.01 t- test 1.783 3.009 3.634 7.032 6.736 13.363 3.506 1.799 1.992 4.579 4.573 2.955 0.677 0.452 1.896 0.923 p ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Antonfn Rychtecky, Miloš Pauer, Vojtech Janouch, Bohuslav Sykora, František Stejskal 4 7 EFFECT OF DIFFERENT PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES ON PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE ANO SOME PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL ... TABLE 2 Results in observed indices (girls, N = 25 in each group) Groupwith: High movement activity low movement activity more than 185 % BM less than 170 % BM indices M ean SD Body height (cm) 155.20 9.84 Body weight (kg) 44.85 8.82 Body fat (%) 20.34 2.65 Output of energ. (% BM) 193.40 11 .07 Ruffier's index (index) 9.67 4.82 20 m shutt. run (VO2/ml/kg*min- 1) 51.38 2.33 bic. ergom.NO2/ml/kg*min- 1) 40.30 6.07 Stanci. broad j ump (cm) 173.50 23.26 50 m dash (s) 9.09 0.67 Mean 5D 159.50 6.42 56.26 8.41 25.54 4.57 161.10 6.97 17.35 4.35 42.96 3.07 33.00 6.90 145.00 14.12 9.76 0.76 t-test 1.277 3.295 3.500 6.105 4.150 7.765 2.700 3.650 7.980 p ** ** ** ** ** ** 12 min run (m) 2214.66 271.99 1741.45 154.44 5.149 ** ** ** Bent-arms hang {s) 34.92 Sit-ups (numb/120 s) 59.08 Total motivation (points) 44.30 Net motivation (points) 42.84 Extroversion (points) 16.53 Neurot. tendenc. (points) 13.92 * p < O.OS ** p < 0.01 vidual competition, w hich arrises among the sub- jects during the testing procedures (see Fig. 2.) . The better efficeincy of the cardiovascular system of groups with higher physical activity was confirmed also in the Ruffier's index (t = 6.736; t = 4.1 50). The positive effect of intensive physical activities is evident from the parameters o f physical perfor- mance. The results in tables 1 and 2 indicate that higher level of spontaneous physical activities consi- tutes an important part in the structure of physical VO Ma x, Cr, l / kg*.., in - J. l 15.44 13.07 17.24 3.333 12.35 42.83 10.11 3.560 5.95 34.00 11 .27 0.554 7.17 37.07 10.13 0.452 2.43 15.58 3.94 1.256 5.32 15.15 4.62 2.212 activities of the observed pupils and has also a posi- tive effecton thei r physical performance. The investigated differences are in most cases (ex- cluding standing broad jump and 50 m dash for boys) statisticaly significant. For example the differ- ences in the 12-minute-run (t = 4.579; T = 5.149), reflect not only the amount of persistence (see Fig. 4.), butalso the influence of achievement need (see Fig. 3.) of the more active youngsters (RYCHTENCKY 1988). 60 ,..._ _______________ __, so- 40 - 30 - 20 - 10 - o- t =13 . 36 ** 7- BOVS 20,,, shuttl e run test t=7 .76 . . ·.·. ** GIRLS 1 bicycle - ergoMetry t est Fig. 2. Results in oxygen consumption - -t =2.70 -::::: :::::r--- high MoveMent • activi ty lo1i1 r,over,ent D activity * p < O. 05 ** p < O. 01 48 Antonin Rychtecky, Miloš Pauer, Vojtech Janouch, Bohuslav Sykora, František Stejskal EFFECT OF DIFFERENT PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES ON PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE ANO SOME PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL . points 50-4----------------------, t=0 .67 40 high r,over,ent ,._---{;:Ir----, CTM) 11111 a c. ti vi ty t=0 .55 30 20 10 o BOVS total r,otivation CTH) (TM) : : loH _M~ver,ent >-------< O ac. t l V l ty high r,over,ent f------i (HM) ~ ac. ti vi ty loH r,over,ent f----_, (HM) 0 ac.tivity 1 net r,otivation (HH) ---+' Fig. 3. Resu/ts in achievement motivation m 2,5 -+--- -==-------------, ,,., "'O C: ~ 1.5-4---- :::, o ,!: ~ ._, BOVS Fig. 4. Results in 12 min. run Discussion GIRLS The analysis of everyday physical activities of the ob- served youngsters confirms our hypothesis that spontaneous physical activities of children (playing with friends, physical activity, games and activites with their parents etc.) form the most important component of physical activities of their life and bring positive health and educational benefits. Other intresting resu lts show (Table1 and Table 2) that chi ldren with more intensive physical activities and better physical performance are smaller (non- significant), weigh less and especially have less body fat. These pupils (boys and gi rls) are probably not as advanced in their ontogenetic development, and obviously feel a higher need for physical activity in their everyday program me (they pract ice it more of- high r,over,ent •ac.tivity loH r,over,ent • ac. ti vi ty - p < 0.01 ten) than children from the second group (with lower movement activity). This result coresponds with the- oretical assumption, that the need for movement decreases with biological age of pubescents (VANEK & al 1984). The pupils who have been more active- ly taking part in physical activity, have more consis- tent and coherent structures of their motiva ti on than the less active ones. On the other hand, for subjects with lower physical activity (second grups) it is rather typical to avoid intensive physical activities. These differences in attitude towards physical activity will probably be the cause of significant differences in physical performance (more in girls than boys) be- tween both investigated groups. The differences between the psychological data (achievement need, being extrovert or introvert, neurotic tendencies) in both investigated groups are Antonin Rychtecky, Miloš Pauer, Vojtech Janouch, Bohuslav Sykora, František Stejskal 4 g EFFECT OF DIFFERENT PHYSICALACTIVITIES ON PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE ANO SOME PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL ... not statistically significant, but the obtained data shows more positive personality traits in the groups w ith high physical activity (see Fig. 3. ). They have a favourable structure of achievement motivation (es- pecially boys, where links between self-confidence and physical performance can be supposed). These pupils are moderately less extrovert and they score lower in neurotic tendencies than pupils with low physical activity. On the basis of these results we recommend the following practices of compulsory physical educa- tion: - Teachers of physical education should devote much more attention to the formation of attitudes towards physical education by means of selected methods, employing the individual approach in evaluatingthe pupils. - To support and st imulate spontaneous movement activity of children together w ith their parents. REFERENCES: 1. Eysenck HJ. The structure of human personality. 2. ed. London: Methuen, 1960 2. Hošek V, Man F, Klima J. Dotaznik vykonove motivace. (The ques- tionnaire of achievement motivation). Praha: FTVS, 1979 3. Kostka V. Telesna vychova vsystemu vychovy a vzdelavanf na školach všech stupnu. (PE in system of education in all kinds of schools) Praha: Charles University, 1987 4. Leger LA, Lambert J. A maximal multistage 20-m shuttle run test to predict V02 max. European Journal of Applied Physiology; 49: 1- 12 5. Pave k F. 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