Volume 22 (2015): Issue 3 (September 2015)

Introduction. Doing asymmetric sports when one suffers from body asymmetry may cause body posture disorders. The aim of the study was to assess the spinal and shoulder complex mobility of professionally trained volleyball athletes compared to that of their peers who do not practise any sports.

Material and methods. The study involved 60 participants divided into two groups. Group 1 consisted of 30 girls aged 14 years. The average height in the group was 176.37 ± 6.29 cm, and the average body mass was 64.53 ± 7.12 kg. Group 2 consisted of 30 girls aged 15.6 ± 1.12 years who did not practise any sports. The average body height in this group was 159.37 ± 3.33 cm, and the average body mass was 51.83 ± 4.03 kg. The dominant limb was defined on the basis of lateralization. The spinal range of motion was measured by means of a Saunders digital inclinometer, and the shoulder complex range of motion was examined using the goniometric method. Means and standard deviations were calculated, and Student’s t-test was applied in order to determine the differences between the two groups.

Results. The differences in the values obtained in the two groups for the spinal range of motion in the sagittal plane were statistically significant only for the range of lumbar spine bending and extension. It was found that group 1 had a higher range of spine mobility in the frontal and transverse planes, and the differences were statistically significant in all the assessed ranges towards the dominant limb. An analysis of the shoulder girdle range of motion in the groups revealed that the differences were also statistically significant in all of the examined ranges.

Conclusion. Professional volleyball practice can cause an increase in spine flexibility in most of its ranges, and the shoulder girdle range of motion in female volleyball players can exceed population norms, especially for the upper dominant limb.

Introduction. In order to help volleyball players achieve superior results, their coaches are constantly seeking new training methods. One of the methods used to improve the effectiveness of the training that is being implemented is conducting tests which make it possible to assess the player’s locomotor system in terms of its motor and biomechanical functions. The aim of the study was to determine the torque of the knee flexor and extensor muscles of volleyball players in three stages of the annual macrocycle.

Material and methods. The study involved 14 volleyball players. Torque was assessed using the BIODEX System 4 Pro at the angular velocities of 60°/s and 180°/s, in three periods of the annual training macrocycle.

Results. After the preparatory training period, there was a statistically significant increase in the torque of the flexor and extensor muscles of the lower limbs, both for the lower velocity (p ≤ 0.02 for the right limb and p ≤ 0.024 for the left limb) and the higher one (p ≤ 0.03 for the right limb and p ≤ 0.034 for the left limb). After the preliminary round, statistically insignificant changes were found for the torque values obtained at both velocities.

Conclusions. The study showed that frequent monitoring of players can help assess their strength capacity in a more reliable way. The results of such measurements carried out in different periods of the volleyball season can help evaluate the players’ strength at a given moment, verify and modify the training methods which are being used, and approach each player individually.

Introduction. The aim of this study was to determine the level of overall physical fitness of girls from the Subcarpathian Province Team (SPT) who practise acrobatic and trampoline gymnastics and compare it to that of other members of the SPT. A comparative analysis of the subjects’ physique was also performed.

Material and methods. The study was conducted on 175 female subjects who were members of the SPT in the youth and juniors categories. They were divided into three groups: 19 trampoline gymnasts, 35 acrobatic gymnasts, and 121 athletes practising other disciplines (named the SPT group). Overall physical fitness was determined using the International Physical Fitness Test (IPFT). The Body Mass Index, Rohrer’s index, and Ponderal index were calculated on the basis of anthropometric measurements. The obtained data were analysed statistically. In order to determine the statistical significance of differences in the results for each group, ANOVA variation analysis and Tukey’s HSD test were carried out.

Results and conclusions. The athletes practising acrobatic and trampoline gymnastics had lower body height, lower body mass, and a slimmer physique than the girls from the SPT who performed other sports. However, it is not possible to clearly determine whether these differences were the result of practising a particular sports discipline. Compared to the SPT athletes practising other sports, the acrobats presented a higher level of overall fitness (apart from grip strength). This was evidenced by the higher scores they achieved for the IPFT (total number of points), trunk flexibility, shoulder muscle strength, and abdominal muscle strength. The fitness level of the trampoline gymnasts was similar to that of the SPT athletes who practised other sports (with better scores for trunk flexibility and lower ones for grip strength). The fitness profiles of the acrobatic and trampoline gymnasts were similar, and the group of acrobats achieved significantly higher scores only in trunk flexibility.

Introduction. Obesity is a multifactorial disorder affecting the energy balance in the body, in which the energy ingested exceeds the energy used by the body over a certain period of time. Some of the key causes of obesity in children include inappropriate eating habits and an insufficient amount of physical activity. The aim of the study presented in this article was to describe the level of physical development, nutritional status, and physical activity of children attending music school, whose free time is more limited than that of their peers.

Material and methods. The materials used in the study were anthropometric data and data concerning the body composition of children aged 11-13 years who attended music school and those of their peers who attended regular state school. For the purposes of the study, several nutritional status indicators were established and a questionnaire concerning the eating habits and physical activity of the children was designed. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The statistical significance of the differences between the values obtained for the two groups was then measured using a t-test.

Results. The children who attended music school were found to be more corpulent and to have more body fat than their peers. It was also determined that the former had irregular meals and an unbalanced diet, and they did not participate in organised out-of-school sports activities.

Conclusion. The high amount of body fat found in students of music school was most likely due to their unhealthy eating habits and limited physical activity.

Introduction. The “game-movement-development” (GMD) approach was conceived in the light of contemporary scientific knowledge in the field of kinesiology, neuro-education, pedagogy, and psychology related to the pre-school period. The approach has been implemented for over 15 years in a selected kindergarten. The aim of the study was to examine the feasibility of applying the new GMD approach in different kindergartens depending on the children’s age and according to selected quality indicators.

Material and methods. We employed an experimental pedagogical exploratory method on a sample of 30 preschool teacher assistants who were employed in 30 kindergartens located in Slovenia. The sample also included a group of 512 children, who were divided into two subgroups: 318 (62%) of them were from an older age group (3-6 years old) and 194 (38%) of them were from a younger age group (1-3 years old). All the children were involved in a project with the same theme. The educators implemented it according to the principles of the approach presented in the article. Three types of variables were used to determine the effectiveness, advantages, and weaknesses of the approach.

Results. A detailed analysis of the projects, semi-structured interviews, and surveys that were completed showed that both age groups adapted quickly to the new approach, especially the younger group of children. Different methods (e.g. that of using educational games), which involve the educator’s participation in the game as a team-mate, made it possible for all of the children to be rapidly integrated into the game and to choose how to move within its rules. However, the educators surveyed believed that they lacked knowledge concerning child development and that they needed more time to understand the new approach, more systematic assistance, and immediate feedback.

Conclusions. The research showed that the approach was effective in its essence for all age groups of children. The disadvantages of the approach are primarily related to the need to amend teachers’ subjective theories of learning, which requires a longer time.

Introduction. If activity related to tourism is planned effectively and performed in a responsible way, it can satisfy many human needs. In order to make it possible for members of modern society to fully benefit from tourism, however, it is necessary to undertake action aimed at promoting tourism, fostering its development, stimulating the need to travel, and helping tourists adopt certain habits. The aim of the study was to collect information concerning the impact of family, school, and community organisations on the tourism activity of students of tourism and recreation.

Material and methods. The study involved 289 students of an undergraduate programme in tourism and recreation offered by the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. The study was conducted using a specially designed diagnostic survey on “Education in tourism”.

Results. More than 71% of the students surveyed engaged in tourism with their parents in childhood and adolescence, and those living in the city did so more frequently. Only one in four students said that during family trips visiting sights and attractions was combined with active tourism. As far as school trips are concerned, the respondents did take part in them, but these were mostly one-day sightseeing trips, aimed at developing their knowledge about the country, during which pupils do not undertake intense physical activity. More than half of the respondents participated in summer camps for children and adolescents. An overwhelming majority of the respondents stated their parents had had the greatest influence on their tourism activity, while community organisations and schools had had the smallest impact in this respect.

Conclusion. Most of the students surveyed undertook tourism-related activities which were organised for them by different persons; thus, they received some education in tourism during childhood and adolescence. Since students of tourism and recreation will have an influence on tourism in Poland in the future, provided they work in the tourism sector, they should be prepared to promote tourism which offers a range of different benefits, not only educational ones.

Introduction. Recreation is very popular in protected areas where the number of visitors is increasing from year to year. They are attracted by benefits provided by natural resources in the form of favorable conditions to spend time for leisure. These benefits have a specified value which is known as a recreational one. In this paper a method is presented how to measure it.

Material and methods. The method is an extension of an approach known as the travel cost method. The extension consists in taking additional assumptions into account like needs that drive people to recreate in protected areas and as a result the recreational and health value of the area is estimated more precisely. The calculation was realized on data collected by a survey based on an interview questionnaire among 60 respondents in the Kampinoski National Park in the second half of July 2014.

Results. The recreational and health value estimated on the results obtained from 60 respondents amounted to 235 837 PLN and 165 194 PLN respectively. The article presents also more detailed calculations of the selected surveys.

Conclusions. The factors which contribute in a decisive way into the area recreational and health value are the number of visits, the share of a health motive and the length of stay. There are also other factors of lesser contribution into the value like: the time of getting the area, the cost of its reaching and the sum respondents declared to pay for the area protection.