Bosu Pro balance platform application in academic fitness aerobics classes

ˑ: 

PhD, Associate Professor E.D. Mitusova1
PhD, Associate Professor G.V. Shvets1
PhD L.A. Simonyan1
1State University of Humanities and Social Studies, Kolomna, Moscow Region

Keywords: female students, health acrobatics, complex exercises, neuromuscular training, Bosu Pro balance platform, physical development, physical fitness, physical education.

Background. As things now stand, the national universities and education system on the whole actively develop new physical activity encouragement models giving a special priority to the students’ interest in and motivations for the physical education service [1, 2]. We believe that the modern health aerobics models with their accessibility and high health and aesthetic benefits are of high promise in this context [3]. Such forms of physical activity need a wide range of special sports equipment and accessories to secure good controlled physical progress of the trainees in many aspects.
Objective of the study was to offer a physical progress model for female students with application of the Bosu Рro balance platform in academic physical education service.
Methods and structure of the study. The Bosu Рro balance platform was intended to advance the movement coordination qualities, movement controls and postural controls, train the dorsal/ thigh muscles and tendons, harmonically build up the muscle mass, improve endurance and secure weight loss. The Bosu Рro hemispheral balance platform may be described as the training machine with a movable disk-shaped balance platform and handled rubber expanders for simultaneous training of the upper body muscles. The Bosu Pro trainer system may be used for a wide range of standing, sitting, prone and bending practices to improve the muscular controls and responsive balancing skills needed to maintain balance on the moving disk. The balance platform assisted trainings give a special attention to the movement quality to develop the movement controls and movement economizing qualities and secure controlled strength- and aerobics elements being effectively combined in the trainings.
These responsive weight-applying trainings secure progress in the body balancing, coordination and movement quality. Poor body control and biomechanics are known to cause structural disorders and dys-functions that manifest themselves, among other things, in the poor movement balancing, muscular control and functions economizing qualities. These dysfunctions are associated with a high fatigue, deficiencies in the movement controls and unwillingness to train in the health groups than need these trainings more than the others. Generally, any training shall secure first of all reasonable freedom of movements and only then develop strength and movement control qualities.
Benefits of the new physical development model for female students were tested by an academic experi-ment, with the first-year students of State University of Humanities and Social Studies sampled for the study and split into EG and RG of 11 people each for the 9-month (2-semester) trainings.
The physical development and functionality of the sample was rated by the body mass, fat mass, resting heart rate and Romberg test; and the physical fitness was rated by the standing long jump, 4x9m shuttle sprint, prone push-up, forward bends, sit-ups and 1min squats tests. 
The RG was trained as required by the standard academic physical education curriculum; and the EG trainings were designed as follows. The warm-up balance platform training machine assisted trainings included: 
– Upper limb workout with arm/ shoulder movements, turns, circular shoulder/ forearm movements; and hand swings on the balance platform;
- Neck workout with bents, turns and head rotations with one foot on the balance platform;
- Lower limb workout with swings, half-squats and lunges on the balance platform;
- Trunk muscles workout with bents, turns and circular movements on the balance platform; and
- Whole body workout with multiple varied movements on the balance platform.
The core part of each training session included elements of every program section: special tools to improve the musical and rhythmic feels; excel the dancing skills and artistry, including expressivity of every motor action; and develop the key mental qualities including attention and visual, motor and musical memory. The trainees executed the lead-leg-only basic elements (unilateral); leg-changing basic elements (bilateral); combined marching and syncopated elements; combined marching and lifting elements; hand movements; exercises and routines with/ without musical illustrations; and compiled individual varied-intensity-and-rhythm complexes with the preferred musical illustrations. The core-part exercises were variable in the movement amplitudes, paces and directions; on site or in motion; combined with jumps, rotations, swings, lunges and balances; and in different startup versions: standing, sitting and prone. The balance platform assisted trainings were found beneficial for the physical development and physical fitness improvement purposes, with a special effect on the underdeveloped muscles, and with the trainings easily customizable to the individual progress needs. Since the human movement system may be interpreted as the active-reactive processor, the training systems focused on the functionally building reactive exercises may be particularly beneficial [4]. As a result, the pre- versus post experimental tests found significant progress of the EG versus RG in every aspect.
And the final part of each EG training session was dominated by rehab and relaxation practices.
Results and discussion. The pre-experimental tests found an excessive body mass in 57% of the sample, with 19%, 5% and 19% of the sample tested with high blood pressure, low blood pressure and high rest-ing heart rate, respectively. The post-experimental tests found the EG losing 1-3kg of body weight on av-erage. More specifically, the EG and RG body weights were tested to fall from 62.1 to 59.4 (р<0.05) and from 63.3 to 62.5 kg (р>0.05), respectively. The heart rate was tested to improve. The Romberg tests found the highest progress in the EG from 34.6 до 57.5% (р<0.05) versus regress in the RG from 33.6 to 37.5% (р>0.05), respectively. The spine flexibility tests found the EG and RG making progress from 7.9 to 18.2% (р<0.05) and from 7.6 to 9.2% (р>0.05), respectively. The progresses were also made in the standing long jump, 4x9m shuttle sprint, sit-ups and 1min squats tests.

Table 1. Pre- versus post- experimental physical development and physical fitness test data of the sample

Tests

EG

RG

Pre-exp.

Post-exp.

Pre-exp.

Post-exp.

Body mass, kg

62,1+3,5

 

59,4+3,2

р<0,05

63,3+2,2

62,5+2,8

р<0,05

Fat rate, %

24,8+3,9

 

21,9+3,3

р<0,05

25,2+4,1

24,6+4,0

р<0,05

Body length, cm

169+1,7

 

169,2+1,9

р<0,05

170+1,9

 

170,4+2,1

р<0,05

Resting heart rate, bpm

78+5,4

 

71+5,9

р<0,05

79+6,1

77+5,8

р<0,05

Romberg test, s

34,6+4,5

 

57,5+5,3

р<0,05

33,6+4,5

 

37,5+4,7

р<0,05

Prone push-ups, count

16,4+4,1

 

20,4+4,5

р<0,05

15,3+3,9

 

17,1+4,8

р<0,05

Spine flexion, cm

7,9+1,8

 

18,2+4,2

р<0,05

7,6+1,5

 

9,2+2,2

р<0,05

Sit-ups, count

53,4+3,2

 

58,2+3,9

р<0,05

54,,1+3,4

 

55,3+2,4

р<0,05

1min squats, count

48,4+3,2

 

58,2+3,9

р<0,05

49,4+2,2

 

52,2+2,3

р<0,05

Standing long jump, cm

167+2,1

 

189+2,6

р<0,05

169+2,9

 

177+2,4

р<0,05

4×9m shuttle sprint, s

10,8+1,2

 

10,4+1,3

р<0,05

11,2+1,1

 

10,9+2,4

р<0,05

The EG versus RG questionnaire survey data found a notable progress of the EG in the well-being, atten-tion control, joint mobility, postural control and back pain healing aspects. The motivations survey found the students’ physical education / health motivations dominated by the weight loss, body shaping, stamina and health improvement and healthy lifestyle cultivation aspects.
Conclusion. The new model testing experiment found the physical progress model for female students with application of Bosu Рro balance platform being beneficial for the academic physical education ser-vice as verified by the EG progress in the physical self-perfection and physical creativity, movement con-trols, postural controls, joints mobility, health improvements and injury risk prevention skills.

References
1. Mitusova E.D., Mitusov V.V. Programmatic and practical provisions for off-class practices in Physical Education discipline. Fizicheskaya kultura: vospitanie, obrazovanie, trenirovka, 2017, no. 5, P. 55.
2. Mitusova E.D., Polunina T.I. Partnerships of general education schools, sport schools and universities to advance sport-prioritizing physical education projects. Fizicheskaya kultura: vospitanie, obrazovanie, trenirovka. 2019. no. 1. p. 14.
3. Peredelskiy A.A., Stolyarov V.I., Balaeva O.E., Mitusova E.D. Sociology and sport sociology. Study guide. M.: Fizkultura i sport publ., 2013.  364 p.
4. Lubysheva L.I. Mitusova E.D. Sports heritage of the Olympic project "Sochi-2014" as a factor of intensive development of the Russian social sports institute. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2016. no 5, pp. 45- 47

Corresponding author: emitusova@bk.ru

Abstract
The article covers the main characteristics and possibility of application during the training sessions of a set of exercises with the use of an unstable platform "Bosu Pro" equipped with removable expanders. One of the main advantages of this model is a stable, durable plastic base of the platform. The unstable plat-form is used in the process of physical education of university students and helps improve their functional state, physical fitness level and motivation for physical education classes.
Benefits of the new physical development model for female students were tested by an academic experi-ment, with the first-year students of State University of Humanities and Social Studies sampled for the study and split into EG and RG of 11 people each for the 9-month (2-semester) trainings.
Benefits of the new physical development model for female students were tested by an academic experi-ment, with the first-year students of State University of Humanities and Social Studies sampled for the study and split into EG and RG of 11 people each for the 9-month (2-semester) trainings.
The physical development and functionality of the sample was rated by the body mass, fat mass, resting heart rate and Romberg test; and the physical fitness was rated by the standing long jump, 4x9m shuttle sprint, prone push-up, forward bends, sit-ups and 1min squats tests. 
The new model testing experiment found the physical progress model for female students with application of Bosu Рro balance platform being beneficial for the academic physical education service as verified by the EG progress in the physical self-perfection and physical creativity, movement controls, postural controls, joints mobility, health improvements and injury risk prevention skills.