Associate Professor, PhD T.N. Shutova
Associate Professor, PhD M.A. Kuz'min
G.B. Kondrakov
O.V. Mamonova
Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow

Keywords: fitness, sports, university students, physical education, educational model, motor activity integration.

Introduction. There is currently a trend of active use of recreational gymnastics means and fitness, its component, in the process of physical education of students. According to research of Zh.G. Anikienko, E.N. Karasev, N.V. Olyashev, and M.A. Ovsyannikov fitness forms motivational, aesthetic, overall preparatory, cognitive, strength and functional components of physical education as well as enables one to modify, vary and tailor physical education training programs for students in the form of classes [9, 10].

The very concept of fitness is a type of recreational exercises (E.G. Saykina, 2012), a collection of cutting-edge technologies, means, methods, forms and modern equipment contributing to recovery and improvement of physical performance [3,7].

However, there is an issue of integration of traditional sports and innovative fitness means. On the one hand, the issues of knowledge, motor skills and abilities improvement in basic sports should be solved – physical fitness development and preservation of cultural traditions of physical culture; on the other hand, modern, innovative, person-centered, emotionally appealing physical education programs should be used to enable effective improvement of functional and physical state of students [1, 2, 5, 11]. Therefore, it is necessary to find a reasonable combination of gymnastics, track and field athletics, sport games, swimming, combat and various types of fitness.

In general the notion of “integration” implies association, connection, consolidation, supplementation of aspects of the development process associated with merging parts and elements that used to be heterogeneous into a whole. Hence, integration radically changes the content and structure of modern scientific knowledge, intellectual and conceptual possibilities of individual components and is an essential means of achieving the unity of knowledge in content-related, structural, scientific, organizational, psychological and pedagogical as well as logical and epistemological aspects. Integration is achieved by coherence of objectives, content, forms and methods of education, its basic principle being interaction of the elements of the system in the process of achieving the goals [1, 2].

Objective of the study was to develop and prove experimentally the effectiveness of the traditional sports and fitness integration model in physical education of students.   

Methods and structure of the research. The educational experiment was conducted at the premises of the Federal State-Funded Educational Institution “Plekhanov Russian University of Economics” with first- to-third-year students within the framework of the Physical Education discipline (2015-2016). A total of 1,155 people took part in the study, including 805 young females and 350 young males. The transformation of the educational process consisted of traditional sports (50%) and fitness (50%) integration. The curriculum included track and field athletics, swimming, gymnastics, martial arts, body conditioning and sport games. Fitness as a social, culturological, personal and health forming phenomenon was presented by aqua fitness, recreational aerobics, Pilates, artistic gymnastics, Tae Bo with elements of martial arts, CrossFit (full-body workout) and strength sports [3, 6].

We have developed a training program for the first- to-third-years, the number of study hours is 133 per year (Figure 1).  

Figure 1. Traditional sports and fitness integration model for physical education of students

During the 1^st year 30 hours of track and field athletics, 30 hours of body conditioning, 30 hours of aerobics (females) and martial arts (males) and 43 hours of artistic gymnastics were held. The main focus was on improving overall endurance and training the cardiorespiratory system by means of track and field athletics and body conditioning as well as on forming fitness culture while mastering basic fitness exercises. During the 2^nd year the focus was on aerobic types of fitness: body conditioning – 30 hours, swimming and aqua fitness – 43 hours, CrossFit (males) and Pilates (females) – 30 hours, Tae Bo – 30 hours. During the 3^rd year improvement of a complex of physical and motor skills took place by means of sport games (43 hours), step aerobics (females) and strength fitness programs (males) (30 hours), swimming and aqua fitness (30 hours) and functional training (30 hours).   

Research results and discussion. The educational experiment held showed that first- to-third-year students significantly increased their physical fitness results (P<0.05) (1^st year serving as an example). Both female and male first-year students achieved good results in exercises within a year characterizing speed and strength, movement coordination, strength and static endurance (Tables 1, 2).

Table 1. Body conditioning ratings of 1^st year female students

Note:  – arithmetic mean, σ – mean square deviation;*- significance of differences (P<0.05), plank – complex static exercise, in a push-up like position, with weight borne on forearms.

 The educational experiment confirmed the effectiveness of the sport and fitness interaction model in physical education not only in terms of physical fitness, but also in terms of the level of mastering physical education competences for social and professional activity; the students gained understanding of types of fitness training, means of varying load and fitness techniques; at the same time their interest in the classes increased from 5.3 to 8.2 points. 

Table 2. Body conditioning ratings of 1^st year male students

Conclusions: the integration process made it possible to realize the unity of knowledge, techniques and skills in solving various issues, such as formation of competences of motor (athletic) activity and students’ health maintencance. 

References

1. Averyasova J.O. Formirovanie prostranstva fizicheskoy kulturyi v sisteme professionalnoy podgotovki studentov: monografiya (Formation of physical education space in university vocational training system: monograph) / J.O. Averyasova, L.B. Andryushchenko, T.D. Aliev. –Moscow: TR-print, 2015. – 170 p.
2. Andryushchenko L.B. Pedagogicheskaya sistema formirovaniya fizicheskoy kulturyi studencheskoy molodezhi: monografiya (Pedagogical system of formation of students' physical culture: monograph) / L.B. Andryushchenko. – Volgograd: Niva, 2006. – 176 p.
3. Andryushchenko L.B. Metodika organizatsii uchebnogo protsessa po fizicheskomu vospitaniyu na osnove integrativnogo podhoda (Technique of organization of physical education process based on integrated approach) / L.B. Andryushchenko, T.D. Aliev // TAA reports // Col. paper, dedicated to 145th anniversary of RSAU-Timiryazev MSAA. – Moscow: RSAU-Timiryazev MSAA. – 2012. – P. 683–685.
4. Beletskiy S.V. Vliyanie informatsionnyih tehnologiy na formirovanie kompetentsiy po teoreticheskim osnovam fizicheskoy kultury (Information technologies and formation of competences in theoretical foundations of physical culture) // Vestnik Rossiyskogo ekonomicheskogo universiteta im. G.V. Plehanova (Herald of Plekhanov Russian Economic University). – 2015. – № 4 (82). – P. 14–22.
5. Beletskiy S.V. Informatsionnaya kompyuternaya podderzhka v formirovanii kompetentnosti zdorovesberezheniya u studentov bakalavriata (Information computer-aided support in health saving competency building in undergraduates) / S.V. Beletskiy // Pedagogicheskoe masterstvo i pedagogicheskie tehnologii. – 2015. – № 3(5). – P. 326–328.
6. Kondrakov G.B. Atleticheskaya gimnastika kak perspektiva razvitiya fizicheskoy kulturyi dlya studentov ekonomicheskogo vuza. «Gumanitarnoe obrazovanie v ekonomicheskom vuze»: mater. IV mezhdunar. nauch.-prakt. zaoch. internet-konf. Ch. I (Athletic gymnastics as prospect of development of physical education in application to economy students. "Liberal education in university of economics": Proc. IV Intern. res.-pract. dist. Internet Conf. V. I) / G.B. Kondrakov, T.N. Shutova. – Moscow: Plekhanov RUE. – 2016. – P. 504–509.
7. Saykina E.G. Semanticheskie aspektyi otdelnyih ponyatiy v oblasti fitnesa (Semantic aspects of specific fitness concepts) / E.G. Saykina, G.N. Ponomarev // Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury. – 2011. – № 8. – P. 6–10.
8. Shutova T.N. Soderzhanie atleticheskoy gimnastiki i fitnesa v fizicheskom vospitanii studentov spetsialnyih meditsinskih grupp (Essence of athletic gymnastics and fitness in physical education of special health group students) / T.N. Shutova, O.V. Vezenitsyn, D.V. Vyprikov, I.M. Bodrov // Izvestiya Tulskogo gos. un-ta. Fizicheskaya kultura. Sport. Is. 4. – Tula: TulSU pub. h-se, 2015. – P. 70–77.
9. Shutova T.N., Kondrakov G.B. Krylova G.S. Fitnes i atleticheskaya gimnastika v prepodavanii predmeta «Fizicheskaya kultura» dlya studentov: «Fizicheskaya kultura, sport, turizm: nauch.-metod. soprovozhdenie»: sb. mater. Vseros. nauch. - prakt. konf. s mezhdunar. uchastiem. Perm. gos. gumanit.- ped. un-t. (Fitness and athletic gymnastics in teaching the subject "Physical Education" for students "Physical culture, sport and tourism: scientific-method. support ": Proc. of Rus. res.-pract. conf. with int. participation. Perm. state gumanit.- ped. univ.) / T.N. Shutova, G.B. Kondrakov, G.S. Krylova.– Perm: Aster, 2015. – P. 365–369.

Corresponding author: tany-156@rambler.ru

Abstract
The article offers an integrated model of the university education and training process management in application to optional university sport disciplines, based on the modern motor activity and health improvement systems. An educational experiment under the study showed progress of the first- to-third-year students as verified by the relevant physical fitness test data (p<0.05) of the first-year students. For the year under the study, the first-year students, both males and females, showed progress as verified by the test rates in a set of speed-strength, motor coordination, strength and static endurance exercises.
The educational experiment showed benefits of the sport and fitness integration model for the university physical education process as verified both by the physical fitness and physical education competences (within the relevant social and professional domains) rating tests; in addition, the students were tested with good knowledge of the fitness training systems, training workload variations and modern fitness technologies, with their interest to the studies tested to grow from 5.3 to 8.2 points.
The integration process made it possible to take full benefit of the knowledge, skills and technologies being combined to attain a variety of goals in the students’ motor/ physical education competences formation and health improvement process.