Dr.Hab., Professor S.S. Dobrovolsky¹
PhD, Associate Professor O.S. Schneider¹
R.A. Boyko^2
1Far Eastern State Academy of Physical Culture, Khabarovsk
²Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University, Blagoveshchensk

Keywords: strength development, 5-6-year-old boys, training appliance, pull-ups on horizontal bar, muscle groups, correct posture.

Background. National health specialists are concerned with the growing incidence of the preschool musculoskeletal disorders coming to 55-70% and presently ranked the number 1 functional disease in this age group [1]. It is also commonly acknowledged that postural disorders are mostly formed by the age of 6-7 years and this age group is most sensitive both to the physical development and postural disorders prevention efforts; with the latter being highly important for the reason that a healthy spine is critical for health of a musculoskeletal system in particular and the other bodily organs and systems effected via the motor-visceral links on the whole.

Health specialists give a special priority to the muscle groups critical for the postural and upright walking control; and look for the most effective practices to develop the muscle groups with hangs and pull-ups on a horizontal bar long been ranked among the most common and effective ones [3]. However, the leading health specialists recommend taking due care in applying the strength-developing hangs and pull-ups in the 4-7 year-olds’ physical training systems since these specific practices put the children at risk of shoulder bursa sprains [5] by the body weight. Therefore, the practices need to be designed and managed in a feasible and phased manner i.e. so as the load is increased in a controlled and gradual manner to effectively develop the relevant muscle groups and the best performance technique – and prevent undesirable sprains at the same time. That is why the relevant health and training systems have long been in need of a physical training procedure to train, in a phased and controlled manner with the right motor skills, the relevant muscle groups in preschoolers for effective pull-ups on a horizontal bar.

Objective of the study was to improve the preschoolers' physical training system by an age-specific pull-ups training stimulation procedure.

Methods and structure of the study. For the purposes of the study, we analysed 470 health records of the 5-7 year-olds attending kindergartens of Blagoveshchensk city and tested 265 boys aged 6-10 years. The educational experiment was performed in the period of September to December 2016 at the Kindergarten #50 of Blagoveshchensk city. Subject to the study were Study and Reference Groups, each made of 10 boys aged 5-6 years. The subjects were engaged in the kindergarten-based physical education course “Childhood” [2]. In addition, the subjects were trained by additional 30-minute physical practices twice a week to help them master the right pull-up technique. The Study Group in the base part of each training session executed a set of new practices using a training appliance, with the horizontal bar being raised with the child’s progress as verified by strength tests. The Reference Group was trained by the set of strength-developing practices traditional for junior gymnasts’ training systems including the following: knee incline push-ups; knee push-ups from the ground; straight bench push-ups; straight push-ups from the ground; jumping pull-ups; and standing hangs.

Prior to the experiment all the groups were tested virtually the same in their compositions and fitness levels, with none of the children being able to pull up even one suspended pull up. The progress tests under the experiment were designed to rate the strength development pace by the following tests: wrist dynamometry; pull-up tests; 30-second sit-ups; prone face-down trunk lifts with hands stretched over the head. The pull-up exercise performance skills were tested using a set of special criteria.

As provided by the above analysis of the preschoolers’ health records as of 2016, only 3.7% of the 5-7 year-old residents of Blagoveshchensk were rated virtually healthy; 82% were diagnosed with postural disorders; and 70% were diagnosed with impaired bone formation. Furthermore, only 3% of the 6-7 year-old boys could pull up. In the primary school population this rate was tested to grow to 15% - mostly for account of the sport-groups-attending schoolchildren.

We developed and patented [4] a training appliance (simulator) for children’s conditioning for pull-ups by a non-traumatising training procedure. The appliance is designed to work as follows. A special safety belt is fixed on a child’s waist by hooks and armholes; and a footrest is fixed by an elastic ribbon above the child’s knee level. Both the safety belt and the footrest are customisable to the child’s body height. The child stands on the footrest with his feet in the fixing straps and start pull-ups changing the grips as recommended by the instructor. As soon as the shoulder girdle muscle strength is tested to grow in the training process, the footrest is moved on the elastic ribbon down to the knee level and lower. The safety belt is intended to protect the child from an injury in case that he loses his grip on the bar.

Technically, the training simulator is designed to help develop the necessary strength and skills in the shoulder girdle and trunk muscles for the suspended pull-ups to be efficient.

Study results and discussion. Benefits of the special training appliance and new training procedure were tested by the above education process tests. The wrist dynamometry tests showed significant (Р<0.05) progress in the Study Group, with the right- and left-hand average strength rates tested to grow by 7.2%  and 8.3%, respectively. The abdomen muscle strength growth rate was also significantly (Р<0.05) higher in the Study Group as verified by the 30-second sit-ups test rate of 19.7 reps versus 16.5 reps in the Reference Group; with the intra-group of the test rate growth found significant in both of the groups (Р<0.05).

The dorsal muscle group strength was also tested to grow faster in the Study Group as verified by the post-experimental test rate of 84.4 s versus 72.6 s in the Reference Group (Р<0.05).

The highest progress was made by the Study Group in the pull-up tests, with 8 of 10 SG boys tested capable of non-assisted suspended pull-ups versus only 2 capable boys in the Reference Group. It should also be noted that the expert team rated the SG pull-up performance technique with 4.7 points on average versus 3.8 points in the Reference Group.

Conclusion. For the preschoolers’ body conditioning for pull-ups on a horizontal bar being highly efficient, the training practices need to be designed and managed in a feasible and phased manner with due load control – as secured by the special training appliance and procedure recommended herein. The recommended training appliance and procedure, as verified by the above experiment, are highly beneficial for gradual development of children’s muscle groups and skills to facilitate the pull-ups technique being mastered in a non-traumatic, fast and effective manner.

References

1. Agafonova N.A. Gigienicheskaya otsenka organizatsii obucheniya i vospitaniya doshkolnikov kompensiruyuschikh ortopedicheskikh grupp. Dis. kand. med. nauk [Hygienic assessment of organization of training and education process of preschoolers from compensating orthopaedic groups. PhD diss.]. Moscow: 2007, 255 p.
2. Babaeva T.I., Gogoberidze A.G., Solntseva O.V. Detstvo: Primernaya obrazovatelnaya programma doshkolnogo obrazovaniya [Childhood: Sample preschool education program]. St. Petersburg: DETSTVO-PRESS publ., 2014, 280 p.
3. Ivanitskiy M.F., Nikityuk B.A., Gladysheva A.A., Sudzilovskiy F.V. Anatomiya cheloveka (s osnovami dinamicheskoy i sportivnoy morfologii). Uchebnik dlya in-tov fiz. kultury [Human anatomy (with fundamentals of dynamic and sport morphology). Textbook for phys. cult. in-tes]. 11th ed. Moscow: Chelovek publ., 2015, 624 p.
4. Patent 146934. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, MPK A63V 21/055 (2006.01). Detskiy trenazher dlya trenirovki myshts plechevogo poyasa [Patent 146934. The Russian Federation, IPC A63B 21/055 (2006.01). Children's training device for shoulder muscles]. Applicant and patentee R.A. Boyko. no. 2014124867/12; 18.06.2014; publ. 20.10.2014, Bul. # 29, 2 p.: il.
5. Potapchuk A.A., Lukina G.G. Fitbol-gimnastika v doshkolnom vozraste [Fitball-gymnastics for preschoolers]. Lesgaft SPbSAPC publ., 1999, 80 p.

Corresponding author: dobrovolsky@list.ru

Abstract

The study considers benefits of a set of strength exercises designed to develop the muscle groups pivotal for correct posture. It gives a description of a special training appliance to develop the muscle groups for pull-ups on a horizontal bar in application to 5-6 year-old boys. The appliance gives the means to gradually increase the load and develop only the muscle groups and skills critical for the pull-up exercise. The study gives the test data indicative of the benefits of the special training appliance in developing the muscle groups and skills for pull-ups on a horizontal bar in application to the 5-6 year-olds.