Comparison of the body build and physical abilities of the students of sports classes and ordinary classes

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to analyse and compare the peculiarities of physical abilities and body build of the students of the primary school classes (Year 1–4) of ordinary classes and sports classes at Tallinn Lillekula Secondary School. The sample consisted of 170 primary school students – 93 boys and 77 girls. It involved 56 boys and 29 girls in sports classes and 37 boys and 48 girls in ordinary classes. The body height and weight of all the students were measured and their BMI was calculated. All the students also performed four physical abilities tests, which were standing long jump test, forward bending test, 4 × 10m shuttle run test ja 3 minute endurance run test. The reliability and validity of these tests have been checked earlier. Arithmetic means and standard deviations were calculated. To find the differences between the groups and assess the results, Student’s paired t-test was used; the lowest level of significance was set at p<0.05. The study revealed that, comparing the test results of boys’ and girls’ physical abilities, differences appear with an increase in age. In most cases, boys of Year 4 outdo girls statistically significantly. Girls are better than boys only in flexibility. Physical abilities tests showed that in nine cases statistically significant differences in physical abilities appeared between the students of the ordinary class and the sports class. In eight cases, the mean result in physical abilities was better in the sports classes than in the ordinary classes. In their stature and physical abilities the students of primary school classes of Tallinn Lillekula Secondary School are similar to their peers Estonia.