Gender-Related Peculiarities of Motor Fitness of 8-Year-Old Schoolchildren

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify gender-related peculiarities of motor fitness of 8-year-old schoolchildren. Materials and methods. The study participants were 82 8-year-old schoolchildren (girls – 40, boys – 42). The children and their parents were informed about all the features of the study and gave their consent to participate in the experiment. The study used the following research methods: analysis of scientific and methodological literature, pedagogical observations, testing of motor fitness, probabilistic approach to assessing the learning process, methods of mathematical statistics. In the experiment, the study controlled the level of proficiency in the following exercises: shoulderstand, bridge from supine position, one leg swing upward circle. Results. In the girls and boys, the differences in the development level of movement coordination of individual parts of the body and vestibular stability are not statistically significant. The 8-year-old boys have a statistically significantly higher level of development of strength, speed strength, speed, endurance and a higher level of proficiency in acrobatic and gymnastic exercises than girls. Conclusions. A canonical discriminant function can be used to classify the gender-related peculiarities of motor fitness of 8-year-old schoolchildren. A discriminant analysis revealed the indicators that have the greatest weight in assessing the gender-related peculiarities of motor fitness of 8-year-old schoolchildren. They include the level of relative strength of shoulder flexors, speed strength, endurance, and the level of proficiency in shoulderstand.