Improvement of students’ physical fitness in physical education classes using CrossFit means

Background and Study Aim. The purpose of the study is to develop and experimentally substantiate the efficiency of methods to improve the physical fitness (PF) of students in physical education classes using CrossFit means.     Material and Methods. The studies were conducted at the University with first-year students and involved 44 students of the control group and 52 students of the experimental group aged 17 to 19 years. Three versions of the experimental program to improve the students’ PF in physical education classes using CrossFit means were developed. The students’ PF level was determined according to the results of performing the State tests of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine: 100 m running (s), standing long jump (cm), pull-ups and cross bar dips (number); hanging leg raises to the crossbar (number); 1000 m running (min, s); shuttle run 4x9 m and 10x10 m (s); trunk forward bending (cm). The level of students’ functional fitness was determined according to the indices of heart rate (HR), blood pressure, time of breath-holding while performing Stange’s test, lung vital capacity. Results. In the process of the pedagogical experiment more pronounced positive changes in the indices of physical and functional fitness were observed in students of the experimental group as compared to those of the control group, the functional reserves of the heart and motor system of students increased by the end of the experiment. The efficiency of four-hour classes a week according to the experimental program manifested itself in the increase of strength, strength endurance, speed and agility during a performance of motor tests; a decrease in resting heart rate, an increase of the degree of HR increment under load (relative to the resting level), an increase of HR recovery at the first minute after the load. Mathematical models of interrelations of separate somatic and vegetative parameters in the process of development and improvement of motor skills under the influence of the experimental program of physical education with the use of CrossFit means were developed and specified. Mathematical models reflect mechanisms of increase of functional reserves of heart and motor system of students, their interrelation in the process of improving the results in motor tests under the influence of CrossFit means. Conclusions. The results of the research confirm the higher efficiency of the physical education experimental method with the use of specially developed complexes of CrossFit® physical exercises in comparison with the generally accepted program of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. The efficiency of the experimental program’s impact on the physical state of the students is confirmed by an increase in the level of development of motor qualities, an increase in the economy of the body functioning at rest, an increase in the functional reserves of the heart and the motor system.