Physical development of hockey players aged 13-16 years

Aim. Identify the age features of hockey players aged 13-16 years old physical development. Material and methods. Elite hockey players (n = 83, age - 13-16 years) were surveyed. Standard anthropometric methods for measuring length and body weight were used. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Results. The average value of the body length of hockey players did not differ from peers, who do not engage in sports. The cental distribution of the absolute values of the indicator relative to nomograms has been shifted to the right. Most hockey players had average body lengths. The excess of the average body weight of hockey players was recorded in comparison with the average population values. The cental distribution of absolute values was characterized by a significant shift to the right (range 3% -90% percentile). Most hockey players had a body weight “above average” (55-66%). The group of athletes with body weight and BMI “below average” was 6% (age from 13 to 15 years). Conclusions. The physical development of elite hockey players is characterized by an average body length with a tendency to shift to values *above average*. The proportion of hockey players with mean body lengths below the mid-population is very small. Elite hockey players are characterized by large body weight and BMI compared to peers who do not engage in sports. As the age increases from the morphological criteria, the body weight and BMI have the greatest value for the hockey player’s success in sports selection

Handgrip muscle force characteristics with general reference values at Chelyabinsk and Belgrade students

The Aim. The aim of this paper is to define the contractile characteristics of maximal isometric handgrip force and to establish possible differences between the students of the Universities of Chelyabinsk and Belgrade. The secondary aim is to create a practically applicable initial model in order to explore the mentioned characteristics in the future. Material and methods. For the purposes of this research, the overall sample of 225 subjects was tested. 91 subjects were from Russia and 134 were from Serbia. The results were gathered using a strain gage and a standardized isometric handgrip test protocol. The contractile properties of HG muscle force were measured in relation to three different contractile dimensions: the maximal muscle force (Fmax), the maximal explosive muscle force (RFDmax), the time need for achieving maximal (tFmax) and maximal explosive (tRFDmax) muscle force. Results. This study has shown that there are no generally statistically significant differences for all observed variables of HG contractile characteristics between tested Russian and Serbian students. Based on the results of the present study, six different models of the equation for evaluation of HG contractile characteristics of female and male students, i.e. young adults, were made. All defined models are highly statistically significant, accurate and sensitive in the prediction of the general distributive position of an individual or particular group of subjects in relation to the measured contractile characteristics. Conclusions. The obtained results can generally indicate the stability of potential to exert the given contractile characteristic in relation to the population of similar evolutionary (Slavs) at different geographical background