Postural Control in Unipedal Quiet Stance in Young Female Gymnasts and the Effects of Training with Consideration of Transient Behavior of Postural Sway

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to compare postural control between a group of young female gymnasts (n = 15; age: 11.2 ± 1.9 years) and non-trained peers (n = 15; age: 10.9 ± 2.0 years), and (b) to investigate the effect of an 8-week whole body exercise intervention program on postural control in young female gymnasts. Postural control was assessed by recording center of pressure (CoP) movements during unipedal quiet stance. Velocity and amplitude of CoP movement in anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) directions were considered. In addition to common trial-averaged CoP outcomes, we also considered the transient behavior of CoP movements, by calculating relative differences between the 1st and 2nd, and the 1st and 3rd 10-s intervals within the whole trial (DIF_21 and DIF_31, respectively). The gymnast group had lower total CoP velocity (Cohen’s d = 0.97) and AP amplitude (Cohen’s d = 0.85), compared to their non-trained peers. The gymnasts also had lower CoP AP amplitude DIF21 (Cohen’s d = 0.73), with almost constant values across all intervals. After the training ML CoP velocity was reduced for 13.12% (Cohen’s d = 0.60), while ML CoP amplitude increased (Cohen’s d = −0.89)

The importance of developing a coherent pattern of crawling in later school period

V sodobnem življenju, obdanem s tehnologijo in pasivnim življenjskim slogom, ljudje vse premalo časa namenimo za kakovostno in učinkovito preživljanje prostega časa. Današnja družba ne čuti potrebe po gibalni/športni aktivnosti. Večji del delovnega in prostega časa večinoma preživlja sede, ne zavedajoč se pozitivnega pomena gibalne/športne aktivnosti za zdravje in dobro počutje. Raziskave potrjujejo, da je v zadnjih desetletjih veliko otrok premalo gibalno/športno aktivnih ter da večina ne dosega dnevnih okvirnih priporočil gibalne/športne aktivnosti. V otrokovem zgodnjem gibalnem razvoju imajo najpomembnejšo vlogo ravno elementarne oblike gibanja (EGV), ki so osnova za razvoj nadaljnjega, kompleksnejšega gibanja. Številne raziskave kažejo na pomembnost usvojenosti elementarnih oblik gibanja, predvsem plazenja, ki pozitivno vpliva na skladnost gibanja (koordinacijo), koordinacijo delovanja možganov ter na skladen telesni razvoj (oblikovanje hrbteničnih krivin, razvoj mišične moči). Ravno plazenje za otroka pomeni prvo samostojno in učinkovito premikanje po prostoru. Skladnost vzorca plazenja se kaže v sočasnem delovanju nasprotne roke in noge. Pri otrocih, ki so se malo časa plazili in se hitro postavili na noge ter pričeli hoditi, se lahko v kasnejšem obdobju pojavljajo nekatere učne težave, npr. pri učenju branja, kompleksnih gibanjih ter tudi socialnih spretnostih. Nekateri znanstveniki celo nakazujejo, da lahko s plazenjem zdravimo disleksijo in motnjo pozornosti s hiperaktivnostjo. Tako predpostavljamo, da bi bilo treba z vidika zdravja in gibalnega razvoja pri urah športne vzgoje tako v vrtcih kakor tudi v osnovnih in srednjih šolah, nameniti več časa elementarnim oblikam gibanja, predvsem plazenju. Treba bi bilo narediti intervencijske programe, pri katerih bi dali večji poudarek plazenju kot preventivi za neskladen telesni in gibalni razvoj.People dedicate too little time for efficient, quality leisure in modern life, surrounded as we are by technology and passive lifestyle. The problem in today`s society is that one does not feel the need for physical activity. Increasingly, leisure activities and everyday tasks are performed sitting down, not taking into account the importance of the positive side of physical activity in maintaining health and well-being. Over the past decade, research has shown that many children are insufficiently active and many of them do not achieve the daily recommended amount of physical activity. Elementary movements play an important role in the early motor development of children. That movement represents the basis for movements which are more complex. Many studies indicate the importance of the adoption of elementary movement patterns, especially crawling, which have many positive effects on coherent movement (coordination), coordination of the brain hemisphere and coherent body development (creation of spinal development and muscle strength). Crawling represents a child\u27s first attempt at independent, efficient movement around their environment. The coherence of the crawling pattern is seen when move the opposite arm and leg at the same time. Studies indicate that those children who employ a pattern of crawling for only a short period of time and who begin to stand and walk earlier that their peers have the possibility of developing learning difficulties later on, such as problems learning to read, performing complex movements ad well as issue with social skills. Some researchers have indicated that crawling can be used as a treatment for dyslexia and ADHD. We assumed that it would be necessary for health and motor development to dedicate more time to the elementary movement patterns, especially to crawling during physical activity at kindergarten and school. We assumed that children also have the ability to improve their learning potential. It will also be necessary to prepare some programs for intervention, wherein the focus would be on the patterns of crawling as a preventive toll for incoherent body and motor development