Zur Ausdauerschwäche im Kindes- und Jugendalter — Eine Untersuchung an Kindern (12-13 Jahre) zur Optimierung des Sportförderunterrichts

Summary

Weakness in the cardiopulmonary system is often caused by a lack of physical activity beginning already in the early school years. Compensatory measures require a well-defined selective process, effective methods of physcial training instruction and reliable means of control.

In a group of 237 children (mean age: 12.6 years), all in the same school year, a weakness of the cardiopulmonary system was diagnosed in 70 children (30%) using three different methods (bicycle ergometry, Cooper’s Test, and teacher’s observations). Forty-seven of these children took part in the study described. Twenty-four children participated in a special compensatory training program (CTP) to increase endurance. Twenty-three children formed a reference group. The average intensity of CTP and the normal physical education classes were controlled by telemetric monitoring of heart rates. The physical working capacity (PWC₁₇₀) was used to assess the changes in the cardiopulmonary endurance.

An increase of 15.2% in the PWC₁₇₀/kg could be achieved by the additional CTP, whereas the reference group remained unchanged. However, the normal physical standard for this age group could not be reached after three months. According to the heart rate profiles, time and intensity of the CTP were high enough to produce an effective training stimulus. In normal physical education classes the intensity was at the lower borderline for producing training effects. During the various physical activities in normal physical education classes, the weak children showed a different distribution of heart rates than the children with normal endurance.

Considering the results of the study, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1. Observations by the teacher and the Cooper-Test are possible methods for selection in addition to ergometry. 2. A significant increase in physical endurance can already be shown after three months of special CTP. 3. The CTP offers a more effective physical training than the normal physical education classes. 4. The intensity of the normal classes is very much influenced by the motivation of the pupils.