Fitness infantil para el desarrollo técnico de la fuerza en estudiantes de básica media, de instituciones educativas urbanas y rurales de la ciudad de Cuenca

Abstract

Currently there are various opinions regarding the development of strength in children, there are doubts, as well as positions in favor and some against. However, it is important to approach these types of issues from the scientific evidence. Strength in children brings with it multiple benefits such as strengthening muscles, ligaments and tendons. In the same way, it benefits intra- and intermuscular coordination involving the central nervous system allowing the child to develop and adapt better to various sports practices or physical activities. In addition to the above, strength training helps in the prevention of injuries and the integral growth of the child. That is why the need arises to contribute with this research to the knowledge of the scientific community regarding the topic in question. This program called Child Fitness provides information related to the methodology of strength training in children. Therefore, the objective of this work is to analyze the effect of the aforementioned program on 56 middle school boys and girls from urban and rural educational institutions in the city of Cuenca, aged between 11 and 12 years. As part of the intervention, a pre and a post test was carried out evaluating the strength of the lower body through the long jump test, the muscular resistance of the upper body was also evaluated through the flexion test of arms suspended from a bar and also the abdominal contraction applying the sit up test, all these tests belong to the Eurofit battery. The results obtained at the end of the intervention demonstrated increases in strength levels in the three muscle groups evaluated in both boys and girls, with statistically significant differences. As for the comparison by urban or rural area, there were significant statistical differences only in the upper train test. These data support that in fact a correctly applied and structured strength program benefits the improvement of the technique of strength exercises and therefore the optimization of it. Likewise, it is essential to take into account the ages of children prior to the application of a strength program. This mainly to take advantage of the sensitive phases and their benefits with respect to the capacity of the force.