The effect of 12 weeks of infrastructure gymnastics training on the physical fitness level of 5-8 years old children

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of gymnastics training on physical fitness level in children aged 5-8 years. A randomized controlled study design was used in the study. In order to determine the effect of gymnastics training on physical fitness, gymnastics training was applied for 1 hour a day, 3 days a week for 12 weeks. 72 volunteer children participated in the study. Participants were randomly divided into training (n:36) and control (n:36) groups. The training group (age: 6.74 ± 0.52; height: 115.4 ± 9.6; body weight: 24.0 ± 5.1 and BMI: 17.9 ± 2.0) and Control Group (age: 6.57 ± 0.56; height: 120.4 ± 6.0; body weight: 23.9 ± 4.5 and BMI: 16.4 ± 2.3).The athletes participating in the study were subjected to pre-test, 6-week and 12-week intervention, and after 6-week and 12-week intervention, the following anthropometric measurements were performed: Height, Body weight, Body mass index, Vertical jump, Horizontal jump, Flexibility (sit reach test), Hand grip strength test, 20-meter sprint test, Skinfold measurements (skinfold thickness measurement) and Anthropometric measurements. The measurement variables were evaluated according to the results of the Shapiro-Wilk test to examine the suitability of the measurement variables for normal distribution. Independent Group t test was used for the comparison of normally distributed variables between groups and Mann-Whitney test was used for the comparison of non-normally distributed variables between groups (training group-control). Friedman Test for repeated measures was applied for the comparison of pre, mid and post test measurements in the training group and control group. It was observed that there was a difference between the groups in terms of BMI, flexibility, vertical jump and Skinfold measurements (p<0.05). The results revealed that differences were observed in the control group and the training group. The results of the study suggest that gymnastics training improves the physical fitness of children aged 5-8 years.