Effects of summer vacation on primary pupils'' physical conditions
The study analyses the effects of summer vacation on the primary pupils' physical conditions. The study was performed at 14 general education schools in Sverdlovsk, with 2,240 primary pupils (1-4-grade) being subject to the study. The physical conditions of the subjects were tested by the standard set of tests recommended by the Russian monitoring service in application to pupils including: 30m sprint (speed-rating) test; 1000m race (endurance rating) tests; standing long jump (speed-strength rating) test; 30-second prone trunk lifts (girls' strength rating) test; pull-ups on a high bar (boys' strength rating) test; plus straight leg bounce (flexibility rating) test. The study data and analyses showed that, despite of the natural growth of the children's motor activity in summer time, variations in their physical conditions by the start of the school year are little if any in fact. It should be noted that the endurance rates tend to fall in this age group. The authors made the conclusion that the children's physical qualities need to be purposefully developed in a summer period to ensure physical health progress in this age group and make the children better fit for the Russian physical culture and sports GTO Complex tests.