Evaluación de la condición física general y específica en practicantes de gimnasia rítmica mediante el protocolo Aristo

Abstract

Rhythmic gymnastics (RG) is a sport with a huge physical and technical demands, which requires a high level of training. Hence, it is a priority for gymnasts to have a specific optimal and healthy physical condition to face the requirements of such a physically demanding sport practice. The main objective of this Doctoral Thesis as part of the ARISTO project was to apply a protocol for medical examination and assessment of the physical fitness-general health for this gymnastic sport, as well as to prepare and validate a battery of specific functional characteristics of these gymnasts to guarantee a healthy sports practice. With the intention of responding to this macro-objective, three studies were carried out whose specific objectives were: to analyze the level of physical fitness related to health in girls and adolescents practitioner of RG, the application of the ALPHA-Fitness battery that facilitates a measurement objective of the physical fitness (study 1); design a functional test battery to specifically evaluate the different capacities implicit in Rhythmic Gymnastics (study 2); apply the battery designed to check the reliability (that is, the consistency of the results) and validation, as well as obtain normative reference values of the different tests that make up the battery for the population practicing this sport (study 3). A total of 116 competition gymnasts belonging to 5 clubs from 4 Andalusian provinces (Seville, Malaga, Huelva and Granada) were selected for the study. The results of this Doctoral Thesis show that: 1. The total sample of gymnasts presents a good physical condition compared to the standard reference values (study 1); 2. An instrument of potential interest has been developed for the assessment of Rhythmic Gymnastics gymnasts (study 2) and 3. The definitive BFAGR consists of six tests at each level, being a valid, reliable and easy-to-apply tool (study 3). Based on these findings, the designed and validated battery represents a breakthrough in measuring sport-specific physical qualities. Establishing itself as a tool in rhythmic gymnastics for valid and reliable tests that measure the abilities inherent to sport, preserving health standards. Therefore, it is intended to be incorporated into the annual planning of the trainers so that they objectively know the level of their gymnasts and can make the relevant variations in training based on the results obtained in the tests. In addition, seeing the results in the tests can come to recognize the potential of a future sports talent.