Physical activity is an important criterion for a healthy lifestyle and a prerequisite for improving the motor abilities of adolescents. The aim of this study is to establish the level of development of physical quality agility in all stages of school education. In order to fulfill the set aim of the research, we used sports ­peda­gogical testing. The research was carried out with 232 pupils from 1st to 12th grade. We used variation analysis and comparative analysis with t-criterion of Student for independent samples to process the study results. Following the dynamics of the development of the studied indicator between the different classes, we report a positive increase six times, and a decrease in the result - three times (from 2nd to 3rd grade; from 7th to 8th grade and from 10th to 11th grade). Between grades 5th – 6th and 8th – 9th there was no increase in the results. The average number of points reported for each class ranged between 9 and 13 points, which according to the evaluation table means a “GOOD” assessment of agility development. Our study shows that the dynamics of the mean level of the researched indicator in the age aspect changes regressively, with the values decreasing from 1st to 12th grade. Comparing the changes in the mean values of pupils divided by class and gender, we established that, overall, boys are faster than girls when performing the test.

Introduction. Presently, obesity is endemic in many countries. Many obese patients also suffer from diseases of high social impact, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Generally, therapies combining energy deficient diets and physical activity protocols are used for treating obesity. Nonetheless, presently, no universal intervention with exact parameters exists. The complexity of the problem is further exacerbated by difficulties associated with long­term weight maintenance following weight reduction therapies. Purpose and objectives of the study. This analysis attempts to assess the impact of duration of combined diet-and-exercise weight reduction protocols on changes in body mass in overweight and obese people. Applied methodology. 3142 publications in total were retrieved by filtering the database of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health USA by keywords (“weight loss”, “diet” and “exercise”) for the period between 01.01.2008 and 01.01.2018. After a selection procedure was applied, 56 of them were included in this meta-regression analysis and were grouped into three strata according to duration. Achieved major results. The results showed that therapies of short to moderate duration are the most efficient for weight reduction, with regard to both overall effects and the amount of weight reduced per week. These findings were visualized by graphical representations of the studied data. Conclusions. On our opinion, short or moderately long weight reduction therapies with scheduled interruptions should be used for treating obesity. This strategy would successfully maintain patients’ psychological wellbeing, as well as prevent relapses and “yo-yo” effects. Originality/Value. Obesity is a problem of complex origins and simple approaches such as calorie counting are rarely effective. This study proposes a “spiral” methodology – short to moderately-long hypo-caloric regimens with scheduled interruptions.

The article is devoted to the study of effectiveness of building training and competitive loads of women’s national team of the Republic of Belarus for the European Indoor Hockey Champion ship (Indoor Hockey). The study was conducted at a separate, three-month stage of the annual training cycle.The Purpose of the study: To find optimal ratio between training and competitive loads using block training system for highly qualified hockey players. To achieve the goal, the following Tasks were set: 1. To determine the structure of training of Belarus national hockey players in clubs and during the training camps of the national team before the European Championship; 2. To evaluate training and competitive process as two separate areas of training for highly qualified hockey players; 3. To identify necessary volume and evaluate effectiveness of the use of non­specific loads of anaerobic orientation in shock microcycles during training process of hockey players and final result. Research hypothesis: it was assumed that control and test games, as well as non­specific loads of anaerobic orientation in shock microcycles, may have a positive effect on the efficiency of using block system for preparing highly qualified hockeyplayers for a short-term tournament.An analysis of the training structure of the women’s national team of the Republic of Belarus is presented from the perspective of the modern block system of periodization. Thus, it can be stated that the polycyclic principle of building the training process in Indoor hockey game sport is approved today. The obtained data on the structure of training of hockey players can be used as model characteristics.

Stretching is a common activity used by athletes, elderly, rehabilitation patients, people involved in fitness programs and many others. In isometric stretching an elongation in the linear dimensions of the kinematic chain of the upper limbs is observed. The aim of this study is to show the importance of intra­articular processes as response of isometric stretching force, ?s well as to mark the basic factors which define the joint answer to stretching, describing experi­mental data, relative to these factors. The present work has a programmatic character in terms of the directions in which the answer to the laid aims should be sought. The main focus is on the biomechanical processes in the joints involved in the obtained kinematic chain extension.

Football is an intermittent sport with a great number of short and explosive actions. These characteristics of the game require a good level of anaerobic power. The main field tests used as indicators of the development of the anaerobic energy system were the jumps in the vertical plane. The same tests also measured the strength of the lower limbs. We presume that the ex-plosive power of the lower limbs characterizes the development of the alactic anaerobic energy system and strength capacity at the same time. In that case the explosive power of the lower limbs was an important component of the conditioning and strength training of football players. There was a great variety of methods and devices which registered vertical jump height. From this point of view, we wanted to add our study to the research work in the specialized literature. The purpose of this study was to analyze the differences of the jump height measured via two devices. We used the following methods of research: accelerometry, chronometry and statistical analysis. We studied the vertical jump height of 32 football players of the Youth Academy of PFC “Levski”– Sofia at the age of 13,4. In the research the participants performed three jump tests (squat jump [SJ], counter movement jump [CMJ] and counter movement jump with arm swing [CMJA]) as the jump height was measured via accelerometer and Infrared platform. The results from these two devices were compared via Bland Altman plot and calculation of Intraclass correlation coefficients [ICC]. The results of ICC between the two devices showed very strong correlation of the results for the three tests (SJ (R= .91), CMJ (R= .92) and CMJA (R= .87)). The results of the ANOVA showed statistical difference between the measured jump heights (p< .05 for all test, systematic bias was equal to: SJ=15.6; CMJ=15.2; CMJA= 19.5 and effect size (?2) was large SJ= .65; CMJ= .69; CMJA= .65) for the three different types of jump. Conclusions:1) Both of the devices showed good consistency of the collected results; 2) The data collected from the two devices showed significant difference of the jump heights.

Jump Elements in figure skating are an integral part of motor activity. One of the conditions for their good performance is great height and length. Criteria for this are the indicators of speed and power qualities.The aim of this research work is to analyze the relationship between anthropometric indica­tors and those for jumping takeoff of young female figure skaters of the basic level of training. Seventeen female skaters aged 10-14 years old (prepuberty) from ice skating clubs in Bulgaria voluntarily participated in the study. The age of the participants was 10 to14 years old, which is considered favorable for the development of speed and strength abilities. They were subjected twice to 8 anthropometric measurements and 5 different types of takeoff, conducted in off-ice conditions. To achieve the goal of the survey, the following research methods were used: theoretical analysis and generalization of data in specialized scientific and methodological literature, pedagogical observation, pedagogical testing, anthropometric research methods and methods of mathematical statistics for processing the results of the study.The results showed significant intragroup dependences for the anthropometric and biome­hanical parameters for all types of jumps takeoff in the first study and a decrease in the correla­tion coefficients in the second measurement. The maximum force in all types of jumps increases with increasing indicators of height, weight, length of the lower limbs, chest circumference, shoulder width, while the width of the pelvis does not affect the strength of the takeoff. The height of the jumps with the help of the arms depends on the width of the shoulders – r = .497, and for vertical jump with the hands on the hips – r = .664.

The competitive pairs of horse and rider in the endurance discipline of equestrian sport in Bulgaria have ranked, in the past several years, amongst the elite contestants in Europe and the world, which has necessitated deeper studies in the areas of training methods and the ways of achieving high sport results. Therefore, this study is focused on 6 Bulgarian horses (Arabian horse and Shagya, Table 1) that are preparing for European and World championships. They were trained together under the same conditions (climate, time zone, tarrain, speed) by riders with the necessary qualifications and experience. Seven training rides were performed, and the pulse was measured at the moment of the highest load, as it is the most indicative of the horse’s level of effort. By studying the pulse of horses during a training session, the research aimed to determine the efficacy of the short­term training program in the prep season. The results showed that 2 to 4 minutes after coming to a full stop, regardless of the terrain, speed (in this research between 5.2 km/h and 22.5 km/h) or distance travelled by the horses, their pulse varied between 36 and 99 bpm (beats per minute) and they improved their physical condition and increased their stamina without this leading to trauma or more serious injuries, which is a main priority in the equestrian sport and allows for the successful completion of every race. In the long run, such a training methodology will allow the horses to be trained and ready to race at any time. Monitoring the heart rate and keeping it within the studied limits showed that this was the optimal option for a training regime for the six examined horses. In the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a possible solution for maintaining athletic fitness in endurance horses.

Objective: ?o study the potential effectiveness of individual physiotherapy program for wheelchair athletes with shoulder girdle persistent pain and dysfunctions.Materials and methods: Thirteen athletes, members of the Bulgarian National Teams in wheelchair basketball and track and field athletics, with mean age 40.6 ±10.9 participated in the study. The studied athletes had had a history of persistent pain and shoulder girdle dysfunctions for more than 6 months. Individual physiotherapy programs were applied to the participants for a period of two weeks. The selection of techniques was based on the initial assessment and evaluation. The participants were evaluated before treatment, after the first week of treatment, and at the end of the period with the use of the following specific questionnaires and tests: Goniometry of shoulder flexion and horizontal adduction, Apley’s Scratch test, Active compression test of O’Brien (ACT), Athletic shoulder outcome rating scale and Wheelchair User’s Shoulder Pain Index (WUSPI). Results: Post­ treatment effects demonstrated a significant (p<.05) increase in shoulder flex­ion (14.6° for the right and 12.7° for the left) and horizontal adduction (21.9° for the right and 18.8° for the left). A corresponding increase in the scores for the Athletic shoulder outcome rating scale was found with 10.92 points difference to the initial score (p<.05). The WUS-PI demonstrated a non­significant improvement of 0.69 points. The results of ACT and Apley scratch test showed a non-­significant decrease of 23.1% for the right shoulder and, 15.4% decrease for the left shoulder after 7 days of treatment. Those results remained unchanged in post-treatment testing. Conclusion:This study showed that the individual physiotherapy programs are effective in the management of wheelchair athletes with chronic shoulder pain. The involvement of Mulligan’s manual therapy techniques combined with other types of exercises for the shoulder and the trunk are beneficial for wheelchair athletes with chronic shoulder pain.

The selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) are androgen receptor ligands that bind to androgen receptors on target cells and exhibit a more pronounced anabolic effect at the expense of the androgenic effect on the latter. The aim of the article is to explain what SARMs are and how they are connected with sports. We used over 300 articles for the last 20 years connected with SARMs. Recently, the interest in these new molecules and their use has grown significantly, including in sports, which has led to their listing on the WADA prohibited list. In recent years, a lot of data have been gathered, both on the mechanism of action of a number of steroidal and non-steroidal representatives of this class of substances and on the adverse side effects of their use, as the latter should be well-known to sports doctors and especially to amateurs practicing in their free time and willing to increase their muscle mass with a view to preventing any potential health risks.