The Influence of Morphofunctional Condition on the Physical Fitness Level of Ukrainian Soldiers

Abstract

The article presents a comparative analysis of the main components of the physical condition of military personnel with different physical fitness levels. The 170 soldiers with an average age of 19.6 years took part in the study. The study was aimed at identifying the structure of the relationships among morphological status, cardiovascular function and the most important physical abilities. The following methods were used: anthropometric; physiological, pedagogical, and mathematical statistics. Results. The analysis of the main parameters of physical development indicated statistically significant difference (p<0.05; p<0.01) between the studied groups of soldiers with different physical fitness levels. The group with a high level of physical fitness had significantly higher values of body height, chest circumference, and right/left hand grip strength (p<0.01), while having a lower body weight (p<0.05). The analysis of the average values of five skinfold measurements and their sum indicated statistically significant difference between the groups with different physical fitness levels (p<0.05; p<0.01). The group of soldiers with a low level of physical fitness had higher (p<0.01) values of five skinfold measurements and their sum. The obtained average group values of body composition indicate a statistically significant difference (p<0.05; p<0.01) in the muscle and fat components, and basal metabolism between the groups with different levels of physical fitness. Analysis of the average group values of soldiers with high and medium levels of physical fitness showed the optimal function of the cardiovascular system and a well-developed system of external respiration. The correlation analysis revealed a large number of high direct and inverse relations with r from 0.172 at p <0.05 to 0.662 at p <0.001 between morphofunctional status and major physical abilities of soldiers. Also, we found that 3000m run results (endurance) directly depends on the body height, vital capacity, saturation, and the leg muscle mass (r = 0.167; r = 0.168; r = 0.169; r = 0.217 at p<0.05). Furthermore, inverse relations were found between these parameters and fat component (r from -0.164 to -0.338 at p <0.05; p <0.01; p <0.001). We found that the effectiveness of strength test exercises was the most influenced by the body measurements and muscle component, as well as a strong inverse relation was found between the fat component and exercise effectiveness.