PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kutáč, Petr
AU  - Gajda, Vojtěch
TI  - Somatic analysis of PE students within a four-year research period
DP  - 2006 Sep 1
TA  - Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis. Gymnica
PG  - 47--51
VI  - 36
IP  - 4
IS  - 23364912
AB  - Modern theories and studies interpret sport performance as a defined system of elements which are characterized as components, determiners, factors, etc. Somatic factors concerning the support system are supposed to be a significant factor group. Body height, weight, length, width and circuit measurements belong to the group of somatic factors and they determine physical build (frequently characterized by a somatotype). This paper deals with the physical build of 1st year PE students who can be considered a selected group of the population with a relatively large volume of physical activity. The research was carried out within the years 2001-2004, 265 students (166 men and 99 women) were included in a sample. Heath and Certer's method (Riegerová & Ulbrichová, 1993) was used to determine the somatotype. As for average somatotypes, no significant differences concerning PE students were noted during the consequent years of research. The only exception was perhaps the endomorphic component which proved a distinctively downward trend (the value approached statistical significance at α = 0.05). PE students can be regarded as a group of the population with a large volume of physical activity, therefore a significant development of physical build as well as a somatotype reaching an optimum somatotype for PE students can be expected to be present (Riegerová & Ulbrichová, 1993). However, the measurements proved that students had fallen behind, especially in the mesomorphic component, which correlates with the population normative. We do assume that our findings and results may prove a decreasing physical level and related somatic development in our population.