Poster Session #2: UC Ballroom
Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Steven Gaskill
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Health and Human Performance
Abstract / Artist's Statement
MONITORED FITNESS PROGRAMS CAN IMPROVE FITNESS FOR SPECIAL OLYMPIC ATHLETES
Brooke Nearpass, Health and Human Performance, Donna Bainbridge (Facility Advisor)
PURPOSE:
Physical fitness is important for Special Olympic athletes, as they tend to be more sedentary. There are limited fitness programs available for Special Olympic athletes currently. I evaluated the effectiveness of individualized fitness programs for this population.
METHODS:
I tested two middle age women with varying abilities. My two athletes were part of a larger group study. I worked along with five others to test and evaluate multiple athletes. The field tests I performed included: Sit n’ reach, modified apley test, timed sit to stand, partial sit-up, seated push-up, multidirectional functional reach test, single leg stance (eyes open and closed), and three minute walk test. These tests fell under categories of flexibility, strength, balance, and aerobic fitness. I created two individualized programs for my athletes that fit their needs, strengths, and goals. I monitored their progress weekly, made adjustments when necessary, and retested the athletes after six weeks.
ORIGINALITY:
I used the cohens statistic to evaluate my results. I calculated the average and standard deviation in order to get effect size. The effect size for sit to stand ended up being .50, which falls in the category of medium improvement. A result of 0.1-0.3 is a small improvement, whereas, 0.5 is a high improvement in results. In total, I saw improvements in flexibility and strength between my athletes.
SIGNIFICANCE:
This population is varying in terms of fitness abilities. The improvement I saw suggests that with more time their results could continue to improve. We were able to see improvements in many different areas between the groups. This program encouraged physical activity and provided beneficial results for Special Olympic athletes.
Category
Physical Sciences
Monitored fitness programs can improve fitness for special olympic athletes.
MONITORED FITNESS PROGRAMS CAN IMPROVE FITNESS FOR SPECIAL OLYMPIC ATHLETES
Brooke Nearpass, Health and Human Performance, Donna Bainbridge (Facility Advisor)
PURPOSE:
Physical fitness is important for Special Olympic athletes, as they tend to be more sedentary. There are limited fitness programs available for Special Olympic athletes currently. I evaluated the effectiveness of individualized fitness programs for this population.
METHODS:
I tested two middle age women with varying abilities. My two athletes were part of a larger group study. I worked along with five others to test and evaluate multiple athletes. The field tests I performed included: Sit n’ reach, modified apley test, timed sit to stand, partial sit-up, seated push-up, multidirectional functional reach test, single leg stance (eyes open and closed), and three minute walk test. These tests fell under categories of flexibility, strength, balance, and aerobic fitness. I created two individualized programs for my athletes that fit their needs, strengths, and goals. I monitored their progress weekly, made adjustments when necessary, and retested the athletes after six weeks.
ORIGINALITY:
I used the cohens statistic to evaluate my results. I calculated the average and standard deviation in order to get effect size. The effect size for sit to stand ended up being .50, which falls in the category of medium improvement. A result of 0.1-0.3 is a small improvement, whereas, 0.5 is a high improvement in results. In total, I saw improvements in flexibility and strength between my athletes.
SIGNIFICANCE:
This population is varying in terms of fitness abilities. The improvement I saw suggests that with more time their results could continue to improve. We were able to see improvements in many different areas between the groups. This program encouraged physical activity and provided beneficial results for Special Olympic athletes.