European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

A STUDY ON BACK STRENGTH AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH SELECTED ANTHROPOMETRIC VARIABLES AND PERFORMANCE TESTS IN STATE LEVEL GYMNASTS OF PUNJAB

Gurmeet Kaur*, Pankaj Singh Bisht and Dr. Shyamal Koley

ABSTRACT

Gymnastic is one of the popular skillful sports in many countries of the world. The present study was conducted on purposively selected 100 state level gymnasts (50 male and 50 female) of Punjab, India aged 15-25 years. The subjects were assessed for back strength, twelve anthropometric variables, such as, height, body weight, body mass index, upper arm circumference, chest circumference, hip circumference, knee height, buttock knee length, biceps skinfold, triceps skinfold, percent body fat and percent lean body mass, and two performance tests, viz. standing broad jump and vertical jump height. In results, it was observed that state level male gymnasts had significantly (p<0.009) greater mean value (61.42 kg) for back strength than their female counterparts (51.49 kg). It was also found that back strength had significantly positive correlations (p<0.045-0.001) with body weight, all three circumference measurements studied, knee height, buttock knee length and vertical jump height in state level gymnasts of Punjab. It might be concluded from the findings of the present study that back strength was found to be an important indicator which would lay emphasis on flexibility, and endurance, hence reduces the risks of injuries.

Keywords: Back strength, Anthropometric variables, Performance tests, State level gymnasts.