Upper Body Posture Investigation in Young Track and Field Athletes

Abstract

Based on previous researches, it was identified how physical activity brings effects on the posture and physical development of a young body. The posture of the athletes is a large interest subject for the physical education and sports research field, mostly for the researchers who discovered that physical training affects body posture, even if there is no consensus on the direction of this effect. The main scope of the case study is to evaluate the anthropometrics variables and to evaluate the upper body posture using the APECS Pro version 6.2.0 developed by New Body Technology in young track and field athletes. The analysed group consisted of fourteen minor athletes (7 girls and 7 boys) with age between 11-13 years old.  A minimum of two years of participation in athletics training, a frequency of 3 times/week training sessions, and participation on track and field contest at regional events, were criteria for inclusion in this study. Were assess anthropometric measurements (6 variables) and posture investigation (upper body posture in frontal plane – back view and sagittal plane, side view respectively). The results were performed by means, SD, and Independent Sample T-Test. Also, relationships between anthropometric variables and angular values of upper body posture in frontal and sagittal plane were analysed with Pearson correlation. Data analysis revealed asymmetry at the body alignment, head-neck, shoulder, scapulae, and axillae. It’s recommended to perform exercise sets during the session training or individually to improve the strength and the balance of strength to be able to keep the best posture daily life.