Contribution of selected anthropometric, physical and physiological measures in running 1500 meter performance among male physical education majors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of some anthropometric and physical measurements in the performance in running 1500 meter performance among male physical education majors. To achieve that, the study was conducted on a random sample that consisted of (50) students, their mean age was (19.22) years. The researcher used the descriptive approach in its method "correlational study" for its suitability to the study targets. Anthropometric measurements included the (lengths, circumferences), The physical measurements consisted of (mile run, , 200m sprint,  push up (10) s, sit up (10) s, five hops test, vertical jump , and Cooper test- 12 minutes run,). The physiological variables included ( resting pulse rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures during rest, pulse after effort, systolic and diastolic blood pressures after effort and maximal oxygen uptake VO2 max). SPSS program was used in data analysis.        The results of stepwise regression revealed that the the anthropometric measurements of abdomen circumference contributed in explaining (18.6%) of the performance. Also, the physical measurements of mile run and 200m sprint contributed in explaining (89 %) of the performance. Finally, the physiological measurements of VO2 max explained (39.7 %) of 1500m running performance.  Based on the study finding the researchers recommend the need to construct norms of anthropometric and physical measurements for PE students, athletic elites in the universities and national athletes in track and field events. These norms could be used as reference values for selecting athletes, evaluating the achievement of PE students and the acceptance of students in physical education departments at the Palestinian universities.