Experimental Study on Improving Expansion by Means of Parkour to Students in the 8th Grade

Abstract

This paper is based on a study regarding the improvement of expansion to students in the 8th grade, who practice parkour as an extra curriculum activity. It is a “natural method of training the body”, a sport that allows exploiting the potential of the human body. Parkour is based on an efficient, rational, continuous, straight, over, under, around and through obstacles movement. Values of arithmetic mean registered by the research sample for expansion shows an improvement of 0,08m, with the values of 2,44m at initial testing and 2,52m for the final one. The “t” test shows significant statistical differences between the two steps (t=3,25; p<0,01), so a progress was registered. The means used by parkour confirm the effectiveness of this type of movement practiced in urban areas which can be an important starting point in teaching students in 8th grade to improve expansion and other motric skills.