Systematic Review of the Research on Motor Fitness of 1st-Year Students Attending Polish Institutions of Higher Education

Aim of the study. To establish: 1) the amount of research on general motor fitness of 1st-year students, conducted at selected Polish institutions of higher education between 1953-2010; 2) the number and kind of motor tests applied in this kind of research as well as the frequency of these tests during the period under study. Material and methods: The material for this research was composed of the publications on motor fitness of the first-year students taking part in specific motor trials applied at Polish tertiary institutions between 1953 - 2010. A diagnostic poll method was used in the research. Results: Fifty-four original research cases conducted in the period under study were observed. Within this period the trials such as: “100m run”, “jump from the run-up”, “grenade throw” and “ shot put” were more popular during the earlier years, while the trials such us: “zig-zag run”, “standing long jump”, and “medicine ball throw” were characteristic of more recent studies. Some of the most popular motor trials were: “standing long jump” – 38 cases, “medicine ball throw” – 30 cases, “zig-zag run” – 28 cases, “shuttle runs” – 9 cases, "short distance runs” – 12 cases, “downward bend from standing position” – 10 cases, and "vertical jump” – 8 cases. Conclusions: 1. Little research concerning the level of physical fitness of first-year students attending Polish tertiary institutions was conducted in the years 1953-2010; 2. The amount of motor fitness research carried out during this period fails to provide constant systematic assessment of the state of the students’ physical condition, which is a result of too large dispersions in time and territory where the measurements were taken; 3. In the motor fitness tests conducted with 1st-year students the determining variable was mainly gender, and only few research cases were found in which general motor fitness was analyzed according to environmental factors and anthropometric parameters; 4. The popularity of some trials as well as the frequency of their applications fluctuated differently over time.