Organization of Students and Total Task Time: External and Internal Load Recorded during Motor Activity

Abstract

The organization of the students and the time taken to execute the learning tasks determine the physical (external load) and physiological (internal load) demands the students support during physical education classes. The aim of this study was to determine which organizational and pedagogical elements used to design different learning tasks for soccer provoke greater external (Player Load (PL)) and internal (Heart Rate (HR)) load and thus help the students to fulfil the adequate physical activity recommendations (moderate to vigorous physical activity for ≥50% of class time). The organizational elements studied were (1) the participation type and (2) total task time, and the pedagogical element of (3) the game situation. A total of 40 students from the fifth year of primary education participated in the study distributed into two class groups. The basic analysis units were the data on physical activity recorded in each of the tasks carried out by the students during the practical sessions (1500 records), and they were recorded using WIMU ProTM inertial movement devices. A descriptive and inferential analysis was performed with the Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis H statistical tests. The results recommend the following types of tasks with simultaneous participation: individual games, numerical inequality SSG, numerical equality SSG lasting less than 6 min, numerical equality SSG, and full games lasting between 6 and 10 min. This type of learning task makes the students move more (medium Player Load between 0.80 and 1.20) and at greater intensities (Heart Rate zone 4, between 161 and 181 bpm). Therefore, physical education teachers must take into account the pedagogical and organizational elements studied to make the sessions more intense and associated with health benefits.

Are Subjective Intensities Indicators of Player Load and Heart Rate in Physical Education?

“…Thus, high values of eTL*min indicated low values of PL/min, and vice versa. These results are in line with those obtained in previous studies on school soccer [ 1 , 7 ]. The tasks involving playing situations, with the simultaneous participation of the players and in reduced game-spaces, invoke a medium-high subjective eTL [ 27 ] and high intensity [ 7 ], while the PL recorded is low because these tasks cause few accelerations as players cover longer distances at more constant speeds [ 46 , 47 ].…”

“…This may be because HR max and RPE are lower in aerobic sessions [ 33 ]. In this regard, the type of task (teaching means) has a direct effect on kinematic, neuromuscular, and internal demands [ 7 , 13 ] and, together with the measurement technique used, can condition the magnitude and uncertainty of the associations [ 44 ].…”

“…In physical education classes, students should spend at least 50% of their time recording moderate to vigorous physical activities for adequate cardiovascular work in order to prevent diseases such as weight gain and obesity [6]. In this regard, García-Ceberino et al [7] proposed a list of recommendations for students to spend more than 50% of the Healthcare 2022, 10, 428 2 of 14 class in moderate to vigorous physical activity. Similarly, the World Health Organization [8] recommends spending at least 60 min per day in moderate to intense physical activity, mainly aerobic, throughout the week (for populations aged 5 to 17 years).…”

“…In this regard, teachers usually aim for a higher time of motor commitment (useful time) for the learning tasks, but they do not take into account whether the demands of these tasks are high or low. Therefore, adequate learning-task planning, using different pedagogical, organizational (time-related), and subjective intensity variables, should be performed to achieve the recommended levels of physical fitness [ 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

Individualization of Intensity Thresholds on External Workload Demands in Women’s Basketball by K-Means Clustering: Differences Based on the Competitive Level

“…Similarly, Gamero et al [ 33 ] established four work zones through cluster analysis as follows (<5.2 km/h; 5.2–10.5 km/h; 10.5–15.7 km/h; >15.7 km/h). Along the same lines, García-Ceberino et al [ 34 ] employed the K-means clustering method with five levels to differentiate PL/min load ranges in the context of PE, as load ranges should be adapted to the study population. Finally, Reina et al [ 21 ] performed a cluster analysis during a competition in women players that were in their last formative stage (youth, close to amateur age) and the values were grouped into five categories (<3.6 km/h; 3.6–6.5 km/h; 6.5–10.2 km/h; 10.2–14.4 km/h; >14.4 km/h).…”