Development of Physical Abilities in Athletes Specializing in Combat Combination in the Preparatory Mesocycle

The article presents the study of the problem of influence of the training process parameters construction on the level of Combat Combination athletes' physical abilities during preparatory mesocycle. The Combat Combination is a part of non-Olympic sports and it is a type of Military and Sports All-round Competitions, which has a military-applied orientation. It includes the following types of competitive activities: shooting and hand-to-hand combat. For effective training of fighters in Combat Combination the coach needs a comprehensive understanding of the main aspects of the training process construction. He should take into account the peculiarities of training means and training methods for improving the level of physical, technical, tactical and psychological preparation of fighters. Acording to modern ideas about the athletes training activity, the process of sports training in the annual cycle (macrocycle) can be divided into the following periods: preparatory, competition and transitional. The main tasks of the preparatory mesocycle are the following: providing the all-round physical fitness (development and improvement of motion abilities) and mastering the rational technique of hand-to-hand combat (improving the skills of performing techniques). The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of training process parameters construction during preparatory mesocycle on the Combat Combination fighters' physical abilities level. Material and methods. 32 athletes aged 18-20 years from Kozhedub Air Force National University engaged in Military and Sports All-round Competitions were involved in the studies. They were divided into two experimental groups, which were tested before and after the preparatory mesocycle. Training in experimental groups were conducted during six months, 4 times a week, the duration of the main part was 90 minutes. We developed two training programs for fighters, which differed in the filling of the technical, general physical and sport-specific physical training means. The focus of the first experimental group training program was on improving of the physical abilities level through the use of traditional Hand-to-hand Fighting techniques, general development exercises and flexibility exercises. Fighters of the second experimental group performed an increased amount of technical orientation training loads: special preparatory exercises, exercises on apparatus, sparring and additional cross fit exercises. Results and discussion. The experiment results confirmed the improvement of the physical abilities indicators level of athletes, which confirms the expediency of using both training programs during preparatory mesocycle. At the same time, the second training program was more effective for the athletes' basic physical abilities development. It provided statistically significantly better growth of physical abilities level: strength at 15.4% (p<0.01), explosive force at 5.4 % (p<0.05) and endurance at 5.7% (p<0.05). Conclusion. The Combat Combination athletes' training program, with the increased volume of special-preparatory exercises, projectile exercises, sparring and force exercises, was more effective for the priority development of strength and endurance during preparatory mesocycle.