Abstract des Autors

Physical educators are challenged to provide quality experiences that are fun for their students, enhance fitness levels, and build confidence. A possible solution to enhancing physical activity engagement in children is to incorporate climbing walls into the school's physical education curriculum. The climbing wall has been touted as an effective and innovative way to help children reach their fitness goals. They can achieve these goals through fun climbing activities that elicit the development of all fitness-related components. Research suggests climbing improves muscular strength and endurance and cardiovascular function while also enhancing fine motor skills and strengthening the upper body and core. Because of the paucity of research in this area and the relative newness of climbing walls in public schools, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether the extended use of a climbing wall would contribute to strength gains in elementary school children. It was hypothesized that students who use a climbing wall for a full semester in their physical education classes would see greater grip strength gains than those who followed the regular physical education curriculum. Aus dem Text