Lately, there has been increase of interest in examining the motives of male and female adolescents for taking part in physical activities, as well as examining their depression, anxiety and stress. The objective of this paper was to investigate intergender differences between male and female adolescents concerning the motives for physical exercise, depression, anxiety and stress. The pertinent sample accounted for 332 high-school students of both sexes from Valjevo (164 females and 168 male high school seniors), aged 18.10 ± 0.86. Three measuring instruments were used: Questionnaire for collecting basic data, The Exercise Motivation Inventory 2 („EMI–2“) questionnaire and the Depression anxiety stress scale (DASS – 21). The internal consistency and reliability of the questionnaire and the scale was satisfactory. The given results revealed that there are statistically significant gender differences, as the male adolescents, compared to the female adolescents, more frequently took part in physical activities (p ≤ 0.01). The important difference between the motives for participating in physical activities between the male and female participants was defined, so the motives: Socializing, Competition, Enjoyment, Social recognition and Strength and Persistence were more dominant with male adolescents, whereas motives: Appearance, Agility, Maintaining and improving health, and Body mass control were manifested more with female high school seniors. The findings revealed, with the probability of error being 0.05 the statistically significant differences of the depression dimension between the adolescents who rarely or never take part in physical activities and those who take part in physical activities three or more times a week. The results suggest that there are significant differences between male and female participants when it comes to stress variable (t = -2.47, p ≤ 0.01) and anxiety variable (t = -2.17, p ≤ 0.05). Differences on the depression variable are not significant. The findings were discussed within the context of current empirical and theoretical frame. 

Although beach handball comes from the sport that is played indoors it has significant differences from it. The aim of the study was to investigate and compare tactical options in both defense and attack between men and women. In 16 games from 2017 European Beach Handball Championship, 1074 attacks and defense situations were analyzed, in order to examine different attack and defense tactics. The selected method was video-analysis. The ꭓ2-test was used to compare the differences between the formations in defense and attack. In defense the results showed that men use more often 3:0, 2:1C and 2:1L formations, while women use more often 3:0. From the comparison between men and women it appeared that, in the initial formation of defense, there are significant differences, while in the final tactical formation are minimal. Men, in the initial and final tactical option in attack, used the system with one pivot and the specialist in center. Women use the same formation but also the one with a pivot and specialist at the left side of the attack at the substitution area. In the initial attack formation, appeared few significant changes between men and women, while in the final tactical formation there were no changes. Finally, the final throwing attempts, men choose to make them mainly from the center while women from the right and from the center. In conclusion, we can say that men’s and women’s tactical choices in defense and offense show some differences, but these differences are small. 

This article represents a review of the existing literature on possible long-term effects of sport participation at high-level on health. Search of databases was performed through Web of Science and Science Direct including following keywords: metabolic risk factor/syndrome, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular health. Former athletes tend to adopt healthier lifestyles, which may give them an advantage in relation to risk factors taking into account metabolic risk factor/syndrome, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular health. Health benefits of physical activities, moreover, depends of engagement at recommended levels, even in subjects who have never been athletes. 

The aim of the study is to examine if and to what extent the evaluations of fitness studios by persons who have recently resigned from their membership are related to general studio conditions such as studio atmosphere, facilities, trainer’s competence and other features. In other words, the question is whether there are typical prioritizations on positive or negative evaluations by dropouts from fitness sport. In the survey a total of 225 people, who had quitted their membership in the past, were questioned in a telephone inquiry. The study was conducted in a health-oriented fitness center in a major city in Germany. At the time of the study the fitness facility had up to 1.151 memberships. Among them, 59% of the members were women and 41% were men. The average age of the respondents was 43.5 years. The average duration of membership added up to 4.4 years. Overall, the various aspects of the studio offer and its surroundings were mostly rated as “good”.  The respondents appreciated particularly the coaches (friendliness, helpfulness, competence), followed by opening hours, trial training and the first impression.  The membership costs and individual aspects such as space, music and ventilation are assessed more critically, if not really badly. The data show that the various evaluation aspects were clearly assessed differently by the respondents, and that there was apparently little generalized information on the studio evaluation. 

The aim of this research was to determine the differences in health-related fitness between preschool children involved in organized and unorganized physical activities. This study was performed on a sample of 220 healthy preschool children that were divided into two groups, organized physical activity group (N=99) and unorganized physical activity group (N=121). Beside the set of anthropometric variables children were tested for Standing broad jump, Classic sitand-reach test, Bent arm hang, Sit-ups in 30 seconds and Handgrip strength test. The t-test applied to determine differences between anthropometric characteristic revealed differences for almost all variables (p≤0.05). Moreover, the organized physical activity group showed better results in all fitness variables compared to unorganized group (p≤0.01). It can be concluded that the developmental gymnastics program has influence on improvement of health-related fitness in preschool children.

The aim of this study was to determine the relations between morphological characteristics and specific motor skills of karate athletes, where by the obtained results would be used in better planning and programming of training. Twenty-five young adults karate athletes (15.32 ± 0.22 years) members CC “Šotokan” from Loznica with a sports experience of not less than 8 years participated in this study. The research involved the measurement of certain morphological characteristics and specific motor skills of forward hand punch and foot strikes using standardized tests. The application of the regression analysis showed that there is a statistically significant influence of the system of predictor variables on the criterion variables (p≤0.05) reverse punch - gyaku-zuki (P=0.00), lunge punch - oi-zuki (P=0.00) and front kick - mae-geri (P=0.01). The total variability ranged from 50% of the criterion of the front kick - mae-geri to 60% of the criterion of lunge punch - oi-zuki. The values of the standardized regression coefficient Beta indicate the individual positive and statistically significant influence of the body height and muscle mass variables on the criteria tested: gyaku-zuki, oi-zuki and mae-geri, and the negative impact of the body weight variable on the oi-zuki criterion (pβ≤0,05). A positive influence of the overall body water quantity variable on the gyaku-zuki criterion (pβ≤0,05) was also determined. It can be concluded that there is a connection between the morphological characteristics and the specific motor skills of junior-age karate athletes from Loznica. 

Studies concerning the effects of different invasion games on physical fitness in school children are scarce. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the application of invasion games on physical fitness in primary school children. A total of 62 primary school children aged 10-12 years voluntarily participated in this study. They were divided into experimental (32) and control (30) group. Physical fitness of children was estimated by the following tests: Standing broad jump, Vertical jump, Bent-arm hang, Sit-ups, Push- ups, Medicine ball test and Andersen test. The experimental group had twice per week invasion games on non-consecutive days for 12 weeks. Participants in control group did not perform specific program but attended their regular PE class twice per week. Compared with initial measurement, there was a significant (p < 0.05) improvement in vertical jump test for both groups. Furthermore, the group that participated in the invasion games program made significantly greater gains compared to the control group (p < 0.05) in Standing broad jump (8.2%; ES=0.56 vs. 3%; ES=0.2) and Medicine ball test (8.2%; ES=0.6 vs. 3%; ES=0.3). There was a significant improvement in bent arm hang, sit ups and push-ups in experimental group. Compared with initial measurement, there was a significant (p < 0.05) improvement in Andersen test in invasion games group, which was not the case with control group (p>0.05). To conclude, invasion games were an effective way of improving physical fitness in primary school children, because the results of this study indicate that this method was more effective for physical fitness than traditional school program. 

The aim of this paper was to determine whether the high-intensity interval training (HIIT) training can improve aerobic fitness in regional-level soccer players. Billat method (30-30s and 15-15s; 6-12 min) was used twice a week for 8 weeks during a season. Twenty-Three National-level soccer team players, (years=25±8, height=183.28±5.93, weight=75.28±5.9), were recruited for this study. Pre- and post-experimental period, maximum oxygen uptake was measured thru pseudo-ramp test on treadmill until volitional fatigue. Obtained results showed improvement in aerobic fitness for post- vs premeasurement (initial measurement = 51.92±3.40, final measurement = 54.87±2.61, p<.001). It is likely that specific high intensity interval training is viable method for aerobic fitness improvements in national-level soccer players when conducted during season.

The aim of this study was to establish the genderrelated differences among children 6-6.5 years of age in anthropometric characteristics so as to observe their development and make more appropriate selection for participation in guided and organised physical activities. A battery of 7 anthropometric measurements was used on the representative sample of 175 subjects of both genders from Valjevo (M=45 aged 6 and M=83 aged 6.5; F = 44 aged 6 and F=43 aged 6.5). The multivariate analysis of variance showed the existence of statistically significant differences (p=0.00) in the anthropometric space of the two ages analysed regarding the gender. Through the individual analysis, the differences at age 6 were found in the Upper arm skin fold variable (p=0.03) and the Back-skin fold (p=0.00), whereas with the 6.5-year-old subjects, the differences were found in the Body height variable (p=0.03), Upper arm skin fold (p=0.00) and Back skin fold (p=0.02), both in favour of the boys. It can be assumed that the differences are the result of the endogenous and exogenous factors upon the children's organism in the period of childhood in a smaller urban community of the southwest Serbia. 

The main purpose of our article was to broaden the knowledge of the level of the motor performance of young soccer players in puberty, taking into account their biological age. The object of our research was 18 soccer players in the U 15 category of the soccer club ŠK Slovan Bratislava divided into a subset with accelerated development (n=10) with body height 177,4 ± 5,1 cm, body weight 65,8 ± 7,5 kg and a subset with retarded development (n=8) with body height 170,9 ± 7,3 cm, body weight 63,9 ± 7,7 kg. To assess the motor performance, a set of 3 tests to evaluate speed and speed-coordination (agility) capabilities was applied. The set of tests contained a 10 m run (n=10 - average value of 1.61 s, n=8 - average value of 1.62 s), a 30 m run (n=10 - average value of 4.13 s, n=8 - average value of 4.16 s) and a 5 x 10 m run with a change of direction (n=10 - average value of 11.55 s, n=8 - average value of 11.70 s). Using the Mann-Whitney U test, we did not confirm in our case a statistically significant different level in the motor performance of the monitored sets with regard to the degree of their biological maturity.