State of physical fitness of the students of Ukrainian higher educational institutions

The article is devoted to the problem of increasing the level of physical fitness of the students of Ukraine. The role of physical education in the improvement of health, working capacity and the efficiency of the educational and future professional activity of students is shown in the article. The aim is to study the state of physical fitness of the students of a different gender at the different stages of study at higher educational institutions of Ukraine. The study was conducted at Zhytomyr National Agroecological University. 394 students (199 males, 195 females) of the 1st–4th years of study participated in the investigation. The research methods included the analysis and generalization of educational and methodical literature, pedagogical observation, testing; the methods of mathematical statistics. The assessment of the students' level of physical fitness was carried out according to the State tests and standards of the assessment of the Ukrainian population's physical fitness by the exercises characterizing the level of different physical qualities development, such as power, endurance, speed, agility, flexibility. It was found that the students of the 2nd year of study had the best level of physical fitness. Starting from the 2nd year, the rates of the improvement of the level of physical qualities of both male and female students are slowed down and decreased by individual tests. In the senior years, there is a significant decrease in the level of physical fitness. It was found that the level of physical fitness of male students is higher than the female students. The conducted analysis gives grounds to assert that the state of physical fitness of both male and female students of the 1st–4th years of study can be considered unsatisfactory in general. Conclusions. The study of the state of physical fitness of students of Ukraine showed that the traditional system of physical education at higher education institutions was not fully able to provide the required level of physical fitness and working capacity of students for future professional activity and vital activity. This necessitates the search for efficient ways of the improvement of the traditional system of physical education at higher education institutions of Ukraine.