Self-Assessment of Physical Fitness and Health versus Motivational Value of Physical Activity Goals in People Practicing Fitness, Football, Martial Arts and Wheelchair Rugby.

The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between self-assessment of physical fitness and health, and the motivational role of physical activity goals in people, depending on their sports discipline. The study included 470 men and 218 women, aged 18-45, from western and southern Poland. The respondents practiced sports recreationally (fitness-F), competitively (football-FB, martial arts-MA), and for rehabilitation and sports purposes (wheelchair rugby-R). The standardized questionnaire for the motivational role of physical activity goals (Inventory of Physical Activity Objectives, IPAO) by Lipowski and Zaleski and the authors' questionnaire on lifestyle were used. In the statistical analyses, non-parametric statistics were used. Individuals with very high and high self-assessment of their physical fitness and very good self-assessment of health achieved higher scores on the motivational value scale, time management, motivational conflict and multidimensionality of physical activity goals (p < 0.05). Respondents who assessed their health as very good achieved lower results on the perseverance scale, compared to those who assessed their health as good or poor. Self-assessment of physical fitness had a positive, high and moderate correlation with the self-assessment of health in people practicing wheelchair rugby, fitness, football and martial arts (r = 0.61; r = 0.52; r = 0.41; r = 0.40, respectively). Correlations were found between the motivational role and time management in people practicing fitness (r = 0.81), football (r = 0.66) and martial arts (r = 0.45), and multidimensionality of goals in those practicing fitness (r = 0.65) and martial arts (r = 0.42) Wheelchair rugby players scored the highest on all KCAF scales (except for motivational conflict). Self-assessment of physical fitness of wheelchair rugby players and fitness practitioners was negatively correlated with time management (r = -0.68; r = -0.49), multidimensionality of goals (r = -0.51; r = -0.49) and motivational values (r = -0.43; r = -0.43). The demonstrated relationships indicated that there was a need to strengthen the self-esteem and motivation for physical activity, promoting perseverance, the ability to focus on the implementation of one's goals and prioritizing the goals among people practicing various sports disciplines.

Intensity of Health Behaviors in People Who Practice Combat Sports and Martial Arts.

Background: Health behaviors are associated with a healthy lifestyle, in which relative possibilities of choice play an important part. Athletes are a group of people who should particularly endeavor to have a health-oriented lifestyle. It is believed that combat sports (CS) and martial arts (MA) have an especially significant educational potential, connected with several desirable values which provide positive patterns of health behaviors. The aim of the work was to assess the intensity of health behaviors in athletes who practiced CS and MA in relation to the length of their training history, their age, sex, place of residence, education level, and financial situation. Methods: The research involved 441 men and women who practiced boxing (B), Brazilian ju-jitsu (BJJ), karate (K), mixed martial arts (MMA) and Muay Thai (MT). The average age of the subjects was 24.68 ± 8.24 years. The standardized Health Behavior Inventory (HBI) questionnaire and another questionnaire for a lifestyle survey were applied. Individual behaviors covered four areas: Correct eating habits (CEH), preventive behaviors (PB), positive mental attitude (PMA), and health practices (HP). The one-way analysis of variance (F-test) for independent groups was used (ANOVA). The effect size was calculated with Hedge's g for Student's t-test, and with Cramér's V for the χ2 test. The value of p ≤ 0.05 was assumed to be statistically significant. Results: CS and MA athletes presented a moderate level of health behaviors. The greater intensity of health behaviors (HBI and its categories) was found among B, K and MMA athletes, and the smaller among those who practiced MT. Correct eating habits (CEH) were characteristic of subjects who practiced every day and whose length of training history was 4-8 years. Greater intensity of preventive behaviors (PB) was observed among individuals aged under-19 years, who still studied. Greater intensity of health practices (HP) was found among those who exercised every day. Influence of financial situation was observed in relations to PMA. Conclusions: It seems that the existing educational potential of CS and MA was not fully realized in the studied population. Determining the place of health in the system of values of CS and MA athletes may be the basis for predicting health behaviors and developing health education programs.

Selected Healthy Behaviors and Quality of Life in People Who Practice Combat Sports and Martial Arts.

Background: The quality of life of a society is conditioned by many factors, and depends, among other things, on preferred behavior patterns. Combat sports (CS) and martial arts (MA) have a special educational potential in the area of shaping positive behavior patterns and transmitting moral values which could help reduce aggression in society. The aim of the work was to determine the relationship between health behaviors and the quality of life of people who practice combat sports and martial arts (CS and MA) recreationally, in addition to practicing other sports, and as competitors at the master level. Methods: The research embraced 543 people who practice combat sports and martial arts. Three groups were selected: recreational (n = 362), people who reconciled practicing various sports (n = 115), and competitors who practiced combat sports or martial arts at the master level (n = 66). The average age of the respondents was 24.49 ± 7.82. The standardized WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire and another questionnaire for a lifestyle survey were applied. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare several independent samples. In the case of determining statistical significance of differences the Mann-Whitney test was employed, and for the qualitative data analyses the trait frequency and the independence chi-square test were used. The effect size was calculated for each test ( E R 2 , rg, Cramér's V). The value of p ≤ 0.05 was assumed to be statistically significant. Results: The highest quality of life (in the physical, psychological and environmental domains) was characteristic of the competitors, who practiced only combat sports and martial arts. They also displayed the most health-oriented behaviors. The surprising results were: lower quality of life in the assessment of nondrinkers and nonsmokers, and higher among people who were overweight. Conclusions: We have found positive correlations between practicing CS and MA, health behaviours and higher scores in quality of life self-evaluation, particularly where practitioners are exclusively focused on CS and MA and practice these at a competitive level. Our findings thus support the growing evidence that competitive level CS and MA are an effective means of improving people's quality of life. Future research needs to clarify whether CS and MA can also be recommended to recreational and non-competitive practitioners as a means to improve their subjective quality of life.