Developing the Calisthenics Exercise Program to Improve Physical Fitness of the Primary School Students

Background and Aim: Calisthenics exercises improve body composition, flexibility, cardiovascular health, muscle strength, and mental health across various populations. This study's objective was to develop the physical fitness of primary school students by participating in a calisthenic exercise training program during the after-school period. Materials and Methods: This research was quasi-experimental research, in which two groups pretest and a posttest conducted a calisthenic exercise training program during the after-school period. The subjects were 60 students in grade 5th in primary school with simple random sampling. They were divided into two groups by systematic sampling technique based on physical fitness test scores. The experiment operated for 8 weeks, 3 sessions a week with 60 minutes per session. The experimental group trained with a calisthenic exerciser training program developed by the researchers, the content validity was 95 (.66-1.00). The control group was assigned to participate in sports and exercise programs provided by the school on the after-school partitivities to responds to the “Double Reduction Policy”. The physical fitness tests were examined on pre-test and post-test. The data were analyzed by mean and standard deviation, comparing the mean between the group with t-test independent and within the group with pair t-test (*p<.05). Results: found that 1) The mean comparison of physical fitness between the experimental and control group was a significant difference in 50 meters sprint, standing long jump, sit and reach, push-ups, and distant 600 meters run (*p<.05), but 30 seconds sit-ups and shuttle runs were not a significant difference. 2) The physical fitness of the experimental group in the posttest was better than in the pretest in all items (*p<.05). Conclusion: The calisthenic exercise could effectively improve physical fitness in primary school students. However, some components of physical fitness must select a specific type or movement in calisthenic exercise to improve them.