The Relationship of the Rate of Internal Longitudinal Foot Arch with Cardiorespiratory Endurance and Agility in Male Students (12-14 Years Old)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the rate of internal longitudinal foot arch with cardiorespiratory endurance and agility in male students aged between 12 and 14. The research was a kind of correlation-descriptive and the statistical population consisted of all guidance schools in Shahrekord and some of these schools were selected by cluster sampling. Statistical sample of this research consisted of 90 male students from these schools who were selected randomly and intentionally. First, the test of foot print was performed and the subjects’ foot arches were classified quantitatively by Staheli index (SI). Then, the subjects were classified intentionally (with mean and standard deviation of age 13±0.82 years, weight 46±7.19 kg and height 1.54±0.086 m) into three groups (30 subjects in each group): group 1 (foot arch SI<0.44), group 2 (foot arch 0.44?SI?0.89) and group 3 (foot arch SI>0.89). Each group performed 1600 meters speed test to evaluate their cardiorespiratory endurance and 4×9 meters Shuttle run test to evaluate agility. The data were analyzed by SPSS17 and correlation test and one-way ANOVA. The results indicated a significant relationship between the rate of longitudinal foot arch and cardiorespiratory endurance (p=0.002) while there was no significant relationship between the rate of longitudinal foot arch and agility (p=0.216). It can be concluded that the foot arch deformities especially flat foot is an important factor in cardiorespiratory endurance of students though it is not important in their agility.