Improving Physical Fitness of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities through an Adapted Rhythmic Gymnastics Program in China
Table 3
Model of the ARG training program.
Stages
Activities
Time (minutes)
(1) Routine
Greeted to teachers and peers and conducted regular routines (assemble, attention, and straddle) to promote the relationship between teacher and children
3
(2) Warm-up
Children followed the rhythm of medium-speed music for warm-up (running, marking time, and joint mobility) to increase muscle temperature, prevent injury, and gradually enter the learning state
5
(3) Core exercise
Basic rhythmic exercise (12 minutes) Children followed the fast-tempo music to imitate the rhythmic movements of animals (frog, rabbit, goose, and monkey) and to practice the rhythmic combination exercises Mat rhythmic exercise and games (15 minutes) Children learned crawling, rolling, and other mat exercises and competed in drilling circle and jumping circle Children passed the ball with the teachers to promote hand-eye coordination and to enhance interaction between teachers and children Functional training exercise (8 minutes) Children performed 10 times2 groups sit-ups and 8 times2 groups supine leg lifts to promote the strength of the waist and abdomen Children performed dynamic and static stretching to promote flexibility of the back and limbs Children performed push-ups for 8 times2 groups to improve the strength of limbs
35
(4) Cool-down
Children performed breathing exercises to rest and calm the body back
5
(5) Summary
Teacher summarized children’s performance and said farewell
