METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO JUSTIFYING THE PHYSICAL OR FUNCTIONAL STATE OF ATHLETES AND SPECIALISTS

Abstract

This study identifies the urgent need for a systematic yet contextual application of the core principles of modern methodological approaches to substantiate the concept of “physical state” and to clarify its relationship with the concept of “functional state”. The main objective is to provide a methodological justification for the concept of “physical state” and determine its correlation with the terms “physiological state” and “functional state” concerning the physical fitness and readiness of athletes for sports events and professionals for their professional activities. The methodological justification of the concept of “physical state of athletes and specialists” was carried out using theoretical research methods, based on key ideas and principles of subject and activity, contextual, and terminological methodological approaches to their physical training, including within the system of higher professional education. At the same time, the incorrectness of using the term “functional state” was proven. The study demonstrates that the physical state of athletes and professionals is directly dependent on their physiological state, as the former is filled with the specific content of the latter. Additionally, these concepts form a meaningful and procedural sequence in the physical training of professionals: “professional training” – “physical training as an important component of professional preparation” – “physical fitness” and “physical readiness as crucial elements of professional readiness for professional activity”. Regarding athletes, this sequence is: “general physical training” – “specialized physical training” – “training in a specific sport” – “physical fitness” – “readiness for competition in a specific sport.” It has been proven that the result of physical training for both athletes and specialists is their physical fitness, which is manifested in their positive physical condition and is actualized in the physical readiness of athletes for critical sports events and professionals for specific types of professional activities. This readiness also contributes to successful sports and professional selfactualization within their respective professional and sports environments. Physical readiness is a systemic yet contextual professionally significant mental formation or an integral result of their physical fitness, which shapes their corresponding positive physical state. This state is reflected in the values of physical culture for both the individual athlete and the professional subject, including theoretical and behavioral-activity-based physical preparedness for sports events and professional activities, as well as the development of professionally significant physical qualities, among which professional endurance and subjectivity are the most important for both athletes and specialists.