Changes in External Respiratory Function Indicators in Highly Qualified Female Handball Players Under a Pedagogical Experiment

The article presents the results of a study on changes in external respiratory function indicators in highly qualified female handball players under the conditions of a pedagogical experiment. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to improve the efficiency of the training process in women’s handball through the optimization of functional support for competitive performance. The aim of the study was to identify the most significant indicators of functional preparedness in highly qualified female handball players based on factor analysis and to substantiate the possibilities of their application for optimizing the training process. Thirty-two female handball players participated in the study and were divided into experimental and control groups. The research methods included analysis and generalization of scientific and methodological literature, pedagogical observation, pedagogical experiment, functional testing (vital capacity – VC, forced vital capacity – FVC, forced expiratory volume in the first second – FEV₁, FEV₁/VC ratio, peak expiratory flow – PEF, inspiratory reserve volume – IRV, expiratory reserve volume – ERV, maximal voluntary ventilation – MVV), and methods of mathematical statistics. The object of the study was the training process of the women’s handball team “Halychanka” (Lviv). The subject of the study was the structure of interrelationships among respiratory system functional indicators and their contribution to the overall preparedness system of highly qualified female handball players. The results showed statistically significant improvements in most external respiratory function indicators in the experimental group (p < 0.05–0.001), including increases in vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in the first second, peak expiratory flow, and maximal voluntary ventilation. No significant changes were observed in the control group. Conclusion. The findings confirm the effectiveness of the proposed program and substantiate the feasibility of systematic functional monitoring for optimizing the training process of highly qualified female handball players.