Physical Culture and Sports Preferences of Employees of Oil and Gas Producing Enterprises: Behavioral and Biological Factors

The relevance of this study is due to the need to optimize the physical activity of workers engaged in heavy physical labor, which is impossible without taking into account their physical culture and sports preferences. The aim of the study was to identify the physical culture and sports preferences of employees of oil and gas production enterprises, as well as factors that characterize the features of their motor behavior and body functioning. To analyze the subjects' physical culture and sports preferences and features of physical activity, a survey was conducted; the Attitude to Competitive Physical Culture and Sports Activities questionnaire was used; the heart rate variability was studied using the hardware and software complex “Omega”. The significance of the difference in the characteristics in the compared groups was verified using the Mann-Whitney U-test. The study involved 49 men of mature age who are engaged in professional activities at oil and gas production enterprises, using out-of-hours means of physical culture and sports of a recreational or sports orientation. The subjects were differentiated based on their physical culture and sports preferences, depending on the manifestation of rivalry in them: 1) with individual rivalry (n1=19); 2) with team rivalry (n2=15); 3) with avoiding open rivalry (n3=15). All the men who prefer martial arts did sports in the past or continue to do sports in the present. Of those who prefer team sports, this is 80%, and of those who avoid open competition, preferring individual running, recreational walking or strength training, this is 54%. All representatives of the first group systematically engage in physical culture and sports. Thirty-three per cent of men who prefer activities without rivalry and seven per cent of men doing team sports do sports from time to time. Subjective readiness to participate in physical culture and sports events is more evident in men who prefer martial arts. To a lesser extent, men from the third group are ready to participate in events with the manifestation of maximum physical capabilities. The indicator that characterizes the interest in knowledge in the field of physical culture and sports, as well as the activity of attracting other people to participate in competitions, prevails among men who prefer martial arts. The most optimal indicators of the activity of regulatory systems are observed in men who prefer team sports. In subjects who engage in martial arts in their free time, the indicators of the autonomic regulation of the heart are also within the normal range, but closer to the border that characterizes the transition from the vegetative balance to the predominance of the sympathetic department. In the representatives of the third group who refuse open competition and prefer individual activities, there is a more pronounced tension of the regulatory systems. The results obtained should be taken into account when developing corporate programs to optimize the physical activity of employees of oil and gas producing enterprises.