COMPETITIVE AEROBIC GYMNASTICS: HISTORICAL PATH AND DEVELOPMENT TRENDS

Aim. This paper emphasizes aspects regarding the development of the competitive aerobic gymnastics wherein Romania continuously imposed itself as one of the best competitors in the world. The aim of this study is to identify the most relevant aspects generated by the 2017 – 2020/2021 and 2022 – 2024 FIG Code of points as well as the future challenges that both coaches and athletes will have to address in a scientific-based approach. Theoretical background. Explanatory arguments are presented in order to highlight historic evolution of this sport and its development in terms of specific regulations, competition systems, strategies for professionalizing coaches and training methodologies for athletes. Although scarce, the literature review reveals some key points structured on different levels: slight differences within the Codes of points regarding the structure of the difficulty elements groups, limiting the number of elements performed, specific requirements for scoring technical precision, including block Aerobic Movement Patterns (AMP), reduced floor elements, original elements combination, more acrobatic elements and „dynamic” constructions. The development trends for the competitive aerobic gymnastics require streamlining the process of long-term training, identifying and maximizing capabilities of the athletes, accurately assessing the outcomes of training and competition in order to design instructional content for future stages of the gymnasts’ sport career. From the artistic standpoint the specialists have to prove creative and innovative thinking in designing original choreographies based on variety in contents, fluid movements, musicality and expressiveness. Conclusions. Romanian teams have imposed themselves internationally since the very beginning of this competitive sport through mastering high difficulty elements and execution criterion, due to their artistic or rhythmic gymnastics training background. Maintaining top results in this sport requires raising the scores for the artistic criterion which would underline the very specificity of aerobic gymnastics and attract audience on national and international levels. Keyworks: Competitive aerobic gymnastics, Code of points, historic overview, development trends.