At international and all-Russian competitions in Kazan, athletes are planned to be examined by means of a mobile laboratory.

"The mobile laboratory" for functional testing of athletes has already proved its efficiency during the I All-Russian Spartakiade of Strongest Athletes in Gymnastics.

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin was introduced to the work of the laboratory during the competition. The presentation was held at the Gymnastics Centre, one of the sports facilities of the Volga Region University of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism as part of his working visit to Kazan.

The "Mobile Laboratory" was formed by the staff and teachers of the Volga Region University for functional testing of gymnasts. The choice of equipment in the "Mobile Laboratory" and methods of functional testing depends on the specifics of the sport and age, as well as the tasks set within the framework of scientific and methodological support for the sport and dissertation research. In the case of artistic gymnastics, the athletes were assessed for heart rate variability, body composition, anaerobic power of the muscles of the upper shoulder girdle, arms and lower extremities, body balance function and coordination of movements.

During the gymnastic tournament, more than 50 high-class gymnasts were examined, followed by the issuance of functional testing protocols to coaches and athletes.

According to Andrey Nazarenko, Vice-Rector for Research and International Activities of the Volga Region University of Sport and Tourism, the experience of the Mobile Laboratory has already been implemented at the All-Russian Badminton competitions and in the future will be used at international and All-Russian competitions in fencing, swimming and tennis.

"The resulting database of functional testing indicators for high-class athletes makes it possible to assess the state of the organism at the peak of the sports form and create a functional profile of the athlete," notes Andrey Nazarenko.

According to Lyubov Botova, Head of the Department of Theory and Methodology of Gymnastics of the Volga Region University of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism, the idea of functional testing of athletes was conceived before the Spartakiade when we understood that Kazan will host a large number of strongest athletes from many Russian regions.

"The Spartakiade is a unique venue that brings together the strongest athletes who will make the Olympic team. We couldn't miss the opportunity to test athletes in competition conditions at the peak of their sporting careers. The main objective is to test athletes in order to follow their functional state and give recommendations on the training process, as well as to collect unique material. The strongest athletes in the world took part in the study. On the basis of these data we can talk about creating model characteristics of the functional state of the athletes' bodies and preparing methodological recommendations," said Lubov Botova.