Introduction. Anthropometric characteristics and physical activity (PA) levels are
often considered as potential variables that can be significantly correlated with
specific motor abilities. Aim of Study. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
relationships between anthropometric characteristics and motor abilities with the
use of a methodological approach that is rarely applied in physical culture sciences.
The correlations between body mass, body height, BMI and PA levels vs sequential power
decrease in successive minutes of the 3-Minute Burpee Test (3-MBT) were analyzed.
Material and Methods. The study involved 359 full-time university students aged 19-22,
including 163 male (20.4 ± 0.67 years) and 196 female (20.4 ± 0.65 years) participants.
Anthropometric characteristics (body mass, height and BMI), PA level (MET units) were
measured according to standardized guidelines before the test. The participants’ strength
endrance were evaluated with the use of the 3-MBT. The results were processed statistically
by calculating third-order partial correlation coefficients. Results. Raw score correlation
coefficients were statistically significant (p-values: 0.05- 0.01), excluding body
height which was not bound by significant correlations with the number of cycles completed
by women in each minute of the 3-MBT and the number of cycles completed by men in
the first minute of the 3-MBT. However, the third-order partial correlation analysis
demonstrated that PA level was the only independent variable that was significantly
correlated with the results scored in the entire 3-MBT and in successive minutes of
the test. In both sexes, the lowest values were observed in the first minute, and
they were considerably higher in the second minute of the test. Conclusions. In the
group of the analyzed variables, only PA levels significantly influence the strength
endurance of moderately physically active young women and men during the 3-MBT.
