Improving Physical Fitness of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities through an Adapted Rhythmic Gymnastics Program in China

Table 2

The ARG program contents and functions.

Fundamental movement skills	Program categories	Contents	Functions
Uncontrolled movements	Rhythmic gymnastics exercises	Single rhythmic movements; combined rhythmic movements; complete rhythmic movements	To develop big muscle groups, promote neural and muscular coordination, enhance the body control and displacement ability through low-impact rhythmic movements of the limbs in multiple dimensions and movements. To evoke the automatic postural control by vertical and horizontal jumps. To achieve the visual and kinesthetic stimuli and to improve the balance via combining with the auditory, tactile, visual, and vestibular stimuli
Controlled movements	Rhythmic movement with small apparatus	Ball, hoop, elastic band exercises	Through the completion of different forms of apparatus control movements: throwing, catching, racking, and rolling the ball and the tension of elastic band, to develop control of small muscles, to improve the orientation and neural sensitivity and to train the sensory ability
Locomotor skills	Rhythmic exercises on mats	Crawl, roll, rotate, tumble without passing through the cervical vertebra	Through crawling, rolling, and turning in different forms and directions, to promote the development of neural organs, to enhance the perception, to improve the ability of coordination and exertion of the whole body, and to increase the trunk muscle strength
Uncontrolled movements	Functional training exercises	Strength, aerobic, flexibility, agility; body coordination exercise	Enhance the physical fitness and acquire various technical motors skillfully through repeated muscle strength exercises, stretch exercise, and core power training exercise