A comparison of the effects of two protocols of concurrent resistance and aerobic training on physical fitness in middle school students

Zhen Li; Teng Ding; Yanan Gao; Xiaowei Han; Yang Liu; Zhixiong Zhou

doi:10.7717/peerj.17294

A comparison of the effects of two protocols of concurrent resistance and aerobic training on physical fitness in middle school students

PeerJ. 2024 Apr 23:12:e17294. doi: 10.7717/peerj.17294. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Zhen Li^#¹, Teng Ding^#², Yanan Gao¹, Xiaowei Han³, Yang Liu⁴, Zhixiong Zhou⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Physical Education and Sport Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
² School of Physical Education, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China.
³ Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, Beijing, China.
⁴ Hebei Institute of International Business and Economics, Qinhuangdao, Hebei, China.
⁵ Institute of Artificial Intelligence in Sports, Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, Beijing, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to compare the effects of two concurrent training (CT) protocols on the physical fitness of middle school students.

Method: A 12-week quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test study was conducted with 157 middle school students (age = 12.48 ± 0.34, n = 90 females) divided into three groups: CT group A (CT-0h) received combined resistance training (RT) and aerobic training (AT) in each physical education session, CT group B (CT-48h) received RT and AT across two separate physical education classes 48 h apart, and a control group (Con) received no training. Training occurred twice a week. Test indicators included cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) measured by estimated VO₂max and 20 m shuttle run (laps), as well as muscle strength assessed through long jump, vertical jump, and handgrip strength.

Results: The intervention groups exhibited significant increases in estimated VO₂max and muscle strength compared to their baseline values (p < 0.05). Both CT-0h and CT-48h groups demonstrated significant improvements in 20 m shuttle run (laps) (mean difference: 8.88 laps, p < 0.01; mean difference: 4.81 laps, p < 0.01, respectively), standing long jump (mean difference: 6.20 cm, p < 0.01; mean difference: 3.68 cm, p < 0.01, respectively), vertical jump (mean difference: 4.95 cm, p < 0.01; mean difference: 4.04 cm, p < 0.01, respectively), and handgrip strength (mean difference: 11.17 kg, p < 0.01; mean difference: 6.99 kg, p < 0.01, respectively). CT-0h group exhibited significantly increased estimated VO₂max (mean difference: 1.47 ml/kg/min, p < 0.01) compared to the CT-48h group.

Conclusion: Both CT programs effectively improved adolescents' physical fitness indicators. However, the program that integrated RT and AT within the same physical education class demonstrated superior enhancement in adolescents' CRF.

Keywords: Adolescents; Aerobic capacity; Anaerobic capacity; Concurrent training.

Publication types

Comparative Study

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Cardiorespiratory Fitness / physiology
Child
Exercise / physiology
Female
Humans
Male
Muscle Strength / physiology
Oxygen Consumption / physiology
Physical Education and Training / methods
Physical Fitness* / physiology
Resistance Training* / methods
Students / statistics & numerical data

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2020YFC2006200). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.