Progressive Circuit Training Program to Improve Aerobic Capacity, Abdominal Endurance, and Lower Body Strength of Low-Fit Students

Abstract

The issue that adults and adolescents are not engaging in the prescribed amounts of physical activity is becoming a major global health concern. 26 low-fit students (31% male, 69% female) who had no medical issues and had not recently engaged in physical activity participated in this study intervention. Experimental study pre and post tests is conducted using the uncontrolled trial approach. Normality was confirmed through the Shapiro-Wilk test and descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation). Paired t-tests and Cohen's d was employed to reveal significant change and effect magnitude because the data was normally distributed. Following the exercise training, there was a noticeable increase in lower body strength, core strength, and cardiovascular fitness. Significant performance gains (19.62%, 93.73%, 55.77%, and 22.24%) and large effect sizes was also noted. In addition, up to 92% of the diversity in lower body strength and core strength can be explained through aerobic fitness. A balanced cardio and resistance circuit is a time-efficient methods in developing overall fitness and support lifelong health and physical activity, as revealed by the four-week progressive circuit training that successfully increased aerobic fitness, core strength, and lower body power.