title: Physical activity interventions: effects of duration and intensity.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of exercising at different intensities over 7 weeks on components of physical fitness and CVD risk factors. Forty-seven boys and 10 girls, (16.4±0.7 years of age) were divided into a moderate, high intensity, or a control group. All participants had indices of obesity and blood pressure recorded in addition to four physical performance measures pre- and post-intervention. In addition, the intervention groups repeated the physical performance measures at the 4th week phase of the intervention. Following the intervention, significant improvements (P<0.05) in the high-intensity group were found in the 20 MSFT, agility, CMJ and 10 m sprint post-intervention. Participants in the moderate intensity group displayed significant improvements (P<0.05) in both the CMJ and 20 MSFT post-intervention. Body fat % significantly improved (P<0.01) in the moderate group only post-intervention. Interestingly, Systolic blood pressure significantly improved post-intervention (112±10 vs 106±11 mmHg) (P=0.017) in the high intensity group. In conclusion, high-intensity exercise over 7 weeks is a very time efficient means of improving important components of physical fitness in adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Health and Exercise Sciences, School of Science and Technology, University of the West of Scotland, Hamilton, Scotland, UK. duncan.buchan@uws.ac.uk
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Buchan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ollis
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Buchanan
authors.forename: S-M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Malina
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D012606:Scotland; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires