The effect of resistance training on academic performance among high school students

Abstract

Resistance is a typical exercise approach that is used to produce muscle contractions and develop muscular strength, endurance, and hypertrophy. It is often referred to as strength training or weight training. The goals of the study were to evaluate the overall increase in students' fitness after the intervention and to examine the impact of resistance training on students' academic performance and motivation during the intervention period. A total of 42 students were grouped into 3 different categories: Twelve kids take PE courses twice a week; eight of them are male and four are female. This group is known as the Control Group (CG). Twelve students, eight boys and four girls, make up the Activity Group (AG). They attend physical education sessions twice a week in addition to two hours of extracurricular activities. There are twelve students in the Intervention Group (IG), eight of them are male and four of whom are female. In addition to attending two hours of Resistance Training (RT) during school hours, they take part in PE lessons twice a week. All students were assigned to fill a proper physical activity questionnaire. The Forty-two Students were then tested for Vo2 max, 20 m sprint, long jump, max push-ups (1min), max-squats (1 min), medicine ball throw and jump and reach test. All the tests were performed before and after the intervention. Students’ grades were also collected before and after the intervention. Questionnaires showed that physical activity seems very important for the students, and in average, results regarding the improvements in academic and physical performances were better for the intervention group than the other groups. In conclusion, the use of resistance training in high school curriculum seems to positively affect physical performance but not the academic performance. The results showed no effect of RT on students’ grades or academic performances. Therefore, more studies need to be done in order to prove how resistance training can improve academic performance.