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Comparison of structured and unstructured physical activity training on predicted VO2max and heart rate variability in adolescents – a randomized control trial

  • Vivek Kumar Sharma , Senthil Kumar Subramanian EMAIL logo , Krishnakumar Radhakrishnan , Rajathi Rajendran , Balasubramanian Sulur Ravindran and Vinayathan Arunachalam
Published/Copyright: March 28, 2017
Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology
From the journal Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology Volume 28 Issue 3

Abstract

Background:

Physical inactivity contributes to many health issues. The WHO-recommended physical activity for adolescents encompasses aerobic, resistance, and bone strengthening exercises aimed at achieving health-related physical fitness. Heart rate variability (HRV) and maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max) are considered as noninvasive measures of cardiovascular health. The objective of this study is to compare the effect of structured and unstructured physical training on maximal aerobic capacity and HRV among adolescents.

Methods:

We designed a single blinded, parallel, randomized active-controlled trial (Registration No. CTRI/2013/08/003897) to compare the physiological effects of 6 months of globally recommended structured physical activity (SPA), with that of unstructured physical activity (USPA) in healthy school-going adolescents. We recruited 439 healthy student volunteers (boys: 250, girls: 189) in the age group of 12–17 years. Randomization across the groups was done using age and gender stratified randomization method, and the participants were divided into two groups: SPA (n=219, boys: 117, girls: 102) and USPA (n=220, boys: 119, girls: 101). Depending on their training status and gender the participants in both SPA and USPA groups were further subdivided into the following four sub-groups: SPA athlete boys (n=22) and girls (n=17), SPA nonathlete boys (n=95) and girls (n=85), USPA athlete boys (n=23) and girls (n=17), and USPA nonathlete boys (n=96) and girls (n=84).

Results:

We recorded HRV, body fat%, and VO2 max using Rockport Walk Fitness test before and after the intervention. Maximum aerobic capacity and heart rate variability increased significantly while heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and body fat percentage decreased significantly after both SPA and USPA intervention. However, the improvement was more in SPA as compared to USPA.

Conclusions:

SPA is more beneficial for improving cardiorespiratory fitness, HRV, and reducing body fat percentage in terms of magnitude than USPA in adolescent individuals irrespective of their gender and sports activities.

Keywords: heart rate variability; maximal aerobic capacity; structured physical activity; unstructured physical activity; VO2max
Corresponding author: Dr. Senthil Kumar Subramanian, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Kalapet, Puducherry 605014, India, Phone: 9962267560

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the physical education instructors and nursing staff of Jawahar Navodhya Vidyalaya.

  1. Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

  2. Research funding: This is a self-funded project with support from JIPMER, Pondicherry and Jawahar Navodhya Vidyalaya, Pondicherry.

  3. Employment or leadership: None declared.

  4. Honorarium: None declared.

  5. Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

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Supplemental Material:

The online version of this article (DOI: 10.1515/jbcpp-2016-0117) offers supplementary material, available to authorized users.

Received: 2016-7-26
Accepted: 2017-2-7
Published Online: 2017-3-28
Published in Print: 2017-5-1

©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/jbcpp-2016-0117
Keywords for this article
heart rate variability; maximal aerobic capacity; structured physical activity; unstructured physical activity; VO2max

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Review
  3. Isolated heart models for studying cardiac electrophysiology: a historical perspective and recent advances
  4. Reproduction
  5. Sub-chronic indomethacin treatment and its effect on the male reproductive system of albino rats: possible protective role of black tea extract
  6. The effect of extracellular ATP on rat uterine contraction from different gestational stages and its possible mechanisms of action
  7. Cardiovascular Function
  8. Effect of cardiovascular and muscular endurance is not associated with stress fracture incidence in female military recruits: a 12-month follow up study
  9. Cardiovascular-Pulmonary Interactions
  10. Comparison of structured and unstructured physical activity training on predicted VO2max and heart rate variability in adolescents – a randomized control trial
  11. Oxidative Stress
  12. Aminoguanidine pretreatment prevents methotrexate-induced small intestinal injury in the rat by attenuating nitrosative stress and restoring the activities of vital mitochondrial enzymes
  13. Anti-aging effects of M2000 (β-D-mannuronic acid) as a novel immunosuppressive drug on the enzymatic and non-enzymatic oxidative stress parameters in an experimental model
  14. Metabolism
  15. Long-term exposure to a butter-rich diet induces mild-to-moderate steatosis in Chang liver cells and Swiss albino mice models
  16. Effect of adrenocorticotropic hormone on UCP1 gene expression in brown adipocytes
  17. Phytotherapy
  18. Antidiabetic effect of Ruta montana L. in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats
  19. Ethnopharmacological investigation of the aerial part of Phragmites karka (Poaceae)
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