Twelve Weeks of Plyometric Training Improves Motor Performance of 7- to 9-Year-Old Boys Who Were Overweight/Obese: A Randomized Controlled Intervention

• Published in: Journal of strength and conditioning research 2017-08, Vol.31 (8), p.2091-2099
• Main Authors: Nobre, Gabriela G, de Almeida, Marcelus B, Nobre, Isabele G, dos Santos, Fernanda K, Brinco, Raphael A, Arruda-Lima, Thalison R, de-Vasconcelos, Kenya L, de-Lima, Jociellen G, Borba-Neto, Manoel E, Damasceno-Rodrigues, Emmanuel M, Santos-Silva, Steve M, Leandro, Carol G, Moura-dos-Santos, Marcos A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Body Composition; Body Mass Index; Body weight; Child; Children; Exercise Test; Fat-free body mass; Fitness training programs; Hand Strength - physiology; Humans; Intervention; Male; Motor Skills - physiology; Motor task performance; Muscle Strength - physiology; Obesity; Overweight; Overweight - therapy; Pediatric Obesity - therapy; Physical fitness; Physical Fitness - physiology; Physical training; Plyometric Exercise - methods; Running; Stretching; Weight
• ISSN: 1064-8011; 1533-4287
• DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001684

ABSTRACTNobre, GG, de Almeida, MB, Nobre, IG, dos Santos, FK, Brinco, RA, Arruda-Lima, TR, de-Vasconcelos, KL, de-Lima, JG, Borba-Neto, ME, Damasceno-Rodrigues, EM, Santos-Silva, SM, Leandro, CG, and Moura-dos-Santos, MA. Twelve weeks of plyometric training improves motor performance of 7- to 9-year-old boys who were overweight/obesea randomized controlled intervention. J Strength Cond Res 31(8)2091–2099, 2017—The prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity has increased, and physical training at school may to be effective to combat this scenario. We analyzed the effects of a protocol of plyometric training on body composition and motor performance of boys who were overweight/obese aged 7–9 years. The sample was randomly assigned into 2 groupsplyometric training group (T, n = 40) and control group (C, n = 19). Training consisted of 20 min·d (twice a week, during 12 weeks) of lower extremity plyometric exercise. Health-related physical fitness was measured by handgrip strength, standing long jump (SLJ), curl-ups, sit and reach, square test, running speed, and mile run test. Gross motor coordination was evaluated by means of the Körperkoordinations-test für Kinder (KTK) tests. Baseline and postintervention differences were investigated, and effect size was estimated through Cohenʼs d coefficient. Both groups showed increased body weight, height, and sitting height after intervention with a negligible effect size. Only T group showed increased fat-free mass (p = 0.011) compared with baseline values with small effect size. Plyometric training improved handgrip strength (d = 0.23), sit and reach (d = 0.18), curl-ups (d = 0.39), SLJ (d = 0.80), agility (d = 0.48), and time in the mile run test (d = 0.38). For gross motor coordination results, T group showed better performance in all tests after plyometric training with moderate/large effect size. Thus, 12 weeks of PT improved health-related physical fitness components and motor coordination acquisition of 7- to 9-year-old boys who were overweight/obese.