The Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Types of Training Programs on Musculoskeletal and Cardiovascular Indices in Sedentary Female Students

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of one- and two-session(s)-per-week training programs on musculoskeletal and cardiovascular indices in sedentary female university students. 111 voluntary sedentary female university students were randomly divided into three groups (one session groups (OS): N=37, mean age 21.02±1.73 years, two sessions group (TN): N=35, mean age 21.17±2.17 years and control group (CS): N=39, mean age 21.78±2.27 years). OS training program included running with 60-70 HRmax, 40-60 min., 1 day/week and TS training group preformed 20-30 min. running with the same intensity, 2 days/week for 12 weeks. Physical fitness variables included muscular endurance, flexibility and agility. The Rockport test, blood pressure, 4x9m running, push up, pull up and seat and reach tests were used to measure variables. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test. The results showed that the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular variables improved significantly (P<0.05) whereas the time of agility decreased significantly only in TS group. Generally, both training programs may be useful and changing the number of sessions affects only their improvement, but in case of agility, the effect of changing the number of sessions might be more than the effect of the whole training period per week.