Effectiveness of a Short After-School Intervention on Physical Fitness in School-Aged Children

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of an 8-week extracurricular multilateral training program on some components of physical fitness in children. Participants (8-10 years) were randomly assigned to an experimental group (EMT, n=14) that performed an extracurricular multilateral training (60 min., 3 sessions per week), or a control group (ST, n=14) that performed a standard school-based physical education program only. Participants physical fitness was assessed by measuring the sit and reach, stork balance stand, standing long jump, and Harre test at baseline and after 8-weeks.The EMT showed significantly (p<0.05) greater improvement than ST group in all fitness tests following training. Results indicate that extracurricular multilateral activities focused on exercises aimed to the development of the conditional and coordinative motor abilities, improve the health- and skill-related components of physical fitness.