After-School Fitness Performance is Not Altered After Physical Education Lessons in Adolescent Athletes

Abstract

Physical education (PE) provides a unique opportunity for school-age youth to establish health habits, although some young athletes are exempt from PE and others do not participate because of a concern regarding the lingering effects of fatigue on after-school fitness performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of different PE lessons on after-school fitness performance in young athletes. Twenty athletes (14-18 years) participated in 3 different PE lessons that consisted of aerobic exercise (AE), resistance training (RT), or basketball skill training (BS). Fitness performance was assessed after-school following each lesson and after a control day without PE. There were no significant differences in flexibility (34.1 +/- 6.5, 34.7 +/- 1.3, 33.5 +/- 7.2, and 33.6 +/- 7.3 cm), vertical jump (46.3 +/- 14.7, 46.2 +/- 13.6, 46.4 +/- 13.4, and 45.6 +/- 14.2 cm), long jump (175.0 +/- 36.4, 174.2 +/- 36.3, 172.7 +/- 35.8, and 171.9 +/- 34.7 cm), medicine ball toss (348.9 +/- 121.8, 342.0 +/- 120.6, 353.9 +/- 123.6, and 348.4 +/- 129.1 cm), proagility shuttle run (5.8 +/- 0.5, 5.7 +/-0.53, 5.8 +/- 0.52, and 5.8 +/- 0.5 seconds), 20-m sprint (3.7 +/- 0.4, 3.7 +/- 0.4, 3.7 +/- 0.3, and 3.7 +/- 0.3 seconds), and 200-m sprint (36.3 +/- 4.7, 35.1 +/- 4.0, 35.9 +/- 5.9, and 35.4 +/- 5.4 seconds) after AE, RT, BS, or the control day, respectively. These findings suggest that an exercise lesson or skill-based PE class will not have an adverse effect on after-school fitness performance in adolescent athletes.