Assessment of Cardiovascular Fitness amongst College Students Involved in Sport Activities and Dance

Abstract

Purpose- To provide an appropriate measure of cardiovascular fitness. The YMCA 3minute step test is based on how quickly your heart rate recovers following a short bout of exercise. Hence the purpose was to provide a submaximal measure of endurance fitness between the students who are involved in sport activities and dance. Methodology- According to simple random sampling 40 participants were included in the study after screening for the inclusion criteria. Thereafter the Participants were divided into 2 groups. 20 participants included in sports group and 20 in dance group. They were explained the purpose of the study and the procedure involved in the study. Informed Consent was obtained and a YMCA 3minute step test was done. Heart rate measures were recorded in both the groups of population. Data analysis was done at the end of the study. Results – 12 students in the sports group had a good to above average fitness level, and 3 students in dancing group had a above average fitness. No student in dance had a good fitness. Further 7 students in dance had a average fitness compared to 2 students in sports who had average fitness. 6 students involved in sports had below average to very poor fitness and 10 students involved in dance had their fitness in this category. Conclusion- It was concluded from the results obtained that the students involved in sport activities had a significantly good cardiovascular fitness than students involved in dance. Keywords: cardiovascular fitness, sports, dance, YMCA 3minute step test.