COMPARATIVE STUDY OF AEROBIC CAPACITY IN FEMALE STUDENTS BEFORE AND AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

In December 2019, the first cases of COVID-19 appeared in China, and the virus spread rapidly all over the world. In this context, Romanian public authorities implemented specific social distancing measures to prevent or slow down the transmission of the virus, imposing quarantine (16 March to 14 May 2020), travel restrictions, closure of educational institutions and certain work sectors, and banning artistic and sports events. Research has highlighted changes in the lifestyle of the entire population during the COVID-19 pandemic through the emergence of unhealthy behaviours, including among university students worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, physical inactivity is one of the most important risk factors for various diseases, hence its recommendations for adult people to do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per week. These recommendations for weekly physical activity were often not fulfilled during the pandemic, especially in lockdown periods, as shown by numerous studies conducted on samples of different nationalities. This research aims to emphasise the status of aerobic endurance in female students after attending exclusively online courses for 21 months. The research was conducted at the Politehnica University of Bucharest, and the participants were 125 young women aged 19-21 from the pre- and post-pandemic generations. The assessment was indirectly performed through the 2-Km Walk Test with the purpose of outlining possible gaps between the two generations. Analysing the research results, we could conclude that the pandemic had an impact on raising awareness of the need for movement among young women.