Effect of an eight-week plyometric exercise training on athletes’ muscular strength in selected ball games in Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated how an eight-week plyometric exercise training program modifies the muscular strength characteristic of ball game athletes in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and also determined differences in training effect by sports. The study adopted a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. Pre-test (baseline) data were recorded before the plyometric training intervention was administered. Post-test data were recorded within 24hrs of the completion of the intervention. The study population was the ball game athletes of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. One hundred active ball game athletes were drawn from four ball games; football (n=25), volleyball (n=25), basketball (n=25), and handball (n=25), using the purposive sampling technique. Six instruments were used for data collection. Participants’ weight, height, and BMI were estimated with a digital BMI scale, blood pressure was recorded with an aneroid sphygmomanometer and skinfold thickness was measured with a Lange skinfold caliper, plyometric exercise training was conducted using a Plyo-Box, weight training exercises were performed using a multi-station weight training machine, the 8-week plyometric training intervention was guided by a structured training program. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation, Student t-Test, and Two-way ANOVA were used to compare pre-test and post-test data and the effect of training among ball game athletes, with significance set at P < 0.05. The results showed that ball game athletes in Obafemi Awolowo University possessed a mean 1RM of 67.36 ± 8.31kg, and the mean of their upper-torso muscle was 32.68 ± 13.46kg and their lower-torso muscle was 160.45 ± 170.01kg strong. There were marked improvements in the strength of the targeted muscles after the eight-week plyometric training as significant gains were noticed in the post-test 1RM t= -3.59, p< 0.05, muscles of the upper torso t=-18.2, p