Effects of Cross-Training Exercise Program to Improve Health-related Physical Fitness for University Students in Guangdong

Abstract

Background and Aim: Health-related physical fitness test is beneficial to the health-related physical fitness of college students. According to the researcher's survey, most students do not have an awareness of daily physical exercise, which leads to a decline in physical function and health-related physical fitness scores. The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of cross-training programs on improving college students' health-related physical fitness, to improve college students' health-related physical fitness scores by constructing an 8-week cross-training program, and to encourage students to actively participate in extracurricular physical exercise to promote health-related physical fitness and to form the awareness of lifelong sports. The results of this study show that cross-training can improve students' health-related physical fitness performance and that even after only 4 weeks of cross-training, students' health-related physical fitness performance can still make significant progress. Materials and Methods: The study involves Guangdong Province Foreign Language and Arts Vocational College of Catering and Tourism College 2022 students, the total number of grades 710 people, health-related physical fitness scores failed 66 people, using G-Power in 66 students to calculate the sample size of 28 students (14 male，14 female) aged between 18-22 years old. The research procedure started with anthropometric measurements: height, weight, BMI, body fat percentage, etc. Subsequently, cross-training was performed. Tests included: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility. The experiment lasted for eight weeks, with five one-hour training sessions per week. Subjects underwent Health-related physical fitness tests in the first, fourth, and eighth weeks. Results: The 8-week cross-training program reduced students' BMI and body fat percentage, and improved students' health-related physical fitness grades and physical fitness. The student's health-related physical fitness grades failed in the first week, improved significantly in the fourth week (67 points), and the average score in the eighth week (75 points) improved even more significantly. Conclusion: Constructing a cross-training program had a significant effect on improving cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility in college students. It also increased their BMI and body fat percentage. It was concluded that an 8-week cross-training program decreased students' BMI and body fat levels while increasing muscle mass and improving health-related physical fitness scores, and students showed significant improvement in fitness scores in week 4 and even more significant improvement in week eight. Considering the positive effects of training on physical function and fitness, it is recommended that extracurricular sports be promoted so that more people can exercise in their spare time.