Maximum oxygen uptake and cardiovascular response of Professional male football and Basketball players to Chester step test.

Abstract

The cardiovascular response to exercise has several variables but this study will be limited to the heart rate response, blood pressure response and predicted VO2 max. These variables are what this study will be utilizing to evaluate the fitness level of the participants. The purpose of this study was to estimate the maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max) and compare the cardiovascular response of professional male football players and basketball players to Chester step bench test.A total of 100 athletes (50 football players and 50 basketball players) recruited through convenience sampling participated in the study. The research design was quasi experimental research design. The instruments used were heart rate monitor, electronic blood pressure monitor, 30cm Chester step, stop watch, mobile metronome version 1.2.4, height meter, bathroom scale. The V02max was estimated from HR recovery (HRrec) after 15seconds using the equation V02max=111.3-(0.42 xHRrec).Comparative analysis of the data was done using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation, and inferential statistics of independent t-test with alpha level of significance of 0.05. In the result, Significant differences were recorded between the VO2 max of football players 81.15kg/ml/min and basketball players 72.39kg/ml/min; heart rate 72.10bpm and 93.58bpm; systolic blood pressure 147.90mmHg and 142.46mmHg; while there was no statistically significant difference in their diastolic blood pressure 81.820mmHg and 81.020mmHg. The study showed that football players had significantly higher VO2 max (81.14±0.66 ml/kg/min), than the basketball players (72.38±0.78 ml/kg/min), indicating that football players had more aerobic capacity than basketball players. High VO2 max is the primary indicator of aerobic fitness, cardiovascular health, and endurance performance. Coaches of different football clubs and basketball clubs should take serious the matter of consistent training of their players to improve and avoid decline in their cardiorespiratory fitness. Individuals should cultivate the habit of exercising in order to improve their cardiorespiratory fitness and minimize the risk of some diseases associated with low cardiorespiratory fitness.