Physical fitness of young Italian students: effectiveness of a 12-week supervised extracurricular training

The overweight threatens the adolescents’ health. This study investigated the effects of extracurricular multilateral training (MT) lasting for 12 weeks compared to a standard training (ST) program performed at school as required by the ministerial program, on health- and skill-related components of physical fitness. Eleven boys and nine girls (age 13.6 ± 0.5 years) were randomly assigned to an experimental group (EG, n = 10) or control group (CG, n = 10). At weeks 1 and 12, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), a 505 change of direction speed (CODS) and 300 m run test, were assessed. The EG underwent MT (90 min, 2 times a week) plus ST, while the CG underwent only ST. Significant Time x Group interactions were detected in favor of the EG for all measurements (from –8,37 to –3.50%). The extracurricular MT protocol was effective in improving physical efficiency and reducing weight in adolescents after a period of 12 weeks. Keywords: overweight; obesity; adolescents; multilateral training; physical education; physical activity