Nafas Journal

Abstract

Abstract :The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a significant difference between traditional resistance training and new methods of functional training in increasing the level of muscle strength, agility and cardiovascular endurance of young firefighters?The present study was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and its statistical population consisted of young male firefighters in Tehran.After informing and sending the call, 20 volunteers were randomly selected. The volunteers were randomly divided into two groups of 10 for functional training and 10 for traditional resistance training.

The variables were examined before and after the research. In this study, the muscular strength of the pectoral muscles was evaluated from the 1rm barbell chest press movement test. The muscular strength of the lower torso muscles was also assessed through the 1rm Scott movement test. In order to measure the agility of individuals, 4 * 9 test was used.All results were carefully recorded. Bruce test was used to assess cardiorespiratory fitness. In this study, to investigate the effect of exercise on dependent variables between the two groups, after determining the normality of the data by Shapiro-Wilk test, independent t-test was used to determine the difference and the significance of the research parameters.

Analysis was performed using SPSS software and the significance level was considered P≤0.05. The results of paired t-test showed that the amount of upper and lower torso strength in the functional training group had a significant increase (P = 0.013 and P = 0.001, respectively). Also, the amount of upper and lower torso strength in the resistance training group increased significantly (P = 0.003 and P = 0.001, respectively). Also, the amount of agility in the functional training group changed significantly                      (P = 0.001).There was no significant change in agility in the resistance training group (P = 0.06).

The results of paired t-test showed that the amount of Vo2max in the functional exercise group increased significantly (P = 0.004).There was no significant change in Vo2max in the resistance training group          (P = 0.09).

 The results of this study showed that functional training significantly increases strength, agility and aerobic power in firefighters. But traditional strength training is effective in increasing strength.

Keywords: functional training, strength training, firefighters