The effect of training with ankle weights on running speed

Includes bibliographical references.Purpose of the study. The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of training with ankle weights on running speed. Procedures. A total of fifty men were randomly selected from the required physical education classes at Northern Illinois University. An initial test for speed in the 50-yard dash was administered to the subjects. On the basis of this test the subjects were equated into two groups. Group A was selected to be the experimental group and Group B was the control group. The subjects participated in a physical conditioning program of six weeks duration, meeting three times a week for forty minutes. The workouts combined distance running with sprinting and were designed to be physically exhausting. At the completion of the six-week training program the subjects were retested for their running speed in the 50-yard dash. Within group comparisons were made on the initial and final tests by means of a t test. A between group comparison was made by means of a t test to determine if there was any significant difference between the final means of the two groups. The findings are presented below: Findings. 1. When the initial and final means for Group A were compared by means of the t test, the mean difference was found to be significant at the .01 level. 2. When the difference between the initial and final means of Group B was examined by use of the t test, the difference was found to be significant at the .01 level. 3. The difference between the final means of Groups A and B was found not to be significant. Conclusion. On the basis of the findings of this study the following conclusion was reached. A physical conditioning program with the subjects wearing five-pound ankle weights would not improve running speed in the 50-yard dash any more than a similar program without ankle weights would.M.S. (Master of Science