Effects of upper body resistance training on pulmonary function in sedentary male smokers

M.Phil.The effects of an upper body resistance training (UBRT) programme on spirometry values are not well documented or researched. The sparse number of studies that have focussed on this topic have generated inconclusive data on the effects of UBRT on pulmonary function. The present investigation made use of an eight-week UBRT programme in order to evaluate whether this would yield significant changes with regards to the following spirometry values: forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), 25% of forced expiratory flow (FEF-25), 50% of forced expiratory flow (FEF-50), 75% of forced expiratory flow (FEF-75), FEV1/FVC ratio, peak expiratory flow (PEF), peak inspiratory flow (PIF), vital capacity (VC), inspiratory vital capacity (IVC), FEV1/VC ratio, expiratory reserve volume (ERV) and minute ventilation (VE). The study made use of 36 sedentary but healthy male smokers (mean age: 33 years and 6 months), who were assigned into either a non-exercising control (CG) (n = 18) or exercising experimental (EG) (n = 18) group. A seven-day smoking analysis was recorded for both the EG and CG before and after the eight-week experimental period in order to control for any changes that might have occurred with regards to their smoking behaviour in an attempt to account for any changes in pulmonary function. The EG group were assigned to exercise for eight-weeks three times weekly on non-consecutive days using an UBRT programme. Their spirometry values were assessed at the commencement of and subsequent to the eight-week period. The EG¡¦s training programme consisted of latissimus-dorsi pulls, seated chest press, seated rows, seated shoulder press, shoulder shrugs, bent knee crunches and diagonal crunches. Each exercise was performed for three sets of 15 repetitions each. These exercises were performed at 50% 1-repetition maximum (1-RM) for the first week, at 60% 1-RM for the second and third week and at 70% 1-RM for the fourth week. Once each subject¡¦s 1-RM was reevaluated after four weeks, the same intensity progression was followed for the fifth (50% 1-RM), sixth (60% 1-RM), seventh (60% 1-RM) and eighth (70% 1-RM) weeks. The CG was instructed to not take part in any structured exercise throughout the eight-week period. The present investigation made use of the dependent and independent paired t-tests. The CG¡¦s FEV1/VC ratio increased significantly (p „T 0.05) by 2.97% and VC decreased significantly by 4.46%, while the EG¡¦s PEF and PIF increased significantly by 12.6% and 13.9%, respectively. No statistically significant changes were found in FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC ratio, FEF-25, FEF-50 and FEF-75, IVC, ERV and VE for both the EG and CG. Both groups indicated no statistically significant changes in daily cigarette consumption from the pre- to post-tests. The investigation concluded that eight weeks of UBRT was insufficient to result in significantly positive changes in the majority of pulmonary function variables, except for PIF, in sedentary male smokers.Dr. L. Latega