Comparing the effectiveness of different modes of exercise snacks in improving muscle and cardiorespiratory fitness in physically inactive college students

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of different Exercise Snacks patterns on muscular strength, anaerobic power, and cardiorespiratory fitness in physically inactive college students. Methods: a total of 31 subjects were randomly divided into three groups, namely a resistance exercise snack group (RES, n=11), a cycling exercise snack group (BES, n=10), and a mixed resistance and cycling exercise snack group (MES, n=10). The subjects performed the ES intervention on three occasions per day, three days per week, over a period of six weeks, with single intervals exceeding two hours. The RES group performed deep squats, while the BES entailed a bike ride on the Wattbike, with the RES group performing deep squats immediately after the bike ride. In the initial three weeks, the subjects performed exercise bouts of 30 seconds in duration, whereas from week 4 onwards, the duration of each session was increased to 60 seconds. Results: RESULTS:After 6 weeks of intervention, no changes in body weight and body fat percentage were observed in either group of subjects. However, a statistically significant within-group change in body mass index (BMI) was found in the RES group (P=0.041). However, there were no between-group differences in BMI for the three participants.The 30°/s isometric extensor strength exhibited a substantial augmentation in peak torque (PT) of the knee extensors in the RES and MES groups. However, no discernible group differences were observed among the three ES modalities (P=0.371, Partial η²=0.068).The 60°/s and 300°/s isokinetic strength outcomes demonstrated that the PT of both knee flexors and extensors underwent a significant enhancement in the MES group. However, only PT improvement other than 300°/s isokinetic flexor strength was observed in the RES group (P<0.05), while in the BES group, within-group improvement was observed for all metrics except 60°/s isokinetic extensor strength (P<0.05). However, no significant between-group differences were observed for all metrics (P > 0.05) across the three subject groups.Anaerobic power demonstrated that all three ES modalities elicited significant within-group improvements (P<0.05) in subjects' PP, AP, Max speed and Total energy production. However, no between-group differences were observed (P>0.05). In contrast, significant within-group improvements were only observed in the RES and BES groups in MinP (P<0.05).VO2peak results demonstrated that all three groups of subjects exhibited significant improvements following the 6-week intervention (P<0.05). However, no between-group differences were observed (P=0.370, Partial η²=0.069). Conclusion: The utilisation of diverse ES modalities has been demonstrated to exert favourable influences on parameters such as muscle strength, anaerobic power and cardiorespiratory fitness in the context of PI university students. This strategy may be employed as an efficient time-saving exercise technique for individuals who have limited time available.