Comparison of endurance, fatigue, and heart rate shifts of students of physical education department who participate and do not participate in sports and recreational activities

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare the endurance, fatigue, and heart rate shifts of physical education students who participate and do not participate in sports and recreational activities. The sample of the study consisted of 54 volunteer male students who participated in recreational activities and 50 volunteers who did not participate in recreational activities at Mersin University in the 2019-2020 academic year. After determining the physical properties of the participants, through the endurance test on the test battery designed by FIFA, their anaerobic endurance levels, fatigue levels after the fatigue protocol, and resting, warm-up, and exercise heart rates using the polar watch were measured. Independent-samples t-test used for binary comparisons was used to calculate the data of the research. According to the findings of the research, it was found that endurance, perceived fatigue, and heart rate shifts of the students who participated in recreational activities differed from those who did not participate in recreational activities (p < 0.05). The results of this study show that those participating in recreational activities are older, taller and overweight. Besides, the endurance and fatigue levels of those participating in recreational activities are significantly higher. The resting heart rate, warm-up heart rate and post-fatigue heart rate numbers of those participating in recreational activities are significantly better than those who do not participate. As a result, the high number and high intensity of exertion exhibited at the maximum level in recreational activities or training cause a differentiation in some variables. It is thought that the shifts differ in parallel with the character of the game and the level of the participants. Participating in recreational activities and training is expected to positively affect students' endurance, fatigue levels, and heart rates as well as reduce negative health risk factors that may occur in later years.

Keywords: Recreation, endurance, fatigue, heart rate, physical education.

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