Kung Fu Training Improves Physical Fitness Measures in Overweight/Obese Adolescents: The “Martial Fitness” Study

Table 1

Outcomes, physical function/capacity.

Characteristic	KF Group		Sham exercise control group		Mean difference	ES	Time effect	Group $\times$ time interaction
	Baseline $n=12$	Follow-up $n=11$	Baseline $n=8$	Follow-up $n=8$	(95% CI)		$P$	$P$
Cardiovascular fitness:
Exercise test duration (min)	7.5 $\pm$ 2.5	8.5 $\pm$ 1.6	6.8 $\pm$ 1.8	7.4 $\pm$ 2.7	0.52 ($-$1.67–2.71)	0.22	.13	.73
V${\text{O}}_{2\text{peak}}$ (ml$·$kg^-1$·$min^-1)	23.9 $\pm$ 5.2	23.8 $\pm$ 3.0	19.2 $\pm$ 7.3	20.0 $\pm$ 6.9	$-$0.92 ($-$6.88–5.04)	$-$0.14	.93	.43
V${\text{O}}_{2\text{peak}}$ (mL$·$legLBM^-1$·$min^-1)	126.2 $\pm$ 25.3	127.6 $\pm$ 14.1	120.1 $\pm$ 23.9	126.5 $\pm$ 22.6	$-$4.89 ($-$1.10–0.72)	$-$0.19	.59	.60
AT (mL$·$kg^-1$·$min^-1)	12.21 $\pm$ 2.23	12.93 $\pm$ 1.47	11.19 $\pm$ 3.79	10.28 $\pm$ 3.23	1.63 ($-$1.25–4.51)	0.55	.86	.12
OUES	24.63 $\pm$ 5.49	24.26 $\pm$ 4.89	23.79 $\pm$ 5.76	23.95 $\pm$ 5.80	$-$0.30 ($-$5.79–5.19)	$-$0.05	.80	.72
Muscle fitness:
Absolute lower 1RM (N)	567.0 (356.0–976.0)	576.0 (340.0–1059.0)	464.5 (359.0–606.0)	534.0 (373.0–804.0)	$-$71.89 ($-$226.47–82.69)	$-$0.44	.04*	.18
Lower 1RM (N$·$LegLBM^-1)	0.04 $\pm$ 0.01	0.04 $\pm$ 0.01	0.03 $\pm$ 0.01	0.04 $\pm$ 0.01	$-$0.01 ($-$0.01–0.00)	$-$0.64	.28	.18
Absolute upper 1RM (N)	164.5 $\pm$ 26.4	178.4 $\pm$ 32.1	141.8 $\pm$ 25.2	156.5 $\pm$ 28.5	$-$0.89 ($-$26.32–24.55)	$-$0.03	.002*	.93
Upper 1RM (N$·$ArmLBM^-1)	0.034 $\pm$ 0.005	0.034 $\pm$ 0.006	0.029 $\pm$ 0.006	0.030 $\pm$ 0.005	0.0 ($-$0.01–0.00)	$-$0.18	.59	.31
Lower peak power (W)	337.8 (201.0–393.5)	288.0 (192.5–517.0)	282.0 (182.0–603.5)	316.0 (195.0–450.0)	6.77 ($-$87.34–100.88)	$-$0.06	.78	.95
Upper peak power (W)	101.5 $\pm$ 27.4	112.4 $\pm$ 29.6	92.9 $\pm$ 24.1	92.9 $\pm$ 31.8	10.76 ($-$14.88–36.40)	0.39	.31	.32
Lower peak velocity (cm$·$s^-1)	91.6 $\pm$ 16.9	97.3 $\pm$ 16.3	103.8 $\pm$ 21.6	91.6 $\pm$ 20.2	17.82 ($-$0.67–36.30)	0.90	.49	.06
Upper peak velocity (cm$·$s^-1)	129.0 $\pm$ 26.2	139.8 $\pm$ 20.3	130.9 $\pm$ 20.8	121.8 $\pm$ 26.9	19.94 ($-$3.82–43.71)	0.79	.83	.03*
Lower endurance (reps)	10.2 $\pm$ 4.8	14.5 $\pm$ 12.6	16.0 $\pm$ 8.9	20.3 $\pm$ 6.6	0.04 ($-$6.50–6.58)	0.01	.07	1.0
Upper endurance (reps)	5.0 $\pm$ 2.5	7.4 $\pm$ 3.0	5.9 $\pm$ 1.9	7.5 $\pm$ 2.3	0.74 ($-$1.51–2.99)	0.31	.02*	.68
Lower fatigue ratio	1.5 $\pm$ 1.3	3.0 $\pm$ 6.2	0.9 $\pm$ 0.2	0.9 $\pm$ 0.04	1.43 (0.37–2.49)*	1.29	.48	.28
Upper fatigue ratio	1.1 $\pm$ 0.4	0.9 $\pm$ 0.2	1.0 $\pm$ 0.2	1.0 $\pm$ 0.09	$-$0.30 ($-$0.64–0.04)	$-$0.84	.44	.49

Values are mean $\pm$ SD, or median (range) for non-normally distributed data. P values were generated between treatment groups from independent $t$-tests for continuous data, and chi square tests for categorical data. Mean difference was calculated by subtracting the change in TC from the change in KF.
KF: Kung Fu; ES: effect size; 95% CI: 95% confidence interval; V${\text{O}}_{2\text{peak}}$: peak oxygen consumption; AT: anaerobic threshold; OUES: oxygen uptake efficiency slope, expressed relative to body mass; lower: lower body; upper: upper body; 1RM: 1 repetition maximum; *$P$ value $<$  .05 or 95% CI excluding zero denotes statistical significance.