Comparison of Cardiovascular Fitness between Adolescent Athletes and Non-Athletes

The purpose of this study was to compare the cardiovascular fitness between adolescent athletes and non-athletes. The present study was conducted on a sample of sixty (N=60) adolescent, which includes thirty each, athletes (N1 = 30, mean ± SD: age 18.0± 0.79 years, height 177.53± 4.68cm, weight 71.53± 5.97kg, BMI 22.67± 1.48) and non-athletes (N2 = 30, mean ± SD: age 17.70± 0.70 years, height 174.80±4.73cm, weight 73.10±5.12 kg, BMI 23.97± 1.29) selected from different schools affiliated to Punjab School Education Board, Punjab, India. Height measurements were taken by using the standard anthropometric rod to the nearest 0.5 cm. The subject’s weight was measured with portable weighing machine to the nearest 0.5 kg. The 12 minute run/walk test was used to assess cardiovascular fitness of subjects. The independent samples t-test was applied to assess the differences between athletes and non-athletes. The results of present study indicated that athletes had significantly greater cardiovascular fitness (p<0.05) than non-athletes.