Science for practice

Physical Development and Health of Students Who Take Up Weightlifting

V. F. Drozdov, Honoured Coach of the Byelorussian SSR; N. Ya. Petrov, Master of Sport of the USSR, Cand. Sc. (Biology); Minsk

English summary of Tyazhelaya Atletika. Ezhegodnik 1983 (Moscow: Fizkultura i Sport, 1983), pp. 37–40: the text is paraphrased, not translated; data tables are given in full with English labels.

Design

Subjects: 60 first-year students, aged 17–19, in three weightlifting-specialisation groups at the Minsk Radio Engineering Institute, studied for one academic year. No selection; all in the "main" medical group.
Course: the standard 140 h a year (two 2-hour sessions a week). About half went to general preparation and GTO ("Ready for Labour and Defence") events.
Lesson: sub-groups of 4–5 students.
- Warm-up of 15–20 min, using five rotating sets of 15 exercises.
- 3–4 barbell exercises: classic-lift technique first, then strength and speed work.
- Every two weeks, squats with 70–80 kg for maximum reps (heart rate 180–200/min).
- Posture work, hangs and homework to finish.
Measurements at the start and end of the year: anthropometry, fitness tests, functional tests with telemetry ECG, and a 12-lead ECG.

Physical development

Every measure improved. The largest gains were in back strength and bodyweight (Student's t = 2.90 and 2.00, p < 0.05).
The indices show well-proportioned builds. Because the students were still maturing, the authors claim only that strength work did not impair normal development.

Table 1. Mean anthropometric measurements before and after the experiment

Characteristic	Start of academic year			End of academic year
Characteristic	x̄	m	σ	x̄	m	σ
1. Height, cm	174.7	0.71	5.06	175.5	0.72	5.18
2. Bodyweight, kg	66.1	0.70	4.97	68.27	0.74	5.25
3. Vital capacity (spirometry), cm³	4580.0	77.92	555.6	4872.0	74.32	530.66
4. Back (dead-lift dynamometer) strength, kg	136.5	2.45	17.5	146.1	2.15	15.36
5. Right-hand grip strength, kg	44.7	0.77	5.48	47.0	0.85	6.06
6. Chest circumference at rest, cm	89.20	0.62	4.40	91.86	0.54	3.86
7. Chest expansion, cm	7.9	0.41	2.96	9.3	0.28	2.03
8. Upper-arm circumference, cm:
right	27.2	0.31	2.21	28.6	0.30	2.13
left	28.6*	0.31	2.21	28.1	0.29	2.10
9. Right thigh circumference (upper third), cm	53.1	0.58	4.13	54.0	0.58	4.17
10. Calf circumference, cm:
right	35.4	0.34	2.46	36.7	0.26	1.87
left	35.4	0.25	1.83	36.8	0.26	1.83
11. Breath-holding after inhalation, s	71.3	1.55	11.11	71.7	2.43	17.37
12. Pulse, beats/min	70.5	1.09	7.83	67.5	0.65	4.46
13. Blood pressure, mm Hg:
systolic	123.2	1.10	7.86	121.0	0.71	5.10
diastolic	71.5	1.06	7.60	69.7	1.07	7.66
pulse pressure	50.0	1.10	7.86	50.8	0.96	6.85

* As printed. This start value for the left arm (with the same m and σ as the right arm) would mean the left arm got smaller, which contradicts the text's statement that no measurement decreased. It is probably a misprint in the original.

Table 2. Mean indices of physical development at the start and end of the academic year

Characteristic	Start of year		End of year
Characteristic	x̄	x̄_min – x̄_max	x̄	x̄_min – x̄_max
1. Quetelet index, g/cm	371.1	327.1 – 471.1	387.2	330.7 – 495.0
2. Erisman index, cm	3.43	–11.5 – (+12.5)	3.52	–11.0 – (+11.3)
3. Muscle development index, kg/m³	12.6	10.0 – 15.6	12.7	10.8 – 15.2
4. Body surface area, m²	1.69	1.58 – 2.0	1.72	1.58 – 1.10*
5. Predicted ("proper") vital capacity, cm³	4311.9	3375 – 5000	4439.3	3525 – 5250

* As printed. A maximum smaller than the minimum is impossible, so this value is damaged in the source (probably 2.10).

Fitness

The most reliable gains were in the 30 m run and the standing five-fold jump (p < 0.01).
Correlations:
- bodyweight and back strength, r = 0.767;
- back strength and the backward shot throw, 0.515;
- the 100 m and the five-fold jump, 0.450.
Together these indicate that the weight gained was mostly muscle.
Individual differences narrowed over the year. Initially weak students gained most.

Table 3. Mean results of the fitness tests at the start and end of the academic year

Test	Start of academic year			End of academic year
Test	x̄	m	σ	x̄	m	σ
1. 30 m run, s	4.8	0.04	0.28	4.37	0.03	0.24
2. 100 m run, s	14.1	0.09	0.66	13.7	0.06	0.44
3. Standing long jump, m	2.20*	0.02	0.04*	2.40	0.02	0.04
4. Standing five-fold jump, m	11.07	0.23	0.4	11.86	0.45	0.77
5. Shot throw backwards over the head, m	6.60	0.18	1.27	7.11	0.17	1.23
6. Back squat with 80% of own bodyweight, reps	12.70	0.53	3.78	16.0	0.59	4.22
7. Seated press with 50% of own bodyweight, reps	12.0	0.51	3.65	15.0	0.69	4.94

* The decimal comma is missing in the digitised source ("2 20", "0 04"). It has been restored here.

Heart (ECG)

Baseline: all normal — sinus rhythm 54–90/min, QRS angle –45° to +84°, semi-vertical heart position.
End of year: none of the 60 students showed ventricular hypertrophy or overload (T-wave inversion, ST shift, or delayed intrinsicoid deflection in V1–V2 or V5–V6). Taller R waves in the chest leads were judged normal for the age.

Conclusions

Weightlifting fits the compulsory university physical-education course. It improves physical development, fitness, cardiovascular function and working capacity, and the authors recommend it for general-preparation groups at humanities and technical universities.