Time Spent in Physical Activity and Abdominal Muscle Endurance Level between Cadets and Civilian Students of National Defense University of Malaysia

Abstract

Background and Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences and relationships between the amount of time spent in physical activity and abdominal muscle endurance among the cadets and civilian students. Methods: In this study, a total of 191 male participants (19.7±0.9 years; 63.1±7.5 kg; 169.3±4.8 cm) from the National Defense University of Malaysia (NDUM) volunteered to participate including cadets (n=106) and civilian students (n=85) in 2019. Time spent in physical activity was measured by total minutes and total days of engagement in physical activities. A one-minute sit up was used to measure abdominal muscle endurance. The cross-sectional study and open-ended questions were administered for data collection. Results: The research findings showed that cadets spent more time in physical activity compared to civilian students in days (cadet, 5.47±.81 days; civilian, 3.25±1.41 days) and minutes (cadet, 76.93±21.73 min; civilian, 58.65±22.48 min). The levels of the cadets of abdominal muscle endurance were significantly greater than that of civilian students (cadet, 45.82±5.95 reps; civilian, 34.5±5.94 reps). Based on the t-test cadets showed a statistically significantly greater in total days of doing physical activity [t(189)=13.73, p(.00)<.05], total minutes [t(189)=5.67, p(.00)<.05] and abdominal muscle endurance [t(189)=13.07, p(.00)<.05] compared to civilians. There was also a positive relationship between performing physical activity in days per week (r=.44) and minutes (r =.34) with abdominal muscle endurance in both groups. Conclusion: In conclusion, the amount of time spent in physical activity had a significant influence on abdominal muscle endurance. The greater time spent in physical activity led to greater physical fitness level.