Effects of Lower and Upper Body Plyometric Training on Electrocardiogram (ECG) Parameters of University Athletes

Plyometric training is a form of specialised strength training that uses fast muscular contractions to improve power and speed in sports conditioning by coaches and athletes. Despite its useful role in sports conditioning programme, the information about plyometric training on the athlete’s cardiovascular health especially Electrocardiogram (ECG) have not been established in the literature. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of lower and upper body plyometric training on ECG of athletes. The study was guided by three null hypotheses. Seventy-two university male athletes constituted the population of the study.30 male athletes who voluntarily participated in the study were purposively selected and drawn from university male athletes body mass index (BMI) within the range of underweight to normal weight (≤18.5±24.9)  (height, x=1.50±1.17cm; body weight, x=50.31±70.15kg), all athletes whose age-range fall between 18 and 25 years old. The volunteered athletes were apparently healthy, physically active and free of any lower and upper extremity bone injuries for past one year and they had no medical or orthopedic injuries that may affect their participation in the study. The Quasi none randomised pretest posttest control group experimental design was used for the study.  The participants were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: lower body plyometric training (LBPT), upper body plyometric training (UBPT) and control (C).Training consisted of six plyometric exercises: lower (ankle hops, squat jumps, tuck jumps) and upper body plyometric training (push-ups, medicine ball-chest throws and side throws) with moderate intensity. The general data were collated and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 22.0). The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation, while paired samples t-test was used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that athletes who were trained using LBPT had reduced ECG parameters better than those in the control group.  The results also revealed that athletes who were trained using both LBPT and UBPT indicated lack of significant differences following ten weeks plyometric training than those in the control group in the ECG parameters except in QRS complex. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that coaches should include both LBPT and UBPT as part of athletes’ overall training programme of university athletes to optimise performance as well as reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and promotes good healthy lifestyle.