Influence of exercise habits and physical fitness level on subjective fatigue symptoms in adolescent students

Abstract

This study examines the effects of physical fi tness level and exercise habits on subjective fatigue symptoms in adolescents. 746 young male adults (age: 16.5 +/-1.0 year, 15-20 years) participated in the physical fi tness tests (grip strength, sit-up, trunk antefl exion, repeated sideways jump, 20-meter shuttle run, 50-meter dash, standing long jump and handball throw) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan, and answered a questionnaire on life habits and subjective fatigue symptoms. The relationship between subjective fatigue symptoms and exercise habits and physical fi tness level was examined by application of Quantifi cation Method I. Multiple signifi cant correlation (R = 0.295) was found, as well as partial correlations of the physical fi tness level (r xy = 0.10). However, signifi cant partial correlations were also found in the life habits items other than exercise habit (r xy = 0.07-0.12), and their item ranges (4.54-10.55) were higher than that of physical fi tness level (5.87). In conclusion, although physical fi tness level is one of the factors that affects subjective fatigue symptoms, many life habits other than exercise habits affect subjective fatigue as well. However, in these cases, the magnitude of their whole infl uence is not very large.