The neuromuscular effects of including a third weekly stimulus in Physical Education students in Secondary School

Abstract

Insufficient neuromuscular stimuli in school-based Physical Education (PE) may hinder the development of strength and speed-related fitness in adolescents, and evidence supporting increased weekly training frequency in schools remains limited. This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of adding a third weekly neuromuscular training session to the standard PE curriculum. Twenty-eight secondary school students (≈17 years) were assigned to an Intervention Group (IG; n = 12) or a Control Group (CG; n = 16). Over nine weeks, the IG completed two additional 50-minute sessions per week focused on progressive resistance training and functional aerobic exercises, while the CG followed the regular bi-weekly PE schedule. Pre- and post-intervention assessments included explosive strength, linear speed, agility, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular endurance, and flexibility. Mixed-model analyses revealed significant Group × Time interactions favouring the IG for standing broad jump (p<0.05) and 40 m sprint performance (p<0.05), with a strong trend for agility (p=0.05). Between-group effect sizes were moderate to large (Cohen's d=0.75–0.93). No significant effects were found for flexibility, while cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular endurance showed positive but non-significant trends. These findings suggest that a third weekly neuromuscular training session is a feasible and effective strategy to enhance key performance-related fitness components in adolescents in school settings. However, results should be interpreted cautiously because of methodological limitations such as small sample size and lack of maturation control.