ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of different intensities of circuit resistance training on body composition, resting blood pressure and resting metabolic rate of young female adults in Plateau state. A pre-test and post-test group research design was used for the study. Thirty (30) young female adult volunteers were randomly assigned into three groups of low, moderate and high intensity to 12 weeks of circuit resistance training (CRT) (LI, n=10, 29.7+3.04; MI, n=10, 28.6+2.12; HI, n=10, 29.3+2.43 years). The low intensity group exercised at 40% 1 repetition maximum while the moderate and high intensity exercised at 50 - 60% 1 repetition maximum. The exercise was conducted 3 times a week and 30 - 40 minutes per session. The variables measured were percent body fat (%BF), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), lean body mass (LBM), resting systolic blood pressure (SBP), resting diastolic blood pressures (DBP), and resting metabolic rate (RMR). At the end of the 12-week training period, there was a decrease (p<.05) in the three CRT groups %BF (LI = -1.8%; MI = -2.4%; MI = -2.9%, (BP) LI = - 6/3, MI = -7/5, HI = -9/6, an increase in LBM (LI = 1.2kg; MI = 3.8kg; HI = 5.1kg), RMR (LI = 34; MI = 81; HI = 112). One way analysis of variance (ANOVA 1) and Scheffe's post hoc tests were used to find out the significance effects on the physiological variables of the participants. And the F-value of %BF, WHR, BMI, LBW, SBP, DBP and RMR were 20.78, 17.23, 2.58, 5.23, 4.25, 4.75 and 5.16 compared to critical value of 2.37 respectively. The results of the study revealed that the different intensities CRT had significant effects on body composition, resting blood pressure and resting metabolic rate of the participants. On the basis of these findings, it was recommended that: young female adults should train more at moderate or relatively high intensity circuit resistance programme. This would go a long way to generally improve their health and fitness.