Kettlebell-classroom Training

NCT06910085 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2024-01074
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 92
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Physical fitness is a crucial health marker, predicting both cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Muscular strength, an essential component of physical fitness, underpins physical and psychological well-being, particularly from childhood. Increasing sedentary behavior has led to rising obesity and cardiovascular disease rates in children, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of pediatric dynapenia. Muscular fitness positively affects body composition, bone health, psychological health, and academic performance, and is necessary for fundamental motor skills. In Basel, a ten-year trend shows declining physical fitness and rising obesity among primary school children, especially those from lower socio-economic backgrounds with less access to sports. This presents an opportunity to promote physical activity in schools. The "Kettlebell Classroom" project aims to introduce daily, playful resistance training with kettlebells over seven weeks in various schools, focusing on culturally and socially less integrated children. Evidence supports the benefits of resistance training (RT) for children, including increased joint stability, improved motor skills, reduced injury risks, and increased spontaneous physical activity. Despite WHO recommendations for muscle and bone-strengthening activities three times a week, these guidelines are often unmet. This project aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of short, intensive exercise sessions for children, with the goal of expanding the initiative across Basel to improve health outcomes for all children.

Conditions

Child Development; Schools; Primary Health Care; Resistance Training; Muscle Strength; Feasibility Studies; Schools / Organization & Administration; Preventive Health Services

Keywords

Kettlebell Training; Daily school routine; Teacher involvement; Primary school; Physical education

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Maximal strength

  The mid-thigh pull is measured on the force plate, as is the hand grip force (Leonardo Mechanograph® Novotec Medical GmbH, Pforzheim, Germany). The mid-thigh pull corresponds to a static deadlift, i.e. pulling up a bar in the centre of the thigh, and thus provides an image of the force transmission of the muscle loops up to the hand force to transfer the force to the measuring device. The test subject has a hip and knee angle of 135-140° and tries to pull as quickly and strongly as possible on the vertically fixed bar in the centre of the thigh. As the test subject is standing on the force plate, the transmitted force is measured precisely. In contrast to the dynamic 1-repetition maximum, this simple test offers a high level of safety as an isometric measurement and, in particular, has a high test-retest reliability. This measurement is therefore not only attractive to perform, but also makes it easy to analyse strength curves and maximum strength.

  seven week intervention

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Handgrip strength

  seven week intervention

• sprint performance

  seven week intervention

• jump performance

  seven week intervention

• shuttle-run performance

  seven week intervention

• balance performance

  seven week intervention

Study Arms (2)

kettlebell training

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

The intervention involves daily, supervised resistance training sessions for primary school children, integrated directly into the classroom setting. Over a period of 7 weeks, participating second-grade school classes perform 15-minute kettlebell-based workouts every school day, totaling 35 sessions. The sessions are designed to be: Playful and age-appropriate Focused on whole-body strength and motor skill development Based on functional, multi-joint movements using bodyweight and kettlebells Adaptable to individual ability levels Including elements of teamwork and cooperation to enhance motivation and enjoyment The goal is to improve muscular strength, coordination, fitness, and psychosocial well-being, particularly in children from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Behavioral: kettlebell-training

regular schedule - control

NO INTERVENTION

The control group consists of parallel second-grade school classes that do not receive any active intervention during the study period. These students continue with their regular school routine and standard physical education classes, without the additional kettlebell training sessions. Like the intervention group, they: Undergo the same pre- and post-intervention test battery assessing strength, coordination, fitness, and anthropometric measures Are assessed during school hours using identical equipment and protocols Serve as a baseline comparator to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of the resistance training intervention

Interventions

kettlebell-training BEHAVIORAL

15 min of body weight or kettlebell loaded strength training

kettlebell training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 6 Years - 9 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• all of the selected second-graders who can participate in physical education lessons will be included in the study

You may not qualify if:

• Children with a medical certificate, that prohibits physical activity, will be excluded from performance testing and training intervention.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland: lead

Study Sites (1)

Department of Sport, Exercise and Health

Basel, Basellandschaft, 4052, Switzerland

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 27, 2025
• First Posted: April 4, 2025
• Study Start: October 21, 2024
• Primary Completion: December 6, 2024
• Study Completion: December 6, 2024
• Last Updated: April 4, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CH (1)