Girls in the Weight Room: Assessing the Influence of a Female School-based Strength & Conditioning Specialist on the Health of High School Girls

The majority of today's youth do not engage in enough physical activity (PA) to maintain good health. Low PA levels are associated with poor health (e.g. diabetes, high blood pressure) and early mortality. Girls are less likely than boys to be active, and their rates of participation drop off more steeply during adolescence. Girls report many barriers to exercise, including transportation issues and feeling self-conscious about their appearance and abilities. School-based PA programs that try to improve health, mainly through aerobic exercise and education, have had a small effect to date. However, the few programs that included resistance training as the focus showed strong improvements in health related measures. In this project, we will examine the effect of a female strength and conditioning specialist on decreasing barriers and increasing the overall health of high school girls, with the delivery of in-school, girls-only resistance training programs. We will see if physical and mental health changes with the training, and how the presence of the S & C specialist affects the girls' social interactions within the school. The results will help individuals in the education sector plan programs and services to improve overall youth and school health.