Comparison of changes in estimated VO₂max following fartlek and continuous running training in adolescent pencak silat practitioners

Abstract

Background: Cardiorespiratory endurance is an important component of performance in pencak silat because competition requires athletes to sustain high-intensity activity across repeated bouts interspersed with recovery periods. However, evidence comparing changes in aerobic capacity following fartlek and continuous running training among adolescent pencak silat practitioners remains limited.
Objective: This study aimed to compare changes in estimated VO₂max following fartlek and continuous running training among students participating in a pencak silat extracurricular program.
Methods: A two-group pretest–posttest design was used involving 24 students from SMP Darul Ikhlas Cikarang. Participants were selected using total sampling and were equally allocated to a fartlek group (n = 12) and a continuous running group (n = 12) through ordinal pairing. Estimated VO₂max was assessed using the 20-m Multistage Fitness Test before and after the training program. Data were analyzed using assumption tests, paired-samples t-tests to evaluate within-group changes, and an independent-samples t-test to compare changes between groups at a significance level of 0.05.
Results: Estimated VO₂max in the fartlek group increased from 33.48 to 40.10, while the continuous running group increased from 33.20 to 38.50. Both groups showed significant improvements; however, no significant difference was found in the change in estimated VO₂max between the fartlek and continuous running groups (t = 0.693, df = 22).
Conclusion: These findings indicate that both training programs were associated with improvements in estimated VO₂max, but the study did not provide evidence that one method produced a greater improvement than the other.