Gender-Specific Effects of Virtual Online Physical Education on Fitness Outcomes in Chinese University Students

Gender-Specific Effects of Virtual Online Physical Education on Fitness Outcomes in Chinese University Students | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Gender-Specific Effects of Virtual Online Physical Education on Fitness Outcomes in Chinese University Students Aowei Zhang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5279197/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background : This study investigates the gender-specific effects of Virtual Online Physical Education (VPE) on fitness outcomes among Chinese university students. With the increasing adoption of AI and virtual technologies in education, understanding how these innovations impact physical fitness is essential. Results : 18,247 undergraduate students participated in an 8-month VPE intervention. The findings indicated a significant increase in Body Mass Index (BMI) among students (p < 0.05) and a notable decrease in lung capacity (p < 0.01). Male students exhibited a significant improvement in aerobic capacity (p < 0.05), while female students experienced a decline (p < 0.05). Both genders showed substantial gains in flexibility and explosive strength (p < 0.01), although muscular strength (measured by sit-ups for females and pull-ups for males) slightly decreased (p < 0.05). Notably, females showed greater improvements in flexibility and explosive strength, whereas males excelled in aerobic capacity enhancement. Conclusions : This study underscores the potential of VPE to significantly enhance flexibility and explosive strength in university students, with important implications for gender-specific training approaches. The limitations observed in BMI management and cardiorespiratory function improvement call for tailored training programs that address these disparities, thereby optimizing fitness outcomes for both genders. Health sciences/Diseases Health sciences/Health occupations Health sciences/Health care Health sciences/Health care/Occupational health Health sciences/Health care/Public health Health sciences/Health care/Weight management Virtual Physical Education Physical Fitness Gender Differences Body Composition Cardiorespiratory Fitness Flexibility Explosive Strength Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5279197","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":378409520,"identity":"643ddeff-7bb9-423d-b6d0-da8ce9c80192","order_by":0,"name":"Aowei Zhang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2klEQVRIie3RIQsCMRTA8R2DE2F4dRZt5oFw5Q7LVT/EO4SzGEyyqAgzifXEL+FHmDwwDfNAg34DbUYtWhR2NsN++f3Z3kaI5/2hMFpofZVpL6zNd2eQqTtpcJPvSlMMIrYfiLMp3EmLQBfrCoN12e80LworXIxowEAhFZaFEgySaDN1JHSmcXwYNsRxubcgh4SfdIVTyklCxelQWDAJERxcCQhkIQ22dhSPc0WrJip7rj+KSa6yCgk38H5kDqZg3DqS9mqB19dX3u4ybUWlI/nAfpz3PM/zvnkAI8BNuPIahcIAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Physical Education department, Shenzhen Xingzhi vocational college","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aowei","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-10-17 02:53:27","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5279197/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5279197/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":76426185,"identity":"5997b952-202c-4615-8a3d-cb5a94e192c2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-17 05:39:02","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":459529,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"20241105.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5279197/v1_covered_7515eadd-e5b8-46f1-ae32-e4df4efca2e7.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Gender-Specific Effects of Virtual Online Physical Education on Fitness Outcomes in Chinese University Students","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Virtual Physical Education, Physical Fitness, Gender Differences, Body Composition, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Flexibility, Explosive Strength","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5279197/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5279197/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground\u003c/strong\u003e: This study investigates the gender-specific effects of Virtual Online Physical Education (VPE) on fitness outcomes among Chinese university students. With the increasing adoption of AI and virtual technologies in education, understanding how these innovations impact physical fitness is essential.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e: 18,247 undergraduate students participated in an 8-month VPE intervention. The findings indicated a significant increase in Body Mass Index (BMI) among students (p \u0026lt; 0.05) and a notable decrease in lung capacity (p \u0026lt; 0.01). Male students exhibited a significant improvement in aerobic capacity (p \u0026lt; 0.05), while female students experienced a decline (p \u0026lt; 0.05). Both genders showed substantial gains in flexibility and explosive strength (p \u0026lt; 0.01), although muscular strength (measured by sit-ups for females and pull-ups for males) slightly decreased (p \u0026lt; 0.05). Notably, females showed greater improvements in flexibility and explosive strength, whereas males excelled in aerobic capacity enhancement.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusions\u003c/strong\u003e: This study underscores the potential of VPE to significantly enhance flexibility and explosive strength in university students, with important implications for gender-specific training approaches. The limitations observed in BMI management and cardiorespiratory function improvement call for tailored training programs that address these disparities, thereby optimizing fitness outcomes for both genders.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Gender-Specific Effects of Virtual Online Physical Education on Fitness Outcomes in Chinese University Students","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-11-18 04:14:17","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5279197/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"b4cc52f5-bbe4-42dc-8d8c-f75da0c53656","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 18th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":40295959,"name":"Health sciences/Diseases"},{"id":40295960,"name":"Health sciences/Health occupations"},{"id":40295961,"name":"Health sciences/Health care"},{"id":40295962,"name":"Health sciences/Health care/Occupational health"},{"id":40295963,"name":"Health sciences/Health care/Public health"},{"id":40295964,"name":"Health sciences/Health care/Weight management"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-02-17T05:38:33+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-11-18 04:14:17","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5279197","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5279197","identity":"rs-5279197","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}