Results
Effects of physical fitness
Physical fitness tests in the intervention groups were performed by 188 individuals and in the control group by 46 individuals. The one-way Anova analyses showed statistical significant differences between the four groups at BASE (p = 0.009) as well as at FOLLOW UP (p = 0.002). Comparison between groups and between women and men with independent samples t-test showed that CHIEF had the highest mean maximal oxygen uptake at FOLLOW UP and WC the lowest. The greatest difference was seen among women (CHIEF compared with CHIEF + WC with p = 0.022 and CHIEF compared with WC with p = 0.001).
All groups increased their physical fitness from BASE to FOLLOW UP but not statistical significant (p > 0.05) for CHIEF + WC. Females in CHIEF increased their mean maximal oxygen uptake from 32.0 mlO2/kg*min to 34.9 mlO2/kg*min while