Effects of classroom-based resistance training breaks on adolescents’ cognitive function

This thesis presents a series of three published papers with the overarching aim of evaluating the effect of classroom-based resistance training on the academic outcomes of adolescents. To achieve this, the body of work addresses the following research objectives: 1. To systematically summarise the findings of previous research that has examined the effects of resistance training on academic outcomes in school-aged youth (Chapter 3). 2. To examine the association between muscular fitness and academic outcomes in school-aged youth by systematically synthesising previous research (Chapter 3). 3. To determine the effectiveness of a field-based test of lower body muscular fitness for use in the adolescent population (Chapter 4). 4. To examine resistance training and cognitive demand as potential moderators of the acute and chronic effects of classroom exercise breaks on adolescents’ muscular fitness and cognition (Chapter 5).