Home quarantine-based rhythmic exercises: new fitness assessment and intervention in teaching physical education

Authors’ Contribution: A – Study design; B – Data collection; C – Statistical analysis; D – Manuscript Preparation; E – Funds Collection Abstract Background and Study Aim The COVID – 19 pandemic has post threats on the physical and mental fitness of the people. Thus, the study determined the effectiveness of home quarantine based rhythmic exercises to the fitness level of the university students in physical education.


Introduction
In the midst of global pandemic COVID -19, the access of fitness areas and facilities for physical activity had been restricted since the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) is been implemented. Though, the presence of the fitness centers does not always warrant the increase of physical fitness participation vis-à-vis the fitness development of an individual [1]. The pandemic has brought threats in the physical and mental fitness of the people. Being healthy is the ultimate goal of the person's life. There are countless ways on how to become healthy. One of which is the engagement in rhythmic or dance exercise. World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 30 minutes moderate to vigorous physical activity. Engagement in physical activity prevents acquisition of non-communicable diseases such heart attack, diabetes, hypertension, myocardial infarction among others which these diseases are the leading causes of death in the most part of the whole globe (CDC & WHO).
Being healthy or fit is not easy to acquire for it entails a lot of determination, discipline and preparation to achieve the state of physiologic well -being. This situation even more amplified because of the presence of COVID -19 which limits the physical movement of the people. It has been presented in most studies that rhythmic exercises have a strong influence in enhancing physical fitness ORIGINAL ARTICLE [2] and applied to prevent and reduce the weakening of the functionality of physical and mental fitness of the people [3]. In this new age, there are number of rhythmic physical fitness trends and programs that enable us to choose on what suits us. Aerobic dance, Dance workout, Yoga, Pilates, Zumba and among others are example of rhythmic exercises that could be considered in home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises. It has been believed that rhythmic movements with the accompaniment of music can be used as therapy for some people in different walks of life [4]. Further, there is evidence that moderateintensity rhythmic aerobic exercise improves functional capacity and quality of life [5] and has affirmative impact in the ability to balance in either in motion or stationary movements [6].
Home quarantine -based rhythmic exercise is timely and relevant study in this global pandemic since it caters the criteria of not exposing your health from COVID -19 and not requiring a luxurious and well -structured facility because what is needed is the actuality of the home area for the activity. Further, the study looked into the limits, extents and accuracy of the home quarantine rhythmic -exercises in improving the health-related fitness components of the individual in terms of the body mass index, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, muscular endurance and muscular strength. With this premise, it can widen the understanding and strengthen the awareness in the context of the functionality of home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises in the improvement of fitness in general.
Purpose. The aim of the study is to determine the effectiveness of home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises on the health -related fitness components of the university students.

Materials and Methods
Participants University students were the participants of the study. 200 student populations who were taking physical education subject in the year 2020 were considered. Using simple random sampling, 100 students were selected to participate in the experiment, but it turns out that there were only 96 participants who have completed the study. The students belong to 18 -26 age groups but most of the participants or 47.90% of them are 19 years of age. This is expected since all of the participants were first year students. Further, since the implementation of K to 12 in the educational system in the Philippines, this age bracket from 18 to 20 years of age is expected in the tertiary level. While most of the participants are female this corresponds to 74 or 77% of the total sample population and 22 or 23% for male.
Talking about the heart rates of the participants, the resting heart rate (RHR) mean of 74.52bpm (normal); target heart rates (THR) mean of 161.54bpm (normal); and maximum heart rates (MHR) mean of 199.57bpm (normal). American Heart Association (AHA) presented that the normal resting adult human heart rate is 60 -100bpm [7]. Further, the mean weight of the participants is 47.71 which means that most of the participants are neither too fat nor thin based on their age bracket. While the mean height of the participants is 155.93 cm as interpreted short based from British-American standard. Men tend to want a woman no taller than 6 feet, while women want a man no shorter than 5 feet 4 inches. Further, according to the study that ideal height for man is 180.3 cm (5'11") and for the women is 167.6 cm (5'6") [8].

Research Design
The study used quasi -experimental research design to determine the effectiveness of home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises in the improvement of one's fitness such as the BMI, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, muscular endurance and muscular strength. The participants were asked to undergo fitness level test as the ground -based data for reference and served as the pre -test. Adopting the standard instrument from the Revised Physical Fitness Test (DepEd Order 034 s. 2019) [9] was used in testing the fitness level of the participants. After the pre -test, the participants were asked to engage in two (2) months home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises. Within 2 months, they were asked to spend at least 30 minutes to 1 hour rhythmic exercises everyday wherein they will be the one to determine what time in the day they will do their rhythmic exercises. However, Sunday will be considered as their rest day because recovery is very important in giving time for the muscles to grow and relax. Then, after the 2 months exposure to home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises, the participants were asked to take their fitness level post -test using the same instrument as stated above.
Statistical Analysis All data from the pre -test to post -test results were sent online. Documentation and online observation were maximized to ensure reliability and validity of the results. In the analysis of data, percentage, mean, standard deviation and T -Test were used. Percentage, mean and standard deviation were used to describe the profile, pre -test and post -test results of the participants. On the other hand, T -Test was used to determine the level of significant difference of the two means which are the pre -test and post -test physical fitness results of the participants. Steps and processes for the ethical considerations were followed. Informed consent for the participants was clearly emphasized. The preservation of the anonymity and confidentiality of the participants were done by not illuminating their names, individuality and personality in the data collection, analysis, presenting and reporting of the study finding using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) edition 22.

Results
Below are the tables and results of the experiment of the participants in engaging in home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises in 2 months.
The table presents the pre -test and post -tests results of the participants (tabl. 1). Before the start of the experiment, the participants were mostly normal in terms of BMI with 60.42% and with the mean of 19.45. In the other hand, after the experiment or post -test the BMI result of the participants increases to 69.79% and with the mean of 19.65. In the pre -test result, the table shows that 71 or 73.97% of the participants fall below average in terms of their muscular endurance with a mean of 9.33 and standard deviation of 6.57 (tabl 4). This fact supports that participants must work hard on their muscular endurance fitness. The result strongly signifies that majority of them lack muscular endurance in performing physical activity (tabl. 4). In the other hand, muscular endurance post -test result is the most overwhelming result since there is a noticeable increase of the participants moving towards average to excellent with 65 0r 67.72% of the total population of the study. Further, there were 3 or 3.13% who got excellent results compared to the 0% from the pre -test result. Furthermore, the mean of 15.74 and standard deviation of 8.20 signify that the participants did improve their muscular endurance after two (2) month of home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises.  In the pre -test result, the table shows that 93 or 96.88% of the participants are poor in terms of muscular strength with a mean of 10.29 and a standard deviation of 6.53 (tabl. 5). Only 2 or 2.08% of the participants who got positive results in the test. While the post -test result of the muscular strength fitness of the participants presents that there is an increase of 12.50% with a mean of 16,79 and standard deviation of 10.76 still interpreted as poor.
The table presents the significance difference between the pre -test and post -test results physical fitness level of the participants (tabl. 6). This part explains the limits, extents and accuracy of the fitness improvement of the participants in terms of body mass index, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, muscular strength and muscular endurance. The engagement of the participants in two (2) months home quarantine-based rhythmic exercises (aerobics dance exercise, dance workout, pilates, yoga, zumba) present a significant improvement in their fitness level in body mass index (T= -3.482, p < .001), cardiovascular endurance (T= -4.193, p < .000), flexibility (T= .-6.279, p <.000), muscular endurance (T= -9.553, p < .000), and muscular strength (T= -7.569, p <.000). Time for doing such physical activity (from moderate to vigorous) is from 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Discussions
Dance as an activity bids the involvement of body senses and strengthens self-expression through music and applies different aspects of personality [10] and it reduces fatigue and increases the levels of psychological stimulation during exercise [11]. This means that even in this pandemic time, home quarantine -based rhythmic exercise is one of the best weapons to fight against boredom, mental stress and inactivity of the people. Further, one of the studies explains that dancing amplifies the physical fitness of the individual [12]. Thus, this study served to be the validation to the different studies that engaging in physical activity in the form of rhythmic exercise either in home quarantine -based or in posh exercise facilities increases the physical fitness level as long as consistency and perseverance will be counted in the exercise program.
Indeed, this study has proven that engaging in home quarantine -based rhythmic activities in two months amplifies the fitness level of an individual. One of the components being tested in the study is the body mass index (BMI). There were several studies that explain the association of body mass index (BMI) to mortality rate and causes of death in the entire world [13]. Increasing results in the BMI of participants were noticeable after the exposure of the two months home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises in the study. Hence, decreasing the number of participants that fall in the underweight category. Having a normal body mass index (BMI), means that it is easier for the individual to perform in any physical activity [14]. Thus, the need to shape the body is as the same as extending the movement capacity of the body which in a way increases the mortality rate and provides several advantages such as pre-matured death [15].
The cardiovascular endurance defines as the capacity of the heart and lungs to sustain during a physical activity was the second fitness component tested in the study. Before performing the test, the participants were asked to get their resting heart rate to know their present condition as shown in the respondents 'profile. Thus, those who are with higher BMI, poorer metabolic control, and lower amounts of physical activity tended to have lower levels of cardiovascular endurance (CE) [16]. The decreasing result of the cardiovascular endurance of the participants is indeed surprising [17]. It is common knowledge that exercise (specifically dancing) increases cardiac output 55 and blood pressure. However, individuals adapted to exercise show lower resting heart rate and cardiac hypertrophy [17]. Hence, engaging in physical activity either in moderate or vigorous physical activity makes the heart and lungs healthy [18,19,20], reduce blood pressure [21], and augment cardiac function [22,23]. Another test is the flexibility which defines as the range of movement in performing physical activity. The participants were asked to perform sit and reach [24,25] to get their flexibility fitness level before and after the engagement in two months of home quarantinebased rhythmic exercises. Less is known about the role of flexibility in the maintenance or improvement of functional abilities [26] but this study somehow explains the importance and functionality of flexibility specially in the context of home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises. Though, at the start of the test, it was obvious that the participants were not flexible. However, a slight increase in flexibility have seen after the exposure of the home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises but still the outcomes does not conform to the standard level of flexibility expected from the study. In fact, there are several studies that questioned the value of flexibility in terms of muscle cramps, prevention of injury and even increase in the fitness performance of the people [27,28]. At the brighter side, there is a push movement of flexibility among the participants worthy of putting in record to stimulate encouragement of the people to engage in home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises as options in maintaining physical health.
Muscular endurance is another fitness component being tested in the study that defines as the ability to perform a specific muscular action for a prolonged period. Before the test, it was found out that the muscular condition of the participants was below average with the assumption that most of the participants were females (77.1%). Surprisingly, after the engagement in two months home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises of the participants, there is a drastic change of result to average which conforms to the standard of fitness. However, muscular strength as the last component tested in this study and work hand in hand with muscular endurance [29,30]. Several studies have seen the fundamental criteria of relationship in testing the sport performance in training In such a way one observes less improvement after the test [29,30]. Even with the slightest improvement among the other fitness components, still the slight increase is significant and can prove that the intervention is effective. Hence, having good muscular fitness increases the chance of better cardio metabolic effect [31] however losing function in daily living activities is related to the reduction of muscular strength and muscular mass [32]. Aptly, building the muscular endurance and strength solidifies the physical fitness of an individual.
In concurrent, there is a significant difference between pre -test and post -test results in the improvement of the fitness level of the participants. This is indeed noteworthy since engaging in home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises in times of the global pandemic in about 30 minutes to 1 hour with moderate to vigorous intensity is effective in enhancing the health-related fitness components of the individual.

Conclusions
Physical activity either in sports, recreation and most specifically home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises stimulate in the improvement of one's health. It is in the conclusion of this study that engaging in two (2) months duration and with moderate to vigorous home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises as an intervention augments the physical fitness level of an individual. Moreover, home quarantine -based rhythmic exercises must be used as one of the synchronous or asynchronous assessments and interventions in teaching physical education in this global pandemic.

Financial support
There is no financial support.