The effect of an 8-week weightlifting programme on maximal strength and body mass in previously sedentary females Abstract Introduction "Physical inactivity is a risk factor associated with various health problems, whereas regular physical exercising promotes health and well-being of individuals at all ages", and so therefore training programmes such as weightlifting have been implemented in order to get more sedentary people active, especially females. Similar studies have been conducted on the effects of participation in an exercise programme on cardiovascular reactivity in sedentary middle-aged males. According to Stein et al., 1992, the findings were similar in that sedentary lifestyles and behaviour are a risk to health and well-being and participating in exercise programmes can help to reduce the number of people being sedentary to become active again. However, more studies and in-depth investigations need to occur in order to have sufficient evidence to support this. This study will highlight the effects of an 8-week weightlifting programme on 40 sedentary females. Objectives The objective of this training programme and study is to get previously sedentary females active whilst maintaining and or increasing their body mass. As a result, from this study there will be an improvement in upper body strength from pre to post (1 rep-max). Hypothesis From completing this study we expect to see an increase in upper body strength (1 rep-max) measured in kilograms (kg) and we expect to see a change in body mass (kg) pre to post the 8-week weightlifting programme within the training groups (control and intervention). Methodology The study conducted was an 8-week weightlifting programme, testing participant's upper body strength within a group environment, e.g. control and intervention groups. This was a participant group of both students and staff. The independant variable is what is being changed. We changed the training groups, e.g. the control and intervention group and also the participant group. The dependant variable is what is being measured. The dependant variables are body mass of participants (kg), Change in Body Mass (kg), Upper Body Strength (1 rep max) (kg) and Change in Strength (kg). Results As shown in figure 1.1, the results show that a change in body mass (kg) from pre to post the programme, the data was not normally distributed, and so therefore it is non-parametric data, and so a Shapiro-walks test had to be conducted in order to see how the data was distributed. From this we were able to see in order that the data was not normally distributed, as the data was <0.05. We used a Mann-Whitney U test to find out the significant figures between the independent variable (Training group) and each dependant variable. From looking at the data in figure 1.2, the significant figures for both change in body mass and strength was .000, which means that the data was not normally distributed and so there is a significant difference between the two variables. Discussion & conclusion To conclude it is evident to see from our results that training programmes such as weightlifting can help