Effectiveness and feasibility of a 12-week Zoom-delivered home-based exercise programme for university students during COVID-19: a quasi-experimental pre–post study

Chirasanta, Roman 1 ; Ferriman, Nicholas 1

Published Jul 20, 2026; Updated Aug 03, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wdbrv165b

Data files

Jul 20, 2026 version files 20.22 KB

Combined_male_and_female_data__10_Jul_26.sav

17.89 KB
README.md

2.34 KB

Aug 03, 2026 version files 158.07 KB

Appendices__(A__B____C).pdf

137.09 KB
Combined_male_and_female_data__10_Jul_26.sav

17.89 KB
README.md

3.10 KB

Abstract

BACKGROUND. During COVID, many Physical Educational (PE) programmes were put on hold. However, to allow students to graduate, and to keep them fit and healthy, home-based exercise (HBE) programmes were needed. OBJECTIVES. This study measured the effectiveness and feasibility of a 12-week HBE programme delivered via Zoom at an international college in Thailand. The course was held eight times each trimester for nearly two years with up to 25 participants on each course. METHODS. The study used a one-group pre–post quasi-experimental design. Once a week for nine weeks, participants performed a 45-minute workout of calisthenics and light weights in class, and another 45-minute videoed workout as homework. The volume and intensity of the workouts were progressively increased. There was a pre-test (Week 2) and a post-test (Week 12). The tests consisted of four physical fitness (PF) items: sit-ups; push-ups; squats; the plank. The self-reported data (N=841) were analysed via SPSS. RESULTS. All four test items showed a 30% or more improvement in performance. The results were very statistically significant (p<.001). For example, for squats for females, the pre-test mean was 46.4 ± 14.2 and the post-test mean was 60.9 ± 13.8. Effect sizes were large to very large (d=0.59-1.09). CONCLUSIONS. In this study, HBE is associated with significant improvements in PF. However, causality is limited by the single-group design and self-report measures. Of note, programmes which combine live coaching, motivational mini-lectures, and varied calisthenics may increase course adherence and improve PF.

Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.wdbrv165b

Description of the data and file structure

Data from: A quasi-experimental study investigating the impact of a 12-week home-based exercise programme on the physical fitness levels of 841 students from a Thai international college during COVID.

Files and variables

File 1: Combined_male_and_female_data__10_Jul_26.sav

Format: SPSS (Version 21)

Description: This paper reports on the physical fitness performance data for four test items: Sit-ups (SU), Push-ups (PU), Squats (SQ), and the Plank (PLK). Data were collected from 841 undergraduate students over five 12-week trimesters during COVID.

There was a pre-test conducted in Week 2 and a post-test conducted in Week 12 on each of the four test items.

The scores for SU and PU were the maximum number of repetitions completed in one minute, and the scores for SQ were the maximum number of repetitions completed in two minutes. The scores for PLK were recorded as the number of seconds to the point of failure, or up to a maximum of 120 seconds.

Between tests, participants executed two 40-45 minute calisthenic workouts per week for nine weeks. The first weekly workout was conducted online in a Zoom class, and the second was recorded out of class time and forwarded to the instructor. All interactions with the instructor and classmates were conducted online.

Data contents: The file contains the following 13 columns in sequence:

Number
Sex
Age
PRETEST (contains no data)
Situps 1
Pushups 1
Squats 1
Planks 1
POSTTEST (contains no data)
Situps 2
Pushups 2
Squats 2
Planks 2

Each entry is for one participant and there are 841 entries (464 female; 377 male).

Code/software

SPSS is needed to open the dataset.
JASP is an open-source alternative to SPSS.

File 2: Appendices(AB____C).pdf

Format: PDF

Description: Appendix A is an outline of the lesson plans for the 12-week course. Each lesson was for 110 minutes and conducted once a week. Students completed two physical workouts per week: one during the live online lesson; the second as an assigned home workout. The appendix gives more details of the content of each workout: number of circuits; types of exercises; number of repetitions; total time of the workout.

Appendix B describes the course assignments and their individual weightings. These assignments include the nine recorded homework workouts, the capstone project, and attendance.

Appendix C is the list and names of the ten mini-lecturers given over the course – one per weekly online session.

Access information

Other publicly accessible locations of the data:

Data was derived from the following sources:

Human subjects data

Participants gave consent for their data to be published and all references to their identity were removed from the SPSS dataset.