The physiological effects of aerobic dance on middle-aged, sedentary women

Includes bibliographical references (pages 43-44)Ten sedentary women aged 35 to 50 years were studied over a twelve week period\ud to determine if aerobic dance training would increase aerobic capacity and positively\ud influence body composition. Five experimental subjects (X?? age = 41.4 yrs)\ud trained three times per week in aerobic dance for 30 to 60 minutes at 60% to 80%\ud maximum heart rate. Five control subjects (X?? age = 40.2 yrs) participated in no\ud formal aerobic exercise. Dry body weight, hydrostatic weight, skinfold and circumference\ud measures were taken pre and post training, along with maximal stress\ud testing on the treadmill (TM) using a modified Balke protocol. Peak responses on\ud the pre and post TM tests for the experimental group were: Time (minutes 16.7\ud ??3.6 and 19.1 ??4.0), V??02 (ml/kg/min 24.2 ??3.6 and 24.4 ??3.9); and for the \ud control group: Time (minutes 16.1 ??5.3 and 16.1 ??5.5), V02 (ml/kg/min 21.2\ud ??4.0 and 21.1 ??4.2), respectively. Hydrostatically determined percent fat values\ud pre and post test were 31.0 ??4.4 and 30.4 ??4. 7 for the experimental subjects, and\ud 26.7 ??8.7 and 28.1 ??8.5 for the control subjects, respectively. MANOVA for all\ud variables within and between groups was F =.00 (P < 2.0000), which was not\ud statistically significant. These data illustrate, however, a consistent trend toward\ud increased lean mass, decreased fat mass, and increased peak TM work time in the\ud experimental group, suggesting that a longer training period may be needed for\ud this sedentary age group to exhibit significant physiological changes