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Tai Chi versus brisk walking in elderly women
- Source :
- Age and ageing. 35(4)
- Publication Year :
- 2006
-
Abstract
- Purpose: to compare the effects of a short style of Tai Chi versus brisk walking training programme on aerobic capacity, heart rate variability (HRV), strength, flexibility, balance, psychological status and quality of life in elderly women. Methods: nineteen community-dwelling, sedentary women (aged 71.4 ± 4.5 years) were randomly assigned to Tai Chi Chuan (TCC; n = 11) or brisk walking group (BWG; n = 8). A separate group of elderly women was recruited from the same population to act as a sedentary comparison group (SCG; n = 8). The exercise groups met for 1 h, three days per week for 12 weeks. Outcomes measured before and after training included estimated VO2max, spectral analysis of HRV (high-frequency, low-frequency power as well as high- and low-frequency power in normalised units) as a measure of autonomic control of the heart, isometric knee extension and handgrip muscle strength, single-leg stance time, the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Profile of Mood States (POMS) and Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaires. Results: significant improvement was seen in estimated VO2max in the TCC group (TCC versus SCG P = 0.003, TCC versus BWG P = 0.08). The mean within-person change of high-frequency power in normalised units (HFnu) increased [8.2 (0.14–16.3)], representing increased parasympathetic activity, and low-frequency power in normalised units (LFnu) decreased [–8.7 (–16.8–0.5)], representing decreased sympathetic activity, in the TCC group only. Significant gains were also seen in the non-dominant knee extensor strength and single-leg stance time (TCC versus BWG P
- Subjects :
- medicine.medical_specialty
Aging
SF-36
Physical fitness
Population
Isometric exercise
Walking
Profile of mood states
Physical medicine and rehabilitation
Oxygen Consumption
Heart Rate
Heart rate
Medicine
Heart rate variability
Humans
education
Exercise
Aged
education.field_of_study
Physical Education and Training
business.industry
General Medicine
Physical Fitness
Multivariate Analysis
Physical therapy
Female
Tai Ji
Geriatrics and Gerontology
business
human activities
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00020729
- Volume :
- 35
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Age and ageing
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....37c13cb5e5efeb5ff811e9f544e054c7