PHYSIOLOGICAL AREA   

Medicina dello Sport 2017 September;70(3):288-98

DOI: 10.23736/S0025-7826.17.03012-5

Copyright © 2017 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English, Italian

Comparison of the effect of two physical exercise programs on the functional autonomy, balance and flexibility of elderly women

Mauro L. MAZINI FILHO ¹, Felipe J. AIDAR ^{2, 3} ✉, Osvaldo COSTA MOREIRA ^{4, 5}, Dihogo GAMA de MATOS ⁶, Cláudia E. PATROCÍNIO de OLIVEIRA ^{5, 7}, Gabriela REZENDE de OLIVEIRA VENTURINI ⁸, Saulo de PAULA COSTA ⁶, Victor MAGALHÃES CURTY ⁹, Maria E. CAPUTO FERREIRA ¹

¹ Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil; ² Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Brazil; ³ Graduate Program in Physical Education, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Brazil; ⁴ Institute of Biological Sciences and Health, Federal University of Viçosa, Campus Florestal, Florestal, Brazil; ⁵ Institute of Biomedicine, University of Leon, Leon, Spain; ⁶ Department of Sports Science, Exercise and Health of the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro University, Vila Real, Portugal; ⁷ Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Viçosa, Campus Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil; ⁸ Laboratory of Physical Activity and Health Promotion, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; ⁹ Department of Physiological Sciences, Federal University of Espirito Santo, Espirito Santo, Brazil

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to compare the effect of two exercise programs on the balance, flexibility and functional autonomy of elderly women.
METHODS: The study included 79 elderly women who were randomly selected and divided into three groups: gymnastics group (GG) (N.=26, 67.84±5.4 years); water exercise group (WEG) (N.=28, 62.56±2.3 years); and control group (CG) (N.=25, 63.80±3.2 years).
RESULTS: Differences were found between pre- and post-training in the WEG and GG groups regarding flexibility (GG: pre 25.81±9.36, post 29.62±7.46; WEG: 25.00±8.03 to 29.07±4.03), static balance right (SBR) and left (SBL) (GG-SBR: pre 24.47±8.00, post 28.27±6.67; GG-SBL: pre 20.31±8.70, post 25.08±5.19; WEG-SBR: pre 25.25±5.98, post 29.15±2.60; WEG-SBL: pre 21.93±6.92, post 27.46±5.72), and dynamic balance (GG: pre 10.33±1.62, post 12.33±2.37; WEG: pre 11.74±2.81, post 13.89±3.01). Similarly, there were also differences between the pre- and post-training in the functional autonomy indicators of the groups GG (10-meter Walk Test [10MWT]: pre 8.52±1.01, post 7.62±0.88; stand up from a sitting position test (SUSP): pre 42.43±2.57, post 38.57±3.04; dressing and undressing a t-shirt test (DUT): pre 13.85±0.82, post 11.33±0.60; stand up from lying position (SULP): pre 11.98±0.56, post 8.19±0.57; stand up from a chair and walk straightaway test (SUCWA): pre 3.82±0.37, post 2.81±0.21) and WEG (10MWT: pre 8.81±0.94, post 8.01±1.21; SUSP: pre 40.98±2.77, post 39.42±2.72; DUT: pre 13.25±0.88, post 12.61±0.71; SULP: pre 10.94±0.52, pre 9.84±0.60; SUCWA: pre 3.86±0.37, post 3.18±0.34).
CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that both localized gymnastics and water aerobics can promote significant improvements in flexibility, balance and functional autonomy in elderly women, after 12 weeks of training.

KEY WORDS: Aged - Gymnastics - Water - Pliability