The aim of the study was to analyze the effect of aerobic exercise on body composition, hematological parameters, and bone density in elderly women. Subjects included twenty elderly women over 65 years old. They were selected from the elderly welfare...
The aim of the study was to analyze the effect of aerobic exercise on body composition, hematological parameters, and bone density in elderly women. Subjects included twenty elderly women over 65 years old. They were selected from the elderly welfare house located at Sung-nam City. Ten of them participated 16 weeks aerobic exercise training program from October 2001 to February 2002. All of them completed the entire program. Others did not followed the program as the control group. They were all living in Sung-nam City and regularly go to the elderly welfare house.
Body weight was measured with a beam balance accurate to 0.1kg, and body height was taken with a Martin's anthropometer. Biepicondylar humerus and bicondylar femur diameters with a spreading caliper accurate to 1㎜. Eight circumference measurements(Inspired chest, expired chest, upper arm, flexed upper arm, waist, hip, thigh, and calf) were taken with a Harpenden steel tape. Five skinfold sites(triceps, subscapular, suprailiac, thigh and medial calf) were measured with Lange Calipers. All measures were taken on the left side and recorded to the nearest 0.1mm. Body composition parameters were evaluated by bodystat 1500(U.S.A).
Physical fitness tests included sit & reach, grip strength(left, right), and sit-ups.
Blood pressure was measured at the onset and phase IV of the Korotkoff sounds.
After an overnight fast of at least 12 hours blood samples of 10ml were drawn from antecubital veins. Serum was then separated for determination of total cholesterol(TC), triglycerides(TG), and high density lipoprotein chelesterol (HDL-C).
Hemoglobin(Hb), hematocrit(Hct), red blood cell(RBC), mean corpuscular volume(MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration(MCHC), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin(MCH) were analyzed by automated instrumentation (ADVIA 120, Bayer, USA). Serum iron and total iron binding capacity(TIBC) were determined by auto-analyzer(HITACHI 7150, Tokyo, Japan) and transferrin saturation(TS) was calculated by dividing serum iron concentration by TIBC.
Bone density was evaluated by DTX-200 (Osteometer Co., Denmark).
The supervised exercise training program was conducted with 3 days per week, 60 min each session for a period of 16 weeks. The exercise training program included 5-min warm-up period of calisthenics and stretching exercises; 50 min of aerobic dancing or ground walking and 5-min cool-down).
The results of the study showed that although body weight was significantly increased (P<0.05) for control group between pre and post tests, but a small decrease was found for exercise group. There was significant decrease for waist circumference in exercise group (P<0.05). Thigh skinfold was increased (P<0.01) for exercise group throughout the entire study period. For body composition variables percent body fat and fat mass were significantly increased (P<0.01) for control group, but small decrease was found for exercising group between pre and post tests.
Sit & reach, grip strength, and sit-ups were increased for exercise group, but small decrease were found for control group. No significant changes were not found for health related fitness tests both exercise and non-exercise groups.
Blood pressure including systolic(SBP) and diastolic blood pressure(DBP) were significantly decreased (P<0.05) for exercise group after 16 weeks. Total cholesterol(TC) and triglyceride(TG) were significantly decreased for exercise group. However, there were significant increase(P<0.05) for those variables in control group between pre and post tests.
Significant increase(P<0.01) was found for TIBC in exercising group. RBC was also increased for both exercise (P<0.05) and control group (P<0.01) after 16 weeks, respectively. However, significant decrease (P<0.01) was found for MCV in exercise group compared to control group. MCH was significantly increased (P<0.01) for both exercise and control groups after 16 weeks training program.
No significant change was found for bone density in both groups after 16 weeks training program.