Tai Chi versus brisk walking in elderly women

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 (age...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Age and ageing 2006-07, Vol.35 (4), p.388-393
Main Authors: Audette, Joseph F., Jin, Young Soo, Newcomer, Renee, Stein, Lauren, Duncan, Gillian, Frontera, Walter R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerobic fitness
Aged
Aged women
Aging - physiology
elderly
Elderly women
Exercise
Female
Health aspects
Health care
Heart Rate
Humans
Martial arts
Multivariate Analysis
Older people
Oxygen Consumption - physiology
Physical Education and Training - methods
Physical Fitness
Quality of life
rehabilitation
Strength
T'ai chi ch'uan
Tai Chi
Tai Ji - methods
Tai Ji - psychology
Walking
Walking - physiology
Walking - psychology
Women
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary: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
ISSN:0002-0729
1468-2834
DOI:10.1093/ageing/afl006