A Comparative Study on the Fitness of Middle-aged and Old Women with Different Forms of Square Dance Exercise

Abstract

To explore the effects of three different forms of square dance exercise (stretching, dancing and aerobics) on the cardiopulmonary endurance, muscle strength and muscle endurance, flexibility and body composition of middle-aged and old women. Methods: the cardiopulmonary endurance, muscle strength and muscle endurance, flexibility and body composition of 13 middle-aged and old women who didn’t often take part in physical exercise and 41 middle-aged and old women who had joined the society for more than 2 years were tested. Results: in terms of cardiopulmonary endurance, the step index value of the stretching group was notably higher than those in the control group (P < 0.01); the step index value of the stretching group was also higher than that of the aerobics group (P < 0.05); the step index value of the dancing group was also higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05); The performance of muscle strength and muscle endurance were as follows: the muscle strength of dance group was higher than that of Aerobics group (P < 0.05), and the muscle endurance of dance group had obvious advantages, the leg lifting ability of prone dorsiflexion and supine were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.01), and the ability of leg lifting in the dance group was higher than that in the aerobics group (P < 0.05).In terms of flexibility, the dance group also had obvious advantages in flexibility, and its sitting body forward flexion and hands back hook ability were notably higher than those in the control group (P < 0.01),And the ability of back hook of hands in dance group was higher than that in Aerobics group (P < 0.05);The ability of back hook of both hands in stretching group was better than those in control group (P < 0.01);The body composition indexes of dance group and aerobics group were better than those of control group (P < 0.05).