Effects of resistance training, tai chi chuan and mat pilates on multiple health variables in postmenopausal women

摘要

Objective: To compare the effect of two concurrent training methods on the muscle strength, functional autonomy, cardiorespiratory capacity and quality of life (QoL) of postmenopausal women.Material and methods: Thirty-eight volunteers were allocated to two groups: Resistance Training (RT)+Tai Chi Chuan (TC) (n=16), and RT+Mat Pilates (MP) (n=12).For the RT+TC group, RT was linearly periodized twice a week, alternating weekly with TC.In the RT+MP group, RT was non-linearly periodized and alternated with MP in five sessions a week over a period of 16 weeks.Results: Intragroup improvement in QoL was observed for the physical health of RT+MP.The Cooper test showed improvement in the prediction test for both groups.Functional autonomy improved in the following: rising from a ventral decubitus position, rising from a sitting position, walking 10 meters, putting on and taking off a t-shirt (PTTs) and the GDLAM index (GI) in the RT+MP group.For RT+TC, PTTs and GI improved.With respect to strength, there was intragroup improvement in the RT+MP group for all upper limb exercises, knee flexion and 45o leg press.On the other hand, the RT+TC group showed improvements in high shoulder adduction, elbow extension, low shoulder adduction, pec deck pectorals and 45o leg press.Intergroup analysis showed better results in the 10mW test for RT+MP.Conclusion: Both methods showed significant improvements in functional autonomy and muscle strength, as well as maintenance of QoL and cardiorespiratory capacity.Intergroup analysis indicated better results with the RT+MP program.