A Chair-Based Music–Kinetic Combined Exercise Program as an Alternative Approach for Increasing Health, Functional Capacity, and Physical Fitness Indices in Middle-Aged Pre-Menopausal Women

Abstract

Lately, chairs have been widely used as a cheap, easily accessible, safe, and effective training means in different settings (e.g., in gyms, the house, workplaces, and in rehabilitation). This study investigated the effectiveness of a 10-week chair-based music–kinetic integrated combined exercise program on health, functional capacity, and physical fitness indicators of middle-aged pre-menopausal women. A total of 40 healthy women (40–53 years) were assigned to two groups: exercise (EG) and control (CG). The EG followed a 10-week (3 times/weekly; 30 training sessions) chair-based exercise program including aerobic dance, flexibility, coordination, and strength exercises with body weight or auxiliary means. Selected indicators of health, functional capacity, and physical fitness were evaluated before and after the 10 weeks. Following the program, the EG significantly reduced their body fat (−2.5%), blood pressure (by −4.5 to −5.5%), the time during the timed up-and-go (TUG) test (by −10.27%), heart rate (by −6.35 to −13.78%), and the rate of perceived exertion (by −24.45 to −25.88%), while increasing respiratory function (3.5–4%), flexibility (12.17%), balance (50.38–51.07%), maximal handgrip strength (10–12.17%), and endurance strength (43.87–55.91%). The chair-based combined music–kinetic exercise program was effective and could be safely used in different settings to improve health, functional capacity, and physical fitness in middle-aged women.

A 3-Month Modified Basketball Exercise Program as a Health-Enhancing Sport Activity for Middle-Aged Individuals

“…Previous studies also showed significant improvement in aerobic capacity following basketball or street basketball (streetball) training in adults with Down syndrome [ 25 ], in adolescents with intellectual disabilities [ 52 , 53 ] and in healthy adults [ 28 , 45 ]. Furthermore, the results of the present study are comparable with other studies, which used different recreational team sport interventions (soccer/football, handball, netball) [ 13 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 22 , 33 ] as well different other exercise activities/programs (i.e., combined exercise programs, Zumba, resistance–functional training) [ 13 , 14 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ] and found significant improvements in various physical fitness parameters of healthy middle-aged and older individuals.…”

“…The reduction in blood pressure (to more normal values) following a systematic exercise intervention may eliminate the risk of cardiovascular diseases (i.e., coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease, and other conditions), which are the leading cause of death globally (taking approximately 17.9 million deaths each year) [63]. Several previous studies have shown that different recreational team-sport activities (i.e., football, floorball) [29,64,65] and other combined exercise programs using various modes of exercise [66][67][68][69][70][71] effectively decrease blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) in middle-aged individuals, supporting the results of the present study. Regarding the effect of recreational basketball training on blood pressure, there is limited information in the scientific literature with conflicting results.…”

“…Several previous studies that examined the effectiveness of different specialized strength training programs (especially for forearm, wrist, and fingers) using different training means (i.e., elastic balls, hand grippers, therapeutic clay) reported significant improvements in maximal and endurance handgrip strength of young, middle-aged, and older healthy individuals as well as individuals with autism, intellectual disabilities, etc. [ 67 , 68 , 69 , 71 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 ].…”