Khadijeh Irandoust; Morteza Taheri
Abstract
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of peripheral heart action (PHA) and yoga exercises on respiratory functions and CRP of obese postmenopausal women. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 40 elderly women (age: 65.3 ± 2.6 years) referring voluntarily to the Sport ...
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Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of peripheral heart action (PHA) and yoga exercises on respiratory functions and CRP of obese postmenopausal women. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 40 elderly women (age: 65.3 ± 2.6 years) referring voluntarily to the Sport Counseling Center of Sports and Youth Administration of Qazvin province in 2018 were randomly assigned to three groups: yoga exercise group (n = 14), strength training group (n = 13), and control group (n = 13). The experimental groups performed the exercise protocols (yoga and PHA training) three sessions a week each lasting 40 minutes for two months. Tests were performed to evaluate the subjects’ ventilatory capacity including FVC and FEV1 using spirometry and CRP. The tests were done in pre-test and post-test. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Tukey post hoc test. Results: FEV1 was better in the yoga and PHA exercise groups than in the control group (P = 0.001 and P = 0.016, respectively). Furthermore, CRP was better in the yoga and PHA training groups than in the control group (P = 0.001 and P = 0.02, respectively). There was no significant difference in the study variables between the two training groups (P = 0.97). Conclusions: Based on the obtained results, due to the vulnerability of the elderly to cardiorespiratory and inflammatory problems, it is highly proposed to apply such exercises to improve the physiological functions.
Khadijeh Irandoust; Morteza Taheri
Abstract
Background: Physical and physiological changes in obese middle-aged women cause hormonal changes, which are threatening factor for quality of life and health of elderly. Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a one-week HIIT on serotonin and cortisol levels in obese women ...
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Background: Physical and physiological changes in obese middle-aged women cause hormonal changes, which are threatening factor for quality of life and health of elderly. Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a one-week HIIT on serotonin and cortisol levels in obese women with sleep disorders.
Methods: The research method was semi-experimental with pre-test post-test design, in which 34 middle-aged obese women with mean age of 47.11 ± 2.3, body mass index of 33.4 ± 2.7, and body fat percentage of 35.8 ± 2.3 were selected based on convenience sampling. Subjects were randomly divided to experimental groups (HIIT exercises) and control group. The experimental group performed a training program for one week, including three sets of RAST protocol (six bouts of 35 meters with 10 seconds of rest between each) with a four-minute rest between each set. Pittsburgh sleep test was used to diagnose sleep disorders (score 11 and above). Actiwatch 8 was used to evaluate quality of sleep in the post-test. In order to to measure the serotonin and cortisol levels, a serotonin kit from the German company LBL and SSGN kit was used, respectively. Independent and dependent t-test were used for data analysis at P ≤ 0.05.
Results: The results suggested that cortisol level of HIIT training group was decreased significantly after the exercise intervention (P = 0.01; t = 0.93). On the other hand, the serotonin levels of the HIIT training group was significantly lower (P = 0.001; t = 11.02), while in the control group, the change was not significant (P = 0.15; t = 1.53) and the quality of sleep in the training group was improved significantly (P = 0.001; t = 6.52).
Conclusions: In conclusion, HIIT exercises can improve the quality of sleep through hormonal changes and as a result, improve the physiological functions of middle-aged women.