Association between habitual physical activity and parameters of physical fitness in postmenopausal women

Abstract

Habitual physical activity is not associated with variations in the components that are used to describe physical fitness. It is important to encourage physical activity and provide guidelines to ensure that it is carried out in the quantity, duration and intensity required for improving physical fitness level and obtaining health benefits.

Changes in activity level in women aged 40–80 years

“…This is because the studies mentioned previously and most others have focused on physical activity levels in various populations and related the level of activity to obesity or other diseases 6,7 . There have been no studies reporting on the influence of the intrinsic within-subject factors likely to affect participation in physical activity.…”

“…The study by Hirvensalo and colleagues 1 showed that people who participated in recreational sports when young and women participating in more physical activity during the menopause transition, aged 40-64 years, retained a higher level of physical activity into old age. Littman and colleagues 2 demonstrated that duration and intensity of regular exercise over a 10-year period were inversely related to weight gain in people over 45. da Silva and colleagues 6 showed, in their cross-sectional study, that those women aged 40-65 who were physically active did not necessarily demonstrate the effect of this activity on measurements of physical fitness, such as cholesterol levels, blood pressure and percentage of body fat. They concluded that the type of activity was important, not just the amount.…”

Physical activity and sexuality in perimenopausal women

“…Many authors claim that sexual functioning and menopausal symptoms can be improved most effectively by hormonal therapy (HT) 9,10 and by systematic physical activity, which is increasingly frequently mentioned by researchers [13][14][15][16][17][18] . According to the WHO, physical activity involves all everyday activities connected with movement, including work, leisure, physical exercise and sport.…”

Physical activity level and quality of life in menopausal women

“…The highest percentage of respondents with a high level of physical activity was observed among professionally working individuals in Group A. Regular physical activity is associated with the ability to perform it every day and aids to prevent diseases in old age [23,24,25,26] and it is an essential element of life recommended in the prevention of civilizationrelated ones. The presented material clearly demonstrates the positive impact of participating in classes at Universities of the Third Age on understanding the importance of the problem, and hence taking constructive actions regarding one's health.…”