Effectiveness of an exercise intervention on fatigue and sleep quality in midlife women: the FLAMENCO project

Abstract

Objective. Menopause is characterized by the presence of emotional instability and greater dissatisfaction with life. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the effects of an exercise intervention on quality of life and optimism in perimenopausal women.Method. Fourteen perimenopausal women (54.1 ± 3.2 years) participated in a 9 weeks (60 minutes/session, 3 days/week) moderate-vigorous intensity (12-16 rating of perceived effort) exercise intervention (aerobic and resistance exercise mainly).Health-related quality of life and general optimism and pessimism were evaluated by means of the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Revised Life Orientation Test, respectively. Nonparametric Wilcoxon signed ranks test for paired samples was used.Results. The exercise program improved physical function by 12% (P < 0.05) and emotional role by 18% (P = 0.05). No statistically significant differences were found for the remaining SF-36 dimensions. After the exercise intervention participants' general optimism improved 21% (P < 0.05).Conclusion. An exercise intervention program is successful by improving the physical functioning and general optimism of perimenopausal women. Because of the small sample size, the results must be taken cautiously. Future studies with greater sample sizes should confirm the present results.http://dx.Objective. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine (a) the effects of high intensity strength training at workplace on blood pressure, fat percentage and physical fitness in overweight adults, and (b) the influence of this intervention on the blood pressure in a subsample of hypertensive subjects.Methods. Overweight adults (n = 15) aged 42,8 years underwent anthropometric assessment (weight, fat percentage, waist circumference, and triceps skinfold), physical fitness assessment (leg extensor power, upper body endurance, hand grip strength and Vo2max) and blood pressure assessment before and after 8 weeks of high intensity resistance training at workplace. Each training session consist of 16 sets of 45 repetitions performed at 1 repetition per second decreasing load at muscular failure starting at 60% of repetition maximum (RM).Results. Weight, body fat percentage, and triceps skinfold decreased significantly with the high intensity resistance training protocol at workplace (all p < 0.05). Performance in physical fitness tests increased significantly with training (all p < 0.05), except for handgrip strength. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly with R-HIRT at workplace (all p < 0.05) in hypertensive subjects.Conclusion. This protocol performed at workplace in this pilot study produces health and fitness benefits in overweight and hypertensive people.http://dx. Objective.The purpose of the current study was to determine the effects of an exercise intervention on fatigue and sleep quality in perimenopausal women.Methods. Fourteen Spanish (54 ± 3) perimenopausal women from a health centre of Granada were enrolled to participate in a 9 weeks (60 minutes/session, 3 sessions/we...

Rope Skipping or Badminton? The Effect of Exercise on Sleep Quality in University Students

“…Seventy-eight university students were recruited for the present study. Students who met the following criteria were included: (1) had no prior exercise habits; (2) reported a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score higher than seven, indicating poor sleep quality [19]; (3) had no diseases or hypoglycemic symptoms; (4) were not taking any medication; and (5) were not in their menstrual period if they were female.…”

“…Among Chinese university students, this can also be attributed to academic workload and employment concerns [18]. Previous studies have shown that exercise interventions can be bene cial for sleep issues [2,5,11].…”