Efficacy of a Culture-Specific Dancing Programme to Meet Current Physical Activity Recommendations in Postmenopausal Women

Abstract

This study investigated the efficacy of participation in culture-specific dancing to meet current physical activity recommendations and increase cardio-respiratory fitness in postmenopausal women. Sedentary postmenopausal women (n = 24), aged 63 ± 8 years and with BMI of 28 ± 3 kg/m2 completed a 4-week Scottish dancing study. The dancing sessions of approximately 75 min were performed twice a week and each session was based on five Scottish dances performed in 3 sets. Heart rate (HR) measurements were obtained during all dances to evaluate whether the intervention achieves the criteria of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise intensity. Body composition, waist circumference, and HR during Chester Step test were measured before and after dancing intervention. HR achieved during individual dances ranged from 64 ± 5% to 80 ± 5% of HRmax and the mean HR of the five dances corresponded to 72 ± 7% of HRmax. Post-intervention mean HR was lower throughout Level 2 (Pre, 112 ± 13 bpm; Post, 106 ± 13 bpm; p = 0.005) and Level 3 (Pre, 122 ± 14 bpm; Post, 115 ± 14 bpm; p = 0.006) of the Chester test compared with baseline values. The intervention had no impact on body weight or body fat but reduced waist circumference (Pre, 94 ± 8 cm; Post, 91 ± 9 cm; p = 0.006). Thus, traditional Scottish dancing should be advocated to sedentary postmenopausal women, emphasising its potential in meeting current physical activity recommendations in relation of weekly duration and exercise intensity and improving cardiorespiratory fitness.

Heart Rate Responses of Post-Menopausal Women to Zumba Gold® Classes

“…A comparison with other dance styles shows that Zumba Gold ® induces a greater HR compared to several other types of aerobic exercise, such as walking (60 ± 8% of HRmax in women aged 68 years [22]) or other dance types, including cultural, ballroom and classical (50-70% of HRmax in a meta-analysis by Rodriguez-Krause et al [23] that included women aged 58-72 years). On the other hand, the average HR in our study is slightly lower than values observed during aerobic dance (74 ± 12% of HRmax in women aged 68 years [22]) and Scottish dance (72 ± 7% of HRmax in post-menopausal women aged 50-80 years [24]). Therefore, Zumba Gold ® could be considered to be in the top range of aerobic exercises in terms of exercise intensity that post-menopausal women could choose from.…”