Effects of Dance Sports and Yoga Program on Body Composition, Physical Fitness, Blood Lipids and Liver Function Indicator in the Elderly

Abstract

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of dance sports and yoga program on body composition, physical fitness, blood lipids and liver function indicator in the elderly. METHODS The subjects in this experiment were divided into the dance sports group (n=12, 6 male with age 70.83±5.23, 6 female with age 68.00±3.03) and the yoga group (n=12, 6 male with age 68.33±1.63, 6 female with age 67.33±2.50). The both exercise program were conducted once 60 minutes (warm-up: 10 minutes, main exercise: 40 minutes, cool-down: 10 minutes), twice a week for 15 weeks. RESULTS The body composition, physical fitness, blood lipids and liver function indicator were found to have positive effects on all items in both groups without the significant interactions. CONCLUSIONS We found that the 15-week dance sports and yoga program positively affects the improvement of flexibility, blood lipids and alanine aminotransferase. Therefore, long-term regular use of both dance sports and yoga programs is considered to be beneficial for the improvement and maintenance of physical and physiology variables related to the elderly’s health.

Keywords

• dance sports
• yoga
• body composition
• physical fitness
• blood lipids
• liver function indicator