The effect of the Contemporary Pilates method on physical fitness, cognition and promotion of quality of life among the elderly

Abstract

Abstract Objective: to evaluate the effects of the Contemporary Pilates method on the physical fitness, cognition and quality of life of the elderly. Method: the Senior Fitness Test battery, the Vienna Test System and the EUROHIS QOL-8 quality of life questionnaire were used. The study group consisted of 16 elderly people and 27 classes of the Solo Contemporary Pilates method, held twice a week. To verify the normality of the data the Shapiro-Wilk test was used while the physical fitness and cognition variables were tested using the t-test for paired samples. Percentage analysis was performed for the quality of life variable and its dimensions. A significance level of 5% was adopted. Results: a significant difference (p <0.05) was observed in the variables: lower and upper extremity flexibility test (p=0.007), agility (p=0.001) and dynamic balance (p=0.001), aerobic endurance test (p=0.001) and Attention and Concentration test time (p=0.047). Conclusion: the Contemporary Pilates Method can improve the quality of life, physical fitness and reaction time of the elderly. It can be concluded that the Contemporary Pilates Method improves the health of the elderly, thereby helping to promote quality of life.

Keywords

• Aging
• Physical Fitness
• Pilates Training
• Cognition