Artikel
It's all in the surface - the benefits of sandwalking for improving strength and physical fitness in the elderly
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Autoren
Veröffentlicht: | 18. Dezember 2006 |
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Gliederung
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Purpose
Falls and physical inactivity among older adults is a significant public health burden, with reduced lower limb muscle strength being attributed to a higher risk of falling. Soft sand walking potentially offers many benefits for reducing the risk of falls, as it offers the potential for greater improvement in lower limb muscle strength as well as improvements in fitness due to its higher energy cost. This study will examine the benefits of soft sand compared to firm surface walking on improving lower limb muscle strength and physical fitness in older females.
Methods
Forty healthy, relatively inactive (not more than 2 times per week), women, were randomly allocated to either soft sand or firm surface walking groups. Groups walked 3 times per week and progressed from a 25minute self paced walk to a 40 minute walk throughout the 8 week intervention. Pre and post measure were taken for fitness (submaximal VO2) and lower limb muscle strength (hip and knee). Blood was also taken and analysed for blood glucose and cholesterol levels.
Results
Pilot study results showed the sand walking group with a significantly (p>0.003) greater overall gain in lower limb muscle strength compared with the firm surface group. Lower limb muscle strength improved on average by 12.9% in subjects who walked on sand while the firm ground walkers showed no improvements.
Conclusions
This extended study with a larger sample size is currently being conducted with the results being available in June.