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.