A comparison of the cardiovascular responses to a land-based aerobic program versus an aquatic aerobic program in adult females.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the cardiovascular responses to a land-based aerobic program versus an aquatic aerobic program in young adult females. A control group which did not participate in either program served as a constant. The aerobic programs were administered three times a week with each exercise session lasting 50 minutes. The subjects used were young adult female volunteers, ranging in age from 18 to 33 years who participated in at least 90% of their program sessions. Data from seventeen subjects per group were used in the final analysis (n=51). All subjects completed two pre-and posttests of cardiovascular fitness: YMCA submaximal bicycle ergometer test for determination of maximum oxygen consumption response and the Kasch three-minute step-test for determination of recovery heart rate response. Two separate one-way ANCOVA's showed significant differences existed in the data base for each of the cardiovascular fitness test results. A Tukey post-hoc analysis was used as a follow-up technique to each ANCOVA to distinguish where significant differences existed within the data sets. Results from the Tukey analysis determined that a significant difference existed in the mean values of estimated max VOZ and recovery heart rate response between the control group and the two experimental groups. No significant differences was found to exist between the means of the water group and land group in either of the cardiovascular fitness test results. It was concluded that cardiovascular response, as measured by predicted max VO Z from the YMCA bicycle ergometer test, and recovery heart rate response, as measured by the Kasch three-minute step-test, showed significant improvement in both experimental groups over the control group. Furthermore, absence of significant difference in cardiovascular response between the aqua-aerobic group and the land-based aerobic group suggests that an aerobic exercise program may be offered in either environment (in water or on land) with similar cardiovascular responses.