Estresse fisiológico induzido por uma simples sessão de exercício combinado na Academia Rio Ar Livre: um estudo em idosos

Abstract

With the increase of the senile population in the last decades, the need for a more specific care for this population has arisen, mainly with regard to the offer of programs of physical exercises aimed at the prevention and health promotion of these individuals. The gymnasiums of the Rio Ar Livre (RAL) project, formerly known as Third Age Academies (TAAs) of Rio de Janeiro City (TAAs), present in their structure training in the form of a combined circuit, consisting of exercises performed on articulated machines, which do not offer the possibility of increasing and controlling the training load. Due to this peculiarity of TAAs, little is known about its impact, especially on the cardiorespiratory system and energy cost in older adults. Thus, the present study investigated whether a single bout of concurrent exercise (Ex Rx) at TAAs meets the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines for energy cost and metabolic intensity in older adults. Nine subjects (5 males and 4 females, aged 63 80 years) visited the laboratory for clinical screening, anthropometrical, resting and maximal VO2 assessments. Thereafter, subjects performed an Ex Rx circuit, consisting of a single circuit alternating aerobic and resistance exercises at outdoor exercise equipment using body mass as the load (total of 9 exercises, 1-2 sets of 15 repetition). Expired gases were collected during exercise bouts via a metabolic cart. The mean observed energy cost value of 169.1 kcal was slightly greater than the minimum value of 150 kcal reported in the ACSM s guidelines (p = 0.018). Like energy cost, all the intensity markers adopted to analyze the physiological strain induced by the Ex Rx circuit significantly exceeded their reference values for moderate-intensity [reference values: 3.2 METs (mean observed value = 4.6 METs, p = 0.002); 40% of oxygen uptake reserve (mean observed value = 51.5%, p = 0.040); 40% of heart rate reserve (mean observed value = 64.1%, p < 0.001), according to the ACSM's guidelines. In conclusion, a single bout of Ex Rx circuit performed in TAAs at Rio de Janeiro City was able to induce a physiological strain (i.e. energy cost and intensity) compatible with the ACSM recommendations for eliciting health benefits among older adults