요가운동이 노인여성의 일상생활체력 및 노화호르몬에 미치는 영향

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Yoga exercise program on daily-Living fitness and aging hormone in elderly women. The subjects for this study were the 16 participants of elderly women, eight were randomized to the control group, while the other eight were randomized to the exercise group. The yoga exercise was as 12-week program with three sessions per week and 60 minutes per session. The control group was instructed to continue their normal routines without participating in the exercise program. The measurements were taken at the baseline and after 12 weeks. The two measurements were analyzed via SPSS ver. 18.0 to calculate the mean and the standard deviation of each measurement item. The significance level to verify all hypotheses was set as ɑ=.05. The result of the study showed that the daily-living fitness showed a significant difference in the lower-body muscular strength between groups after 12 weeks. The exercise group also showed a significant improvement after the exercise program in the lower-body muscular strength, the upper-body muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, lower body flexibility, upper body flexibility, agility and balance. In the aging hormones, estrogen increased significantly in the exercise group, while the DHEA-S decreased significantly in the control group. These results suggest that the 12-week yoga exercise program affected the lower-body muscular strength, upper-body muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, lower-body flexibility, upper-body flexibility, agility, balance, and estrogen, which could affect the quality of life for older female participants. Therefore, yoga exercise program could be helpful in enhancing the health and quality of life for these populations.