The Effect of a Selected Period of Exercise in Water on Cardiovascular Risk Indicators of Overweight Elderly Men

Abstract

Background and Aim: Voluntary activity decreases in the elderly with increasing age, and this activity causes many physical problems and cardiovascular risk factors. This study aimed to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of selected aerobic exercise in water on some cardiovascular risk indicators in overweight elderly men. Materials and Methods: After measuring anthropometric indices, 34 overweight men (64.84±5.56 years old, body mass index [BMI]≥25 kg/m2) were randomly selected and divided into water exercise (n=17) and control (n=17) groups. The water exercise group did the aerobic exercise in the water with an intensity of 45% to 65% of maximum heart rate for 8 weeks. Before and after the intervention, blood samples were taken from all subjects to measure serum levels of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to check the normality of data distribution, and after assuming the normality of the data, the paired t test was used to examine within-group changes and an independent t test for between-group differences. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software. The results were evaluated at a significance level of less than 0.05. Results: Water exercise significantly reduced mean blood pressure (P≤0.001), systolic blood pressure (P≤0.000), TG (P≤0.00), cholesterol (P≤0.01), and LDL (P≤0.02) in elderly men. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the HDL index. Conclusion: Eight weeks of water aerobic exercise can positively reduce cardiovascular risk factors in overweight elderly men. Therefore, these exercises can be recommended by sports and health experts.