Effects of a mat pilates program on cardiometabolic parameters in elderly women

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effects of mat Pilates on resting heart rate, resting blood pressure and fasting blood glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides in elderly women. Methodology: Fifty sedentary, apparently healthy females aged 60 and older were randomly assigned into a control (CG, n = 25) or an intervention (IG, n = 25) group. The IG took part in an eight-week progressive mat Pilates exercise program, three times weekly while the CG did not take part in any structured exercises throughout the eight-week period. All subjects underwent pre- and post-tests in which cardiometabolic parameters were assessed. Results: In the eight-week mat Pilates program, the IG only demonstrated a significant (p ≤ 0.05) decrease in systolic BP (p = 0.040) from 135.84 ± 14.66mmHg to 128.80 ± 16.36mmHg and a significant increase in blood glucose (p = 0.000) from 5.07 ± 0.46mmol.L^-1 to 5.83 ± 0.57mmol.L^-1, whereas resting HR (p = 0.148) (from 68.80 ± 12.58beats.min^-1 to 73.20 ± 11.46beats.min^-1), resting diastolic BP (p = 0.342) (from 75.64 ± 10.10mmHg to 77.44 ± 9.32mmHg), blood TC (p = 0.073) (from 5.37 ± 0.99mmol.L^-1 to 5.67 ± 1.04mmol.L^-1) and blood TG (p = 0.384) (from 1.77 ± 0.88mmol.L^-1 to 1.92 ± 0.87mmol.L^-1) did not produce any significant changes. Conclusion: Due to the contradictory nature of the cardiometabolic variables (except systolic BP) with the findings of previous studies, it is difficult to establish a case for using Pilates as a substitute for more conventional forms of exercising when exclusively attempting to favourably alter cardiometabolic parameters at least among the elderly women in our sample.