Abstract
Purpose: The present study examined the effects of exercise on physical and psychological variables in sedentary primigravidae (PRA) Methods: A total of nine women randomly assigned to an exercise (E) (mean age = 31.3 ± 3.1 yr) and six subjects randomly assigned to a control (C) group (mean age = 27.8 ± 3.1 yr) fulfilled all requirements for the study. Exercise included a variety of exercise activities performed to a target heart rate of 150-156 beats · min-1, three times per week for 15 wk. Results: Results showed no significant differences between E and C groups in physical characteristics initially. A repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant group effect (P < 0.05) and a significant group by time interaction (P = 0.001) with the E group showing a significantly longer amount of time on the PWC150 test than the C group. There was no significant group, time, or group by time interaction for lactate accumulation. This occurred, despite the fact that the E group spent 56% longer on the PWC150 test and the C group spent 30% less time on the same test at the conclusion of the study. Finally, the E group in comparison to the C group showed more favorable improvements in several items related to health and well-being on the Body Cathexis Scale. There were no significant differences between E and C groups in any pregnancy outcome measures. All babies were delivered healthy at term. Conclusions: These data suggest that a vigorous exercise program can lead to significant improvements in aerobic fitness at similar lactate concentrations compared to a control group and car be well tolerated by low risk sedentary PRA without any deleterious effects occurring to herself or unborn child.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 58-62 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Medicine and science in sports and exercise |
Volume | 32 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2000 |
Keywords
- Fitness
- Pregnancy
- Self-esteem
- Serum lactate
- Training
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
- Orthopedics and Sports Medicine