A High-Intensity Jump-Based Aquatic Exercise Program Improves Bone Mineral Density and Functional Fitness in Postmenopausal Women

Rejuvenation ResearchAhead of Print Antonio Michel Aboarrage Junior, Cauê V. La Scala Teixeira, Rodrigo Nolasco dos Santos, Alexandre Fernades Machado, Alexandre Lopes Evangelista, Roberta Luksevicius Rica, Angelica Castilho Alonso, José Ailton Barroso, Andrey Jorge Serra, Julien Steven Baker, and Danilo Sales Bocalini Published Online:28 Nov 2018https://doi.org/10.1089/rej.2018.2069 View Article Tools Share Abstract The aim of this study was to verify the effects of a high-intensity jump-based aquatic exercise (HIIAE) program on bone mass and functional fitness in postmenopausal women. We randomly assigned 25 women (65 ± 7 years) into two groups: Training group (T, n = 15) and Untrained group (Un, n = 10). The T group was submitted to 24 weeks of HIIAE program, where each session lasted for 30 minutes. The following parameters were assessed before and 6 months following the intervention: bone and physical fitness; lumbar spine (LS), total femur (TF), and whole body (WB) bone mineral density (BMD); agility (time up-and-go, TUG); and leg strength (chair stand test, CS). We observed a significant increase (p < 0.01) in LS, (Un: −0.88 ± 3.55, T: 3.71 ± 3.68; %), TF (Un: −1.38 ± 17.76, T: 6.52 ± 2.71; %), and WB (Un: 2.09 ± 3.17, T: 3.23 ± 4.18) BMD in the T group. Regarding functional fitness, the T group showed improvements in both TUG (before: 6.86 ± 1.24 vs. after: 6.22 ± 1.13 seconds; p < 0.05) and CS (before: 16 ± 4 vs. after: 19 ± 5 repetitions; p > 0.05) tests when compared with the U group's TUG (before: 5 ± 1, after: 6 ± 1 seconds; p < 0.05) and CS (before: 20 ± 2, after: 19 ± 2 repetitions; p > 0.05) scores. Our data suggest that a high-intensity, jump-based interval aquatic exercise program is able to improve BMD and functional fitness parameters in postmenopausal women.