IADMS Madrid 2001   [back to the Category]

A comparison of aerobics and modern dance training ....   [read the french version]

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A comparison of aerobics and modern dance training on health-related fitness in college women

Dana Kotler, New Rochelle, NY, USA

Objective: This was a prospective observational study to compare the effects of college-level aerobic and modern dance training on health-related fitness, including muscular endurance, aerobic fitness, general flexibility and body composition. The individuals studied included women enrolled in either Modern Dance I or Aerobics I at Oberlin College. Methods: Health-related fitness was assessed by weight, resting heart rate, as well as validated tests of aerobic fitness (Queens College Step Test), muscular endurance (Pollock, Wilmore, and Fox Sit-Up test), flexibility (Sit and Reach test, lateral flexion and spinal extension range of motion tests), and body fat and fat-free mass (bioelectrical impedance analysis).
Results: Modern dance students became significantly more flexible in spinal extension than the aerobics and control groups. Both aerobics and modern dance showed significant decreases in resting heart rate. I found no significant differences among the aerobics, modern dance, and control groups in the tests of weight, recovery heart rate, muscular endurance, trunk flexibility, lateral torso flexibility, body fat, and fat-free mass.
Conclusions: Modern dance training results in greater increases in spinal flexibility than aerobic training. Both modes of training contribute to a decrease in resting heart rate. However, groups were not equal in all areas of health-related fitness at baseline, and observation of the courses revealed some overlap in course content, suggesting that these two modes of training are not completely distinct.