Determining the effect of 12 weeks dancing exercises with A partner on varius physical suitability parameters

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of couple dancing activities (Tango, salsa) that applied for 12 weeks to young men not doing active sport, on some physical parameters. 51 healthy men who studied at Afyon Kocatepe University in 2014-2015 academic year, participated voluntarily in this research. The average ages of these students were 20,87±2,07 years, their lengths 177,47±6,1 cm. Volunteers were divided into three groups as Salsa Group (N=17), Tango group (N=17) and Control Group (N=17). The volunteers in the control group was not given any exercise program, and continued their daily life. The experimental groups performed couple dance activities three days per week for 12 weeks. Each session lasted for 60-75 minutes, and the intensity of the heart rates was 50-70%. The experimental group exercised 10 minutes warm-up and 5 minutes cool-down before and after main training. All measurements and tests were taken and applied twice as two days before the exercise program (pre-test) and two days after the exercise program (end-test). The data analysis of the research was done using the statistical SPSS package program and arithmetical average and standard deviation value of all the data were calculated.The comparison of the pre-test and end-test values of the volunteers inside the group was applied with paired samples t-test, the comparison between the groups was applied with ANalysis Of VArience (ANOVA) and Tukey multiple comparison test. The error level was observed to be 0.01. In this study, statistically significant differences were found (p<0,01),in body weight, body mass indexes, body fat ratio, leg strength, flexibility, right and left hand grip, anaerobic and aerobic power (VO2 max), when evaluating the pre-test and end-test results between Salsa and Tango groups. According to ANalysis Of VArience, statistically no significant differences were found except body fat ratio and aerobic capacity between Control, Salsa and Tango Groups, but Salsa group showed more improvement than the Tango and Control group. In conclusion, it was determined that 12 weeks couple dancing exercises caused positive differences in weight control, back strength, hand grip and flexibility , the exercises also increased the anaerobic and aerobic capacity. Besides to be a recreational activity, this type of exercises should be take a part of training programs for psychological relaxation and rhythm development of sport athletes.