The effects of moderate exercise with treadmill on balance in adults

Objective and scope: Increase in the occurrenceof sedentary life with concurrent decrease in physical activity, result ina gradual reduction incardiovascular and locomotor capacities. This, in turn, causes a deficiency in neuromuscular control mechanisms that are involved in restoring and maintaining balance. We aimed to examine how static balance was affected with regard to perceived degree of difficulty and physiological parameters when sedentary individuals are subjected to physical activity at the level of submaximal exercise and whether sex was a factor in this relation. Material and Method:Twenty female and 14 male volunteers participated in the study. Subjects underwent cardiac examination prior to the exercise program and all were deemed fit to exercise moderately. Static balance by pedobarograph and blood lactate measurements were carried out before the exercise. Subjects then started exercising using modified Bruce treadmill protocoluntil they fulfilled the criteria for submaximal exercise. At every stage, modified Borg scale was given to the subjects to determine the perceived degree of difficulty. Static balance and blood lactate measurements were repeated right after the exercise, 5 and 10 minutes after the exercise. Data was fed into SPSS v15.0 statistical package for analysis. Findings: There were no statistically significant differences between static balance parameters. However, when sex was factored in, there were significant differences in AREApost0 and AREApost10 (p=0.021) and APexc at 0 and 10 minutes (p=0.018) in females. There were no significant differences in males. Conclusion and Suggestions: Results indicate that moderate aerobic exercise performed by sedentary adults aged between 18 and 45 significantly affected metabolic parameters. There are not only significant sex differences but also individual variability in both respiratory parameters and accumulation of metabolic products such as lactic acid. The physiological capacities of females were lower than those of males at the same perceived degree of difficulty. On the other hand, the balance parameters were restored more rapidly in females. We suggest that perceived degree of difficulty should be taken as a criterion for fatigue in daily living activities and business life and that it shouldbe taken into account to prevent accidents during activities that especially require attention and balance. Key words: Static balance; postural control; sex; moderate exercise; Borg scale