Walking Profile In Physically Active Women In Days With And Without Exercise Classes

Introduction
Because many studies have been demonstrated the strong relationship between walking and health benefits, the use of
pedometers in counting steps/period has become progressively popular. The objective of this study was to compare the
number of steps accomplished in weekdays with and without physical activity (PA) classes, and in a weekendays,
among physically active women.

Methods
Sample was composed by 34 active women, aged 52 to 78 years (68.5 ± 6.0 years). They were involved in structured
programs of physical activity twice a week, 50 minutes each session, in a Senior’s Center in São Caetano do Sul, a city
in São Paulo Metropolitan area. Participation time was 5.6 ± 4.1 years. To determine the number of steps was used
pedometers (DIGI WALKER SW 700), during 7 consecutive days (at least 12 hours per day). Everybody was advised
to write down the values recorded each day, and then re-set the instrument. It was analyzed three different moments: 2
weekdays with PA classes, 2 days without PA classes, and 2 weekendays. Analysis used Anova Two Way with a posthoc
Scheffé test. Level of significance adopted was p<.05.

Results
Steps at weekend were significantly smaller than weekdays with or without PA classes. However, no difference was
observed between weekdays with or without classes, although they tended to walk less (6.9 %) when they have no classes.

Discussion/Conclusion
It has been shown that 30 minutes of brisk walking is in general equal to 3100-4000 steps (1), while others studies have
shown that walking behavior comprising 8064 (2) to 10000 (3) steps/day got significant correlation with cardiovascular
disease prevention and public health recomendations. Based on this, present finds suggest that: a- active elderly women
may reach 7000 - 8000 steps in weekdays; b- a significant decline in walking behavior was observed in weekendays
(24 - 29%); c- a tendency of increase walking (6.9%) was observed in days with exercise classes, but it was not
significant.

References
[1] Croutter S E (2003). Med Sci Sport Exerc, 35, 1455-1460.
[2] Tudor-Locke C Et Al. (2002). Med Sci Sport Exerc, 34, 2045-2051.
[3] Hatano Y (1993). Ichper, 29, 4-8.

NOTA: O texto com a iconografia está no anexo

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