The Physiological Effects of a 14 Week Walking Programme on Middle Aged Sedentary Men and Women

Davison, Robert Charles Richard (1994) The Physiological Effects of a 14 Week Walking Programme on Middle Aged Sedentary Men and Women. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Many epidemiological studies show that a moderate amount of regular exercise can help to prevent heart disease. As an exercise, walking is now widely promoted by many health professionals to encourage greater activity levels. Walking is popular as it is simple, inexpensive, and appropriate for the majority of the population. Two studies were conducted, the aim of the first study was to compare exercise adherence and physiological changes in a group of middle-aged sedentary dog owners and non-dog owners in response to a 14 week walking programme. The aim of the second study was to measure the physiological changes in a group of sedentary middle- aged women in response to the same walking programme, and compare the results to those of the men. One hundred and five, and sixty eight healthy sedentary middle-aged males (46 non-dog owners (NDO), 39 dog owners (DO), 20 controls(C)) and females (48 walkers (W), 14 controls (C)) aged between 40-60 years respectively, were recruited. The non-dog - owners, dog owners and the female walking group were asked to complete a 14 week brisk walking programme, of 4 walks per week for 30 minutes at 70-75% age predicted maximum heart rate. To monitor adherence training diaries were submitted regularly. The adherence rates were similar for all three exercise groups (non-dog owners 52%, dog owners 56%, women 52%). In Study One the non-dog owners and the dog owners had no significant change in % body fat, triglyceride and HDL levels, The non-dog owners showed significant reductions in body mass (NDO 79.6 to 78.9, DO 80.0 to 79.4, C 78.6 to 79.4 kg), resting systolic blood pressure (NDO 126 to 121, DO 122 to 121, C 121 to 117 mmHg), total serum cholesterol (NDO 5.86 to 5.49, DO 6.14 to 5.98, C 6.14 to 6.18 mmol.l-1), ratio of total cholesterol to HDL (NDO 5.44 to 4.49, DO 5.32 to 5.15, C 4.99 to 5.08). Both exercise groups had significant reductions in heart rate and oxygen costs for the same workload of the treadmill test. These parallel reductions reduced the expected increases in predicted VO2 max which was only significant for the non-dog owners (NDO 35.1 to 36.6, DO 38.6 to 38.8, C 38.5 to 38.3 ml.kg-1.min-1). In Study Two (women) there were no significant changes in blood pressure or body mass for both groups, but the control group did have a significant increase in predicted body fat % (W 38.8 to 39.1, C 38.7 to 40.3). There were no significant changes in serum TC or HDL, but the control group did have a significant increase in serum triglyceride levels (V 1.17 to 1.30, C 0.88 to 1.10 mmol.l-1). The walking group showed significant reductions in heart rate for the same stages of the treadmill walking test, but the changes in predicted VO2 max. failed to reach significance (p>0.05). The estimated energy expenditure of the walking programme was 25% lower for the women compared to the men (men 11,050, women 8,200 kcal). These results would indicate that regular walking can promote some health improvements, but dog ownership does not seem to improve adherence to or effect of a brisk walking programme. Women would seem to benefit less from this walking programme, possibly due to a lower energy expenditure.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Adviser: Nanette Mutrie
• Keywords: Public health, Kinesiology, Physiology
• Date of Award: 1994
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1994-75469
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 19 Nov 2019 20:01
• Last Modified: 19 Nov 2019 20:01
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/75469