Effects of aquatic resistance training on health and fitness in postmenopausal women

To investigate effects of 24 weeks of resistance training with aquatic resistance devices or elastic bands (EB) on markers of cardiovascular health and physical capacity. Forty-six healthy, sedentary postmenopausal women participated. The groups were aquatic exercise (AE; n = 15), EB (n = 21), and control (n = 10). Venous blood chemistry included cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, and apolipoprotein B. Physical capacity was assessed by the sit-and-reach, knee push-up, 60-s squat, and abdominal crunch tests. Both AE and EB, respectively, showed a significant (P ≤ 0.05) decrease in body fat (14.56, 11.97%) and diastolic blood pressure (8.03, 5.88%), and a significant increase in fat-free mass (2.88, 1.22%), sit-and-reach (27.94, 44.2%), knee push-ups (84.74, 51.59%), and 60-s squats (65.76, 46.04%). AE also showed a significant increase in abdominal crunches (28.11%). Aquatic resistance training can offer significant physiological benefits in health and performance that are comparable to those obtained from EB in this population.