| Keywords |
Arterial stiffness ; Health-related physical fitness ; Skill-related physical fitness ; Muscle fitness ; Total fitness |
| Abstract |
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between arterial stiffness and physical fitness in middle-aged women and the independent influence of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) or muscle fitness (MF) on arterial stiffness. The participants performed a physical fitness test including grip strength, sit-ups, 20 m shuttle run, sit and reach, 10 m × 4 rep shuttle run and long jump. The indexes of MF (sum of the z scores for relative grip strength and sit ups) and TF (sum of the z-scores for all fitness factors) was calculated. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba PWV) was measured to assess the arterial stiffness. The results were following: significant differences were found in total cholesterol (P < 0.05), HDLC (P < 0.05), LDLC (P < 0.01), triglyceride (P < 0.05), Framingham Risk Score (P < 0.001) and coronary heart disease risk (P < 0.001) among the levels of arterial stiffness but not in body mass index or percent body fat. There were significant negative correlations between health-related or skill-related physical fitness and CHD risk, and there were significant differences in CRF (P < 0.001), MF (P < 0.001) or TF (P < 0.001) among the levels of the CHD risk. The arterial stiffness has significant negative correlations with muscular strength (P < 0.05), muscular endurance (P < 0.001), cardiorespiratory (P < 0.001), agility (P < 0.05), or power (P < 0.05), and also with MF(P < 0.001) or TF(P < 0.001). The lowest levels of arterial stiffness presented higher CRF(P < 0.001), MF(P < 0.001) or TF(P < 0.001) and both CRF and MF were all independent factors for the arterial stiffness. These findings suggest that a comprehensive exercise program including not only cardiorespiratory endurance but also muscular strength, muscular endurance, agility and power may be needed for improving the arterial stiffness. |