Energy cost of walking with and without hand weights while performing rhythmic arm movements

[摘要] The purpose of this study was to determine the energy cost of walking while performing hand-weighted exercises. Ss, 15 active healthy males (x=48.9 yrs), walked at 3.0 performing the following: normal walk (NW), and rhythmic arm movements to the shoulder level of excursion (SLE) and head level of excursion (HLE), with no weight (0-), 1 lb (1-), and 2 lb (2-) hand weights. The 7 exercises were NW, O-SLE, 1-SLE, 2-SLE, O-HLE, 1-HLE, and 2-HLE. Following a practice session, the Ss participated in 3 test sessions where the exercises were randomly performed on 3 different days, with no more than 3 exercises per session. Variables measured were HR, VE, VO2, METS, RER, RPE general, and RPE arms.A 1 and 2 way ANOVA with a Scheffe post hoc analysis revealed several significant differences. The average energy cost for the 6 arm exercises were 3.8, 4.1, 4.5, 4.1, 4.8, and 5.1 METS, respectively. These and the and the other energy cost values were significantly higher than NW energy cost, except for O-SLE. HLE produced significantly higher energy cost and HR values than SLE. A significantly greater energy cost was noted for adding 1 and 2 lb weights to the no weight exercise, and signicant increase for adding 1 1 lb to the 1 1 lb exercise. HR significantly increased with the addition of 2 Ib to the no weight exercise. The RPE values were not greatly different from each other and accurately reflected increases in exercise intensity at the relatively higher workloads. These findings suggest hand-weighted exercises evaluated would assist in reducing body weight because of the increased energy cost when compared to NW. The intensity level of the hand-weighted exercises could not produce a training effect for the subjects tested, however, the MET level was appropriate for persons with a maximal MET capacity below 10 METS.

[发布机构] University of Wisconsin

[关键词] Walking -- Physiological aspects