A comparison of physiological responses during a CPR exercise on treadmill and a low impact aerobic dance lesson

PURPOSE: Therefore our purpose was to investigate the differences of physiological responses between two aerobic exercises: Constant Pulse Training (CPR) and low impact aerobic routine (LIA) in order to understand if LIA fits the needs of overweight subjects in terms of energy substrate utilization. METHODS: Six overweight female underwent a V'O2max incremental submaximal test (Quark b2, Cosmed, Italy). Oxygen uptake (V'O2) and heart rate (HR) were used to draw V'O2/HR relationship. Each subject also took part in two training sessions carried out over alternate days: A) CPR training on treadmill at 65%, 70% and 60% of HRmax for 10, 30 and 5 min respectively; B) LIA routine consisting of warming up phase (10 min), aerobic phase (30 min), cooling down phase (5 min). During both sessions the following parameters have been continuously monitored (K4b2, Cosmed, Italy): HR, V'O2, respiratory exchange ratio (RER). RESULTS: Results are referred to the whole training session. If we consider the correlation between HR and V'O2, both expressed as percent values of the maximum, linear regression line among HR and V'O during CPR never overlaps the one during LIA.CONCLUSION: Both exercise modes seem to lie in the aerobic metabolism. However energy expenditure (EE) of LIA is higher than CPR, while the relative amount of CHO is significantly higher. This should be took into account when fat burning exercises are prescribed. Besides HR seems to correlate with V'O2 (according with ACSM statement) in CPR, while the same does not occur during LIA. Therefore, HR is a reliable index of the exercise intensity during CPR training, but it could overestimate V'O2 (and EE) during LIA routine.