Determining the Effectiveness of Pilates Training on the Balance and Spatiotemporal Walking Parameters of Women

Physiological changes during aging include specific changes in the nervous and musculoskeletal systems that can affect performing complex movements, and cause falls and other accidents. Increasing age decreases strength in the main body muscles, and fear of falling leads to less walking and other physical activities. According to findings, the weakness of lower limb muscle strength, decrease in walking ability, decrease in balance ability, and decrease in sensorimotor control are among the things that lead to falls in older people. The ability to walk gradually decreases due to the weakness of the sensory and muscular function of the lower limbs, which leads to a change in the walking pattern of older people and their balance. Therefore, physical activities can prevent sarcopenia and decrease the motor performance of older adults. Hence, this study aimed to explore the effect of Pilates training on the balance and spatio-temporal parameters of walking of older women.

In this quasi-experimental research, 24 older and late middle-aged women aged 55-65 participated. They were randomly divided into two groups, experimental and control (each with 12 women). The participants were given the necessary explanations about the experiment. After receiving informed consent, they completed the health form. The people who participated in the training course did not have a history of fractures in the lower limbs, vision, and vestibular system disorders, or traumatic or neurological diseases. A six-week Pilates program was held twice a week. At the beginning of each session, the subjects did a warm-up program for 10 to 15 minutes under the supervision of a Pilates instructor. In each session, stretching, endurance, and strength exercises were performed on the upper and lower limbs, along with trunk and abdomen training. At the end, the trainer conducted a 10-minute cooling-down exercise. In this research, stretching and strengthening movements of the pelvic region were performed from the Pilates Stout exercise table. Before the implementation of the training program, the spatial and temporal parameters of walking and static and dynamic balance were measured, and the tests were repeated after the training program was completed.

Results showed no significant differences between the spatial parameters of the two experimental and control groups in the pretest (p>0.05), indicating the homogeneity of the research groups. In the posttest, a significant difference was seen only in the step length variable between the two groups (p=0.03). Also, in the posttest, in the Timed to Get Up and Go Test (TUG test), a significant difference was seen between the two groups (p=0.010). The results of the paired t test to investigate the effect of training showed that the training period had a significant impact on the variables of speed (p=0.018), step length (p=0.010), and stride length (p=0.002) in the experiment group. Still, there was no significant difference in the variables of stride rate and step width (p>0.05). Also, there was no significant difference in the performance of Stork and TUG tests in the posttest of the experimental group (p>0.05).

A six-week short-term Pilates training course can provide the basis for improving dynamic balance and some spatiotemporal walking parameters. Pilates training during six weeks and 12 sessions prepares the ground for improving the dynamic balance associated with falling.