Background/Purpose
The purpose of this study was to compare the consistency of heart rate (HR) during land and water aerobics in adolescents with intellectual disabilities (AWID). While Eckerson and Anderson (1992) concluded that water aerobics (WA) may provide a more motivating environment for improving cardiorespiratory fitness than traditional modes of land exercise because it appears to educe heart rates within the recommended range established by the ACSM, few studies have compared land vs. water exercise in AWID.
Method
Participants in this study were high school students with intellectual disabilities (4 males and 1 female). Polar heart monitors were worn by the participants to determine HR at rest and at one minute intervals for 15 minutes during the same locomotor exercises performed in an indoor pool and later on a gym floor. The same participants performed as a group both the land and water aerobics on the designated day.
Analysis/Results
The 15 HR scores for each participant were averaged for each workout. Then a deviation score was derived by subtracting each absolute HR score from the average HR. Those 15 absolute deviation scores were averaged and then a Paired Samples T-Test of absolute deviation was used to determine the variance from average heart rate for land vs. water aerobics. There was no significant difference (p= .372) in consistency of HR for land (mean = 6.6 beats) and water aerobics (mean= 5.1 beats).
Conclusions
Water aerobics was as effective as land aerobics in maintaining consistency of HR in these five high school students with intellectual disabilities.