A comparison of the metabolic effects of high and low impact aerobic dance exercise

The purpose of this study was to compare the physiological responses associated with two aerobic dance class designs, a high impact aerobic (HIA) class and a low impact aerobic (LIA) class. The HIA class involved 25 minutes of HIA followed by 15 minutes of strength exercise. The LIA class contained 40 minutes of LIA. Subjects consisted of nine female volunteers (age 29.9 yrs ± 4.1 yrs) who participated regularly (3 times/week) in aerobic exercise classes (mean VO2max, 43.2 ± 3.4 ml·min−1·kg−1). Subjects were evaluated in both classes on separate days. HR was measured continuously by telemetry and blood lactate was measured before, six times during and at the end of a class. A linear regression on HR‐VO2max was plotted to estimate the VO2 during a class. Mean heart rate (161 ± 21 b·min−1 vs 144 ± 27 b·min−1), VO2 (35.3 + 4.3 ml·min−1·kg−1 vs 31.8 ± 5. ml·min−1·kg−1) and total energy expenditure (2237 kJ·person−1 vs 2008 kJ·person−1) were all significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) during the LIA compared with the HIA class. Group mean blood lactate concentration was not different at rest between groups, but was significantly higher in the HIA group in 6 of the 7 exercise/post‐exercise measurements than in the LIA group. The results indicate that both class formats provide sufficient intensity and duration for cardiovascular conditioning. Furthermore, the HIA class produced a greater metabolic stress (kJ energy expenditure) than the LIA class regardless of the group mean HR achieved during the class.