The Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Neuro-Related Hormones in Community Dwelling Women

Moderate exercise that causes maximal oxygen consumption between 50% and 70% has long been shown to promote cardiopulmonary functions and perceptional health. It remains to be determined whether different moderate exercises have different effects on neuro-related hormones (ACTH, AGPR, CNFT, FSH, GH and LH levels). This study was conducted to investigate whether a regular music aerobic exercise (MAE) had similar or different effects on neuro-related hormones before and after a 12-week exercise. Forty middle-age women were recur ited for this study, thirty eligible for regular weekly MAE schedule were enrolled into the experimental group and completed pre- and post-test. The other 10 participants who were not eligible to the MAE schedule were enrolled into the parallel control group without exercise. Results showed that the MAE exercise for 12 weeks did not change ACTH, AGRP, CNTF or LH, but selectively improved FSH (p = .07) and GH (p < .001). The parallel control group without exercise revealed insignificant change of ACTH, AGPR, CNFT, FSH, GH and LH levels. This study shows that music aerobic exercise increases blood FSH and GH levels. It may be worthwhile to encourage MAE exercise for middle-age adults to promote neuro-related hormones.