The Perception of Exertion and Cardiorespiratory Responses of Rhythmic Exercise Performed to Music Compared with Treadmill Walking Under Three Different Tempos in Postmenopausal Women

The aim of this study was to investigate the perception of exertion (RPE) and cardiorespiratory responses of rhythmic exercise (RE) versus simple treadmill walking (TW). Sixteen healthy women aged 65 to 78 yrs of age performed both the 4-min rhythmic exercise and TW at three different tempos (90, 120, and 150 beats·min-1 ) in randomized order. RPE, heart rate (HR), and oxygen consumption (VO2) were measured. RPE was the same between the two exercise modalities at all tempos. In contrast, HR and VO2 during RE were significantly higher than during TW at tempos of 120 and 150 beats·min-1 . The findings indicate that REs performed to music is a reasonable alternative form of exercise to improve cardiorespiratory fitness versus simple walking at the same RPEs and tempos.