Effects of equipment use and exercise speed during Pilates on energy consumption, heart rate, and energy metabolism in women aged 20-30s

This study was designed to examine the effects of equipment use and exercise speed during Pilates on energy consumption, heart rate, and energy metabolism in women aged 20-30s. Eleven subjects who had experience of Pilates longer than six months participated in four trials, i.e., 1) mat exercise–standard speed trial, 2) mat exercise-high speed trial, 3) equipment exercise-standard speed trial, and 4) equipment exercise-high speed trial, in a counter-balanced order. Each trial was performed for 40 min, and the trial was separated by one week for wash out. Mat exercise and equipment exercise were composed with almost same movements, and standard speed and high speed were performed at 96 bpm and 125 bpm of heart rate, respectively. Data obtained in the study were analyzed by utilizing a two-way ANOVA. Main results of the present study were as follows: 1) MET were significantly higher at the high speed than the standard speed in the mat exercise. 2) Peak heart rate was significantly higher in the equipment exercise than the mat exercise. 3) FFA increased in all exercise, but there were no significant differences according to equipment use or exercise speed. 4) Average heart rate indicated the low-intensity exercise in all four trials. It was concluded that equipment exercise and high speed could be an effective for enhancing physical fitness by increasing exercise intensity in women aged 20-30s. Although average heart rate indicated that the Pilates was the low-intensity exercise, determining exercise intensity based on the heart rate may not be appropriate in Pilates. Therefore, the future study to investigate the effectiveness of heart rate to determine Pilates intensity would be warranted.