Effects of Outdoor Equipment Exercise and Walking Exercise on Fitness and Body Image in Middle-aged Women

Abstract

Background/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of outdoor equipment exercise and walking exercise on physical fitness and body image in middle-aged women. To this end, 30 middle-aged women were randomly assigned to 15 exercise and 15 control groups.

Methods/Statistical analysis: Research participants live in Seoul, Korea. The exercise program was conducted 60 minutes 4 times a week for 12 weeks. 10 minutes of warm-up and cool-down, and 40 minutes of exercise and walking using outdoorequipment. Descriptive statistics for each measurement variable were presented to verify the treatment effect of the exercise group and the control group. In addition, a 2-way ANOVA was conducted to verify the effect on outdoor group exercise and walking exercise. The significance level was verified at .05.

Findings: The results have shown significant interaction effects in physical fitness(Cardiorespiratory function, muscle endurance, strength,  flexibility) and the bodyimage(body decoration, health fitness evaluation, exercise effect influence, and overall appearance evaluation).

Improvements/Applications: Through this study, it was confirmed that outdoor equipment exercise and walking exercise had an overall positive effect on improving physical strength and body image. In the follow-up study, it would be more meaningful if the study effects related to dietary combination with exercise were verified.