Submission Date

7-21-2015

Document Type

Paper- Restricted to Campus Access

Department

Health & Exercise Physiology

Faculty Mentor

Deborah Feairheller

Student Contributor

Tia Wisdo

Comments

Presented during the 17th Annual Summer Fellows Symposium, July 24, 2015 at Ursinus College.

Project Description

Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Research consistently shows that those at the highest risk for CV disease are those who are overweight and have low fitness and activity levels. Also, physical activity levels are inversely related to glucose and cholesterol, body fat, and vascular health measures; all of which are easily measured markers of CV disease. Previous studies have found that short-term exercise improves blood pressure, vascular health, and glucose and cholesterol levels. Also, fun and simple exercises have been shown to lead to habit formation in previously sedentary individuals. However, to date no study has examined cardiac and vascular health changes with a 4-week functional exercise program. The purpose of this study is to determine if a 4-week self-report functional exercise intervention will increase CV health measures; including, blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels, body fat percentage, and carotid artery intima media thickness. To date, eight adults are enrolled and data collection is ongoing. It is hypothesized that the exercise program will lead to an increase in muscle mass, a decrease in body fat, a decrease in blood pressure, a reduction in the thickness of the carotid artery wall, and a decrease in blood glucose and cholesterol levels.

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