ABSTRACT
Objective
To investigate the effect of 12 weeks of rehearsals on cardiorespiratory parameters and body composition in Brazilian samba dancers belonging to a first-league samba school.
Methods
Twenty-six women were divided into a Samba Group (n=13) and a Control Group (n=13). Cardiorespiratory parameters (cardiopulmonary exercise test) and body composition (skinfold assessment) were assessed before and after the 12 weeks of rehearsals. The Samba Group rehearsed three times per week for 30–60 minutes, and the Control Group participated in no physical activity. A comparison test was performed within and between groups, with p<0.05 indicating statistical significance.
Results
Compared with the Control Group, the Samba Group showed a significant increase in maximal oxygen uptake (19%), oxygen pulse (13%), and lean body mass (3%) and a decrease in body fat percentage (11%) and fat mass (12%).
Conclusion
Twelve weeks of samba dance rehearsals improved the cardiorespiratory and body composition parameters in women dancers compared with the Control Group. These findings suggest that dancing samba regularly can increase physical activity levels and positively affect the health parameters of samba dancers.
Body composition; Dancing; Exercise; Oxygen consumption; Adipose tissue
In Brief
Physical activity is highly recommended because of its health benefits, and samba dance is an example of an intense form of exercise. Duarte et al. demonstrated an improvement in healthrelated cardiorespiratory and body composition parameters in Brazilian samba dancers during 12 weeks of rehearsals before the well-known carnival, compared with a Control Group.
Highlights
Samba rehearsals can increase cardiorespiratory function in dancers up to 19% of VO2max.
Samba rehearsals can decrease up to 1.9kg of fat mass and increase 1.3kg of lean body mass.
In a samba rehearsal session, dancers spend 50% of their time at an intensity above 83% of the maximum.