Effects of Reformer Pilates Exercise Training

fat mass and fat-free mass will be evaluated

The subject sits upright in a supported chair and on a flat surface. The person is prepared with the knee and hip in 90⁰ flexion, forearm in neutral position and wrist in 0-30⁰ extension. During the measurement, the person whose grip strength is measured is asked to squeeze the arms of the dynamometer strongly.

The trunk flexor endurance test begins with the person in a sit-up position with the back resting against a jig angled at 60 degrees from the floor. Both knees and hips are flexed 90 degrees, the arms are folded across the chest with the hands placed on the opposite shoulder, and the feet are secured. After the apparatus is removed, the person maintains the isometric posture for as long as possible.

The back extensors are tested with the upper body cantilevered out over the end of the test bench and with the pelvis, knees, and hips secured. The upper limbs are held across the chest with the hands resting on the opposite shoulders.

The lateral muscle is tested with the person lying in the full side-bridge position.

Back dynamometer: The measure strength of back muscles. Subject stand with knees fully extended and head and back straight. They use over-under grip with the bar across the thighs. They should pull the bar straight up by rolling shoulders without bending them back.

Sit-up test: The measure strength of abdominal muscles. The subjects lying on the floor supine position. The knees are flexed at an angle of 90°, and an assistant supports the ankles. The subject raises upper body and then returns to the starting position.

The chair-stand test administer using a folding chair without arms, with a seat height of 17 inches (43.2 cm). The test begin with the participant seated in the middle of the chair, back straight, feet approximately shoulder-width apart and placed on the floor at an angle slightly back from the knees. Arms cross at the wrists and held against the chest. At the signal 'go', the participant rise to a full stand and then return back to the seated position. The participants encourage to complete as many full stands as possible within 30-s time limit.

The Fullerton Test is mainly intended to identify highly-active older adults who are at an increased risk to experience fall-related injuries due to sensory impairments. The test uses both dynamic and static balance under different situations to identify balance deficits in older adults.

The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, a self-administered questionnaire, includes four open-ended questions and 14 questions to be answered using event-frequency and semantic scales. The tool looks at seven areas; subjective sleep quality, sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep), sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency (the ratio of total sleep time to time in bed), sleep disturbances, the use of sleep-promoting medication, and daytime dysfunction.

The HADS is a self-report rating scale of 14 items on a 4-point Likert scale (range 0-3). It is designed to measureanxiety and depression (7 items for each subscale). Thetotal score is the sum of the 14 items, and for each sub-scale the score is the sum of the respective seven items(ranging from 0-21).