[Health related value of dancing in the elderly]

In field research, training intensity was tested during three different dances by recording the exercise heart rates. The subjects (twelve women from 59 to 77 years old) were tested once a week three times, over three minutes with a break of three minutes, three weeks in all. The sequence of the dances changed every week. 108 values of the maximum heart rates measured were considered for statistical calculation. 77 percent of these values were above the threshold to reach health related relevance. There was no significant difference between the separate dances. The results suggest that dancing even of slow dances will have positive effects for a preventive heart-circulatory training, when the exercise program takes into account, within the context of a particular group, the needs of the individual, especially training duration and training frequency.