Pilates training reduces blood pressure in older women with type 2 diabetes: A randomized controlled trial

The study investigated the effect of 12 weeks of pilates training on the hemodynamic responses of older women with type-2 diabetes (T2D).

22 individuals with T2D were randomly allocated into two groups: CONTROL (n = 11; 67.5 ± 6.3 years; 154.7 ± 6.1 cm; 73.5 ± 6.1 kg; calorie intake: 1487.5 ± 360.6 kcal/day) and PILATES (n = 11; 65.5 ± 5.5 years; 155.0 ± 4.5 cm; 66.2 ± 5.4 kg; calorie intake: 1289.3 ± 385.0 kcal/day). The PILATES group executed a 12-week PILATES training program at moderate intensity, 3x/week with each session lasting 60-min. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR), and postprandial blood glucose were assessed at four timepoints: i) baseline; ii) 4th week; iii) 8th week; and iv) 12th week (s) of intervention. Two-way ANOVA for repeated measures and the Pearson's correlation coefficient were adopted. The alpha level was set at 0.05.

A time∗group interaction effect was found for SBP (F = 4.206; η² = 0.17; p = 0.02) and DBP (F = 2.624; η² = 0.12; p = 0.05) with significant reductions (mmHg) in the 4^ths and 8^ths in the PILATES (PILATES SBP baseline: 134.9 ± 27.6; 4^ths: 112.4 ± 15.7; 8^ths: 115.8 ± 18.3; 12^ths: 124.3 ± 19.1 vs. CONTROL SBP baseline: 126.5 ± 15.7; 4^ths: 126.3 ± 16.2; 8^ths: 124.5 ± 13.1; 12^ths: 126.3 ± 21.4 | PILATES DBP baseline: 72.9 ± 11.3; 4^ths: 65.1 ± 12.2; 8^ths: 65.8 ± 12.2; 12^ths: 67.6 ± 7.5 vs. CONTROL DBP baseline: 74.6 ± 12.0; 4^ths: 73.9 ± 11.5; 8^ths: 75.3 ± 11.9; 12^ths: 74.5 ± 9.2).

Four and eight weeks of PILATES training promotes reduction in the SBP and DBP of older women with T2D. The exercises performed in this study were mainly body weight exercises and required a few auxiliary materials, which turns this method of training accessible.