Middle aged women, who exercise in a moderate way are found to be happier and energetic than those women, who do strong or vigorous exercises – according to a study, which was led by Steriani Elavsky of Penn State University in Pennsylvania. Elavsky revealed her study results at the North American Menopause Society meeting in Washington D. C.
She and her group observed 255 middle aged women, who were not taking any hormone treatment and who wrote their activities, reactions and feelings daily in a diary, because the activities and physical energy of the middle aged women gradually decrease with age. The researchers wanted to see how did moderate and forceful exercise effect their mood, physical energy etc. At first the women were divided in two teams – one team of moderate exercise and another team of vigorous or forceful exercise. The women from the first team were given the exercise of walking on treadmill for 30 minutes at a pace in which they felt comfortable. On the other hand, the women from the second group were instructed to exercise on a treadmill at a pace that was beyond their tolerance. The women were also requested to wear an accelerometer to note their energy expenditure and the timing of their exercise.
The women from the moderate exercise group reported to experience a good mood shift and a rise in their self confidence and self esteem and they said that they were interested in doing more exercise. On the other hand, women from the vigorous or forceful exercise group reported to lose interest in doing any more interest, having physical weakness, significant lose of calmness and peacefulness of mind.
Moderate exercise includes ballroom dancing, biking, brisk walking, sports like baseball, tennis, volleyball, water aerobics etc. Elavsky said that she hoped the study would inform the middle aged women quiet successfully how moderate exercise would lead them to happiness in life.