The effect of combined exercise training program on some physical fitness factors in mentally retarded girls

Mentally retarded individuals have poor physical fitness and inappropriate body composition. The purpose of this study was toinvestigate of effect of combined exercise training program on body composition and physical fitness in mentally retarded girls.Material and twenty twosubjects from a private rehabilitation center (age: 22-30 years, intelligence quotients= 50-70) were selected and randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control. The training protocol included strength and aerobic training, eight weeks, three sessions per week, and each session 90 minutes. Part of resistance training included training with elastic bands and weight bearing resistance exercise (with respect of overload) and aerobic training included walking, jogging and rhythmic activities. Before and after training protocol body composition, general strength and aerobic power were measured. Data were analyzed using dependent and independent sample t-tests on gain scores, employing the SPSS statistical package program. The test significance level was taken as p<0.05. There were no statistically significant differences in weight (t=0.48, p=0.63), BMI (t=1.35, p=0.19), lean body mass (t= -0.23, p=0.81), fat body mass (t=0.91, p=0.37), and VO2max in Mc Ardle step test (t=1.7, p=0.1) and shuttle run test (t=-1.14, p=0.26) between groups, whereas muscular strength significantly increased (t=-4.56, p=0.001) in training group. Combined resistance and aerobic training can improve muscular strength in mentally retarded girls, whereas probably have no significantly effect on body composition and aerobic power. It suggested that exercise training program consider as a part of daily activities and curriculum in rehabilitation centers, and these training designed with longer duration and more intensity and consideration dietary regimen.