The effect of progressive resistive exercise on the lower extremity muscles of dance major students: ‘Frog swim’ movement on the pilates reformer Park Min-Seon1,*, Choi Sung Ok2, Hong Jung-A1, Lee So-Ra1 1Ph. D. Candidate, Department of Dance, College of Natural Sciences, Chungnam National University, Korea 2Professor, Department of Dance, College of Natural Sciences, Chungnam National University, Korea *Corresponding author: Min-Seon Park Ph. D. Candidate, Chungnam National University, 99 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34134, Korea. eunp0302@hanmail.net
Online published on 16 October, 2018. Abstract The ‘Frog Swim’ on the Pilates Reformer represents a resistance exercise where the lower extremity pushes-out and pulls-in while one's upper body is in a fixed position, facing down. Resistance exercises help prevent injuries and enhance muscle strength, endurance and function. This research selected 17 female dance students from C University in D Metropolitan City through purposive sampling and measured the muscular strength, abdominal muscle endurance, lower extremity muscular endurance, flexibility, explosive muscular strength, agility, balance and cardiovascular endurance of the students before and after ‘Frog Swim’ exercises using the Pilates Reformer to compare the effects on leg strength. The results were compiled in 12 sessions over 4 weeks. Analysis results showed that, in the control group there was little difference in the lower extremity muscular endurance pre-exercise and post-exercise measurements. However, in the experiment group, the pre-exercise and post-exercise measurements displayed a significant difference. When resistive exercises are performed in a tightened posture of the antagonistic muscles, the study has confirmed that core muscle function is invigorated through the balance of agonistic and antagonistic muscles. To conclude, using ‘Frog Swim’ exercises as part of a warm-down can prevent injuries and provide a great deal of positive effects on stage and during practice. Top Keywords Pilates, Resistive Exercise, Reformer, Antagonistic and Agonistic Training, Lower Extremity Muscle Strength. Top |