Regular exercise ball training reduces arterial stiffness in sedentary middle-aged males.
Harumi Ikebe, Nanami Cho, Naoyuki Matsumoto and 3 others
PMID 35527848WHAT IT FOUND
Supervised exercise ball training increased sit-and-reach trunk flexibility and reduced CAVI and heart-ankle pulse wave velocity in sedentary middle-aged men.
This is early evidence from a small study, not a proven cardiovascular benefit.
Key findings
01Sit-and-reach trunk flexibility increased in the exercise ball group from 29.7 ± 11.1 cm to 36.2 ± 8.0 cm, while the control group changed from 30.4 ± 6.1 cm to 29.2 ± 6.9 cm.
02CAVI and heart-ankle pulse wave velocity decreased only in the exercise ball group: CAVI from 7.8 ± 1.2 to 7.4 ± 1.1 units, and haPWV from 770 ± 115 to 734 ± 82 cm/s.
03Heart-brachial pulse wave velocity, resting heart rate, blood pressure, body composition, and handgrip strength did not show significant changes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included only 15 men, all middle-aged, Japanese, sedentary, and without chronic disease, so results may not apply to women or people with cardiovascular risk. The intervention was supervised, so unsupervised home use may not produce the same effect. The study did not measure cardiorespiratory fitness, lipid, or glucose profiles, so changes in broader cardiovascular risk are unknown. The study did not follow cardiovascular events, so reduced arterial stiffness indices are not proof of reduced disease risk. The paper did not report random allocation or blinding.
Declared interests
The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that exercise ball training prevents cardiovascular disease or mortality. The study measured arterial stiffness indices and did not follow cardiovascular events.