Fotios Mavrovouniotis

Greek traditional dances and quality of old people's life

The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of Greek traditional dances on the improvement of old peoples quality of life. A hundred and eleven subjects (75 women and 36 men) 60-91 years old, were divided into an experimental group (n=76) which participated in Greek traditional dances and a control group (n=35) which was discussing and watching television, both for 1h. The Subjective Exercise Experiences Scale [McAuley, E., Courneya, K., 1994. The Subjective Exercise Experiences Scale (SEES): development and preliminary validation. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 16, 163-177] was used to measure positive well-being, psychological distress, and fatigue and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [Spielberger, C.D., Gorsuch, R., Lushene, R., 1970. Manual for the State-trait Anxiety Inventory. Consulting Psychologists, Palo Alto] to measure state and trait anxiety respectively. Correlational analyses, between the various measures taken postdance, showed that the overall set of relations between the SEES subscales and the SAI-Y1 subscale supports the criterion-related validity of this measure of exercise-induced psychological responses. The independent groups t-tests showed that the control group in comparison to experimental group, at rest as well as on the second measurement, has significantly higher levels of state anxiety (t=-4.45, p<0.001 &t=-6.56, p<0.001), psychological distress (t=-4.30, p<0.001 &t=-5.46, p<0.001), and fatigue (t=-3.16, p<0.01 &t=-3.46, p<0.001), while it has significantly lower levels of positive well-being (t=4.23, p<0.001 &t=6.90, p<0.001). After dancing approximately 63% of maximum heart rate of experimental group was activated, while from paired t-tests significant decreases in state anxiety (t=5.02, p<0.001) and psychological distress (t=3.14, p<0.01) were observed, as well as significant increases in positive well-being (t=-4.44, p<0.001) and fatigue (t=-2.15, p<0.05). On the other hand, no significant difference in control group was observed. Consequently, Greek traditional dances may be used as a functional psycho-physical activity, to produce both physical and mental benefits for elderly individuals.

Differences in vertical jumping performance between untrained males and advanced Greek judokas

Background Judo is categorized among events which develop apart from technical aspects many physical abilities such as explosive strength, speed and co-ordination. One representative task which involves the above mentioned abilities when performed from any athlete is the vertical jump. Purpose of this paper is to answer the question: if there are differences between untrained young males and advanced level Greek judo athletes in jumping ability in four different vertical jumping tasks. Material/Methods: Twenty male [(10 untrained/10 advanced ones), mean age: 19.4±1.6 years/ 17.3±1.2 years respectively] performed squat jumps, countermovement jumps and drop jumps from 20 and 40 cm height (DJ20 and DJ40, respectively). Kinetic data for further analysis were collected by a ground mounted 40×60 cm force plate. Results: Advanced young judokas presented higher scores in all examined jumping tasks compared to untrained ones, revealed shorter duration of examined contact times of all tasks and as a result better utilisation of stretch-shortening cycle mechanism. Total neuromuscular activation that adopt judokas reveals a more mature and skill dependent strategy compared to untrained ones. Conclusions: Vertical jump does not characterizes from a technical point of view a judo athlete but it seems that performance in vertical jumping tasks is affected by the participation and years habituation to ballistic and explosive strength training. Judo specific training in advanced-level judokas improves and induces specific neuromuscular alterations as well as performance in various jumping tasks.

Impact of traditional Greek dancing on jumping ability, muscular strength and lower limb endurance in cardiac rehabilitation programmes

Aims: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a training programme based on traditional Greek dance on the jumping ability, muscle strength and lower limb endurance in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Patients and methods: Forty Greek patients with CHF graded as NYHA ⩽ II and aged 73.2±4.7 years were randomly divided into two groups. Group A (n=20) participated in a three-month physical rehabilitation programme based on Greek traditional dances, whereas group B (n=20) remained untrained and served as the control group. All patients were studied before and after the 12-week exercise training programme. At baseline and follow-up the exercise capacity of the patients was evaluated by the six-minute walking test, their lower extremity muscle strength was evaluated by an isokinetic dynamometer and their jumping ability by the Myotest-Pro test, which includes three types of jumps (plyometric, countermovement and squat jumps). Results: No significant difference was observed between the two groups at the baseline evaluation. At follow-up, group A showed significant improvements in walking distance calculated from the six-minute walking test (10.0% improvement; p<0.05), in lower limb strength (10.32% improvement; p<0.05), and in countermovement jump speed (6.9%; p<0.05) and squat jump speed (5.8%; p<0.05). Group A also increased their jump plyometry height by 13.86% (p<0.05), their counter jump height by 10.68% (p<0.05) and their squat jump height by 10.45% (p<0.05). Group A had a 6.85% (p<0.05) increased force of counter jump compared with group B. Conclusion: The design and implementation of cardiac rehabilitation programmes using Greek traditional dances in patients with CHF are both safe and effective in improving lower limb function.