Effects of aerobic exercise in combination with core muscle training on minute ventilation in healthy individuals

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of aerobic exercise in combination with core muscle training on minute ventilation in healthy individuals. Materials and Methods: Forty healthy volunteers (8 male and 32 female) aged 21.35±1.93 years were recruited. Factor of age, gender and level of lumbopelvic stability were used in randomization. They were randomly divided into aerobic exercise with core training group (n=20) and control group (n=20). The aerobic exercise in combination with core muscle training group was performed aerobic exercise with core muscle training program for 30 minutes, whereas the control group had aerobic exercise only for 30 minutes. They trained 3 times/week for 8 weeks. Minute ventilations (VE) were measured by breath-by-breath gas analysis mechine (MedGraphic®, Ultima PFX®, UK) during exercise before and after 8 weeks of training. Data were statistically analyzed by mixed model 2-ways repeated-measures ANOVA using SPSS program version 17.0 with p-value of 0.05. Results: The results showed that the effect of aerobic exercise in combination with core muscle training on VE under the experimental group had a significant increase after 8 weeks training (p<0.05) and significantly greater than the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the aerobic exercise in combination with core muscle training had a significant improvement in minute ventilation greater than the aerobic exercise alone. This finding could guide for application in exercise program for improving the pulmonary performance in healthy individuals.