title: Do muscle strengthening exercises improve performance in the 6-minute walk test in postmenopausal women?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Walking speed seems to be related to aerobic capacity, lower limb strength, and functional mobility, however it is not clear whether there is a direct relationship between improvement in muscle strength and gait performance in early postmenopausal women.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effect of muscle strengthening exercises on the performance of the 6-minute walk test in women within 5 years of menopause.
  
  
  METHODS
  The women were randomized into control group (n=31), which performed no exercise, and exercise group (n=27), which performed muscle strengthening exercises. The exercises were performed twice a week for 3 months. The exercise protocol consisted of warm-up, stretching, and strengthening of the quadriceps, hamstring, calf, tibialis anterior, gluteus maximus, and abdominal muscles, followed by relaxation. Muscular strength training started with 60% of 1MR (2 series of 10-15 repetitions), reaching 85% until the end of the 3-month period (4 series of 6 repetitions each).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The between-group comparisons pre- and post-intervention did not show any difference in distance walked, heart rate or blood pressure (p>0.05), but showed differences in muscle strength post-intervention, with the exercise group showing greater strength (p
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that muscle strengthening of the lower limbs did not improve performance in the 6-minute walk test in this population of postmenopausal women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomechanics, Medicine, and Rehabilitation of the Locomotor System, Physical Therapy Course, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Júlia G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: Gustavo C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Cristine H J
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Daniela C C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Abreu
mesh_terms: D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength; D017698:Postmenopause; D055070:Resistance Training; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013997:Time Factors; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*