Avaliação dos níveis de flexibilidade de membros inferiores de mulheres idosas praticantes de exercícios físicos

Abstract

The growth of population aging is one of the greatest challenges of contemporary public health. In the aging process, the body undergoes several physiological and morphological changes, including a decrease in flexibility. Flexibility is a relevant physical quality for people's mobility. This research aims to analyze the levels of flexibility of the lower limbs of elderly women who practice physical exercise at the Open University for the Third Age at the Federal University of Alagoas (UnATI-UFAL). This is an observational, cross-sectional and descriptive study, consisting of 20 women aged between 60 and 75 years old, participants of gym classes offered by the UnATI-UFAL extension program. To verify the levels of flexibility of the lower limbs, the sit and reach test was used - Rikle e Jones (2008). Results: the lower limb flexibility test indicated that of the 20 women evaluated, 15 (75%) obtained results within the normal range for their age group, while 05 (25%), other women, presented rates below the normal range. The normal range of scores for women is defined as the central percentage (50%) according to the reference values. It is concluded that the results are satisfactory regarding the normality of the participants' levels of flexibility.