TY - JOUR AU - de Azevedo GuimarĂ£es, Adriana Coutinho AU - Fernandes de Azevedo, Sabrina AU - Neves Simas, Joseani Paulini AU - Machado, Zenite AU - Ferrari Jonck, Vanessa Terezinha PY - 2017/09/18 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - The effect of Pilates method on elderly flexibility JF - Fisioterapia em Movimento (Physical Therapy in Movement) JA - PTM VL - 27 IS - 2 SE - Original Article DO - 10.1590/0103-5150.027.002.AO03 UR - https://periodicos.pucpr.br/fisio/article/view/21656 SP - AB - Introduction: Pilates as physical exercise practice brings countless benefits, such as improvement of motor aptitudes and skills. Objective: To look into the effect of the Pilates method on the hip and shoulder girdle flexibility levels in the elderly. Methods: Experimental study composed of 30 elderly subjects of the control group and 30 of the Pilates group within a 12 week training time. A form was used to characterize the sample and to assess hip flexibility and shoulder girdle. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used, under a significance level of p < 0.05. Results: On hip flexibility, the 30 elderly individuals from the control group remained under normal and inferior classification, not presenting any differences between the variables (p = 0.180) from the pretest to the retest. In the intervention group, 60% of the elderly subjects were assessed as normal. In the retest, such percentage increased to 66.7%. In the pretest, 10% of the elderly subjects were given the superior classification, and in the retest, it increased to 33%, not presenting significance between the variables (p = 0.180). On shoulder flexibility in the intervention group, 63% of the elderly subjects were graded as normal, and 17% as superior. In the shoulder retest the number of elderly individuals decreased to 47% in the normal classification, and increased to 33% in the superior classification, presenting a significant difference (p = 0.001). Conclusion: The elderly subjects who did not take part into the Pilates method presented a lower flexibility degree, considering that, the latter reduces in aging. As a preventive way of improving such limitation, the practice of the Pilates method is suggested. ER -