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The aim of this study was to analyze the physiological responses to a tap dance choreography and to compare with those observed during a maximal treadmill exercise test, in tap dancers. Eight women (19.6 [+ or -] 2.4 years; 162.3 [+ or -] 4.4 cm; 54.0 [+ or -] 2.3 kg; 20.5 [+ or -] 1.4 kg x [m.sup.2(-1)]; and 5.1 [+ or -] 2.6 years of tap dance training) were submitted to the following procedures: (a) graded exercise test (GXT) on a treadmill until volitional exhaustion with 0.8 km x [h.sup.-1] of increment at each 3 and 1 minute of interval between stages and (b) tap dance choreography (TAP)--'The Shim Sham Shimmy'--consisting of 9 stages of 3 minutes with 1-minute rest between stages. Expired gas analyses were performed in all experimental sessions, providing breath-by-breath values for respiratory exchange rate (RER), oxygen uptake ([[??]o.sub.2]), and carbon dioxide production (C[O.sub.2]). Heart rate (HR) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were also measured. During the rest period between stages, blood samples (25 [micro]l) were collected from the ear lobe for lactate threshold (LT) determination. It was observed that at the end of the TAP, subjects achieved an average of 83.8 [+ or -] 6.2% of the HRmax and 68.9 [+ or -] 11.3% of the [[??]o.sub.2]max, both previously identified in the GXT. The choreography demanded 204.7 [+ or -] 31.3 kcal, an average RER of 0.88 [+ or -] 0.05 and mean RPE of 13 [+ or -] 2. The [[??]o.sub.2], HR, and RPE values did not significantly differ from those at the LT intensity identified during the GTX. Based on the present results, it was concluded that the TAP performance in the 'The Shim Sham Shimmy' choreography elicited acute physiologic responses similar to those observed at the LT intensity, thus suggesting that Tap Dance constitutes a useful exercise modality for aerobic fitness and cardiovascular health improvements. KEY WORDS dancing, blood lactate, oxygen consumption, heart rate, rating of perceived exertion

This study analyzed the postexercise blood pressure (BP) after resistance exercise (RE) on middle-aged type-2 diabetic (T2DM, n = 10, 46.6 [+ or -] 13.1 years) and nondiabetic subjects (NDM, n = 10, 52.0 [+ or 0] 13.2 years). Participants performed (a) 1 repetition maximum (1RM) strength test; (b) 3 laps in an RE circuit of 6 exercises (16 repetitions at 43% 1RM); (c) 3 laps in an RE circuit (30 repetitions at 23% 1RM); and (d) a control session. The blood lactate concentration ([lac]) (YSI 2700S) and BP (Microfife BP3AC1-1) were measured pre-exercise, after exercise, and at each 15 minutes during the 120 minutes of recovery. Analysis of variance with Bonferroni as a post hoc evidenced that the 43% 1RM session elicited the highest [lac] response for both NDM (7.8 [+ or 0] 1.8 vs. 6.4 [+ or -] 1.8 mmol x [L.sup.-1]; p < 0.05) and T2DM (7.0 [+ or -] 1.4 vs. 5.6 [+ or -] 1.6 mmol x [L.sup.-1]; p < 0.05). Also, the 43% 1RM session promoted a significant postexercise hypotension (PEH) of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP), whereas the 23% 1RM did not. The highest BP reductions for T2DM and NDM after 43% 1RM were, respectively, 9.5 [+ or -] 11.1and 11.0 [+ or -] 7.1 mmHg for SBP and 6.4 [+ or -] 7.8 and 7.7 [+ or -] 7.9 mmHg for the MAP (p [less than or equal to] 0.05). The PEH of SBP lasted longer (120 minutes) for NDM than for T2DM (90 minutes). The PEH may be associated with [lac] elevation, and the lower hypotensive effect presented by T2DM may be related to endothelial dysfunction usually observed in diabetic individuals. In conclusion, the RE of higher intensity, performed in ~25-minute duration, was more efficient at promoting PEH which, in turn, suggests its use on BP control for middle-aged T2DM and NDM subjects with characteristics similar to those of our participants. KEY WORDS resistance exercise, diabetes, blood pressure control, postexercise hypotension, blood lactate

The purpose of this study was to compare different methods to identify the lactate threshold (LT) and glucose threshold (GT) on resistance exercise for individuals with type 2 diabetes. Nine men with type 2 diabetes (47.2 [+ or -] 12.4 years, 87.6 [+ or -] 20.0 kg, 174.9 [+ or -] 5.9 cm, and 22.4 [+ or -] 7.2% body fat) performed incremental tests (ITs) on the leg press (LP) and bench press (BP) at relative intensities of 10, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90% of one-repetition maximum (1 RM) at each 1 -minute stage. During the 2-minute interval between stages, 25 [micro]l of capillary blood were collected from the earlobe for blood lactate [Lac] and blood glucose [Gluc] analysis (YS12700S). The LT in the LP and BP was identified at IT by the inflexion in [Lac] response as well as by an equation originated from a polynomial adjustment (LTp) of the [Lac]/% 1RM ratio responses. The lowest [Gluc] during the IT identified the GT. The analysis of variance did not show differences among the 1RM at the thresholds identified by different methods in the LP ([LT.sub.Lp] = 31.0% [+ or -] 5.3% 1RM; [GT.sub.LP] = 32.1% [+ or -] 6.1% 1RM; LT[p.sub.LP] = 36.7% [+ or -] 5.6% [+ or -] 1RM; p > 0.05) and BP ([LT.sub.BP] 29.9% [+ or -] 8.5[+ or -] 1RM; [GT.sub.BP] = 32.1% [+ or -] 8.5% 1RM; LT[p.sub.BP] = 31.8% [+ or -] 6.7% 1 RM; p > 0.05). It was concluded that it was possible to identify the LT and GT in resistance exercise by different methods for individuals with type 2 diabetes with no differences between them. The intensities (kg) corresponding to these thresholds were between 46% and 60% of the body weight on the LP and between 18% and 26% of the body weight on the BP, in which the exercise prescription would be done to this intensity in 3 sets of 20 to 30 repetitions each and 1 minute of rest while alternating the muscle groups for blood glucose control for individuals with characteristics similar to the participants. KEY WORDS anaerobic threshold, prescription of resistance exercise, glucose control