The Physiological and Mechanical Demands of Aerobics, Indoor Cycling, and Netball in Recreationally Active Females

Background: Group-based exercise is a popular method of improving fitness. However, limited research exists on the multidisciplinary responses to group-based exercise. Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the physiological and mechanical demands of aerobics, indoor group cycling, and netball. Methods: Fourteen recreationally active females (age 20 ± 2 years, body height 1.65 ± 0.09 m, body mass 65.9 ± 11.8 kg, body fat 26.3 ± 7.2%) participated in three experimental trials (aerobics, indoor cycling, netball) in a randomised order with 1 week intervening. Heart rate, blood lactate, RPE and PlayerLoad™ were measured. Results: A repeated-measures ANOVA revealed mean and peak heart rate (beats·min ⁻¹) were lower (P < 0.05) for aerobics (130 ± 114; 176 ± 18) than indoor cycling (150 ± 9; 191 ± 9) and netball (144 ± 11; 195 ± 6), respectively. Blood lactate (mmol·L ⁻¹) was higher (P < 0.001) after indoor cycling (5.6 ± 2.6) compared to aerobics (2.2 ± 1.4) and netball (2.5 ± 1.1). RPE was not different between trials. PlayerLoad™ (a.u) during indoor cycling (213.9 ± 46.9) was lower (P < 0.05) than netball (358.5 ± 94.5) and aerobics (296.9 ± 99.0). Conclusions: These results suggest indoor cycling stimulates greater physiological demands, whilst netball and aerobics elicit a higher PlayerLoad™ corresponding to higher mechanical demands. These findings may have implications for exercise prescription in recreationally active females.