[Purpose] The study was designed to examine the effects of a 10-week sports climbing training on body composition and surrogate indices of major lifestyle disease in obese elderly women. [Methods] Twenty elderly women, whose percent body fat was over 35%, were randomly assigned into one of two groups, i.e., sports climbing training group (TR: n=10) and control group (CON: n=10). The subjects in TR completed sports climbing training program with 5.8 and 5.9 of difficulty, at 11-13 of ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), 60 min/session, three sessions/wk for 10 weeks. Independent variables regarding body composition and major lifestyle disease, i.e., hypertension, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerosis, were measured and compared between two groups as well as between two tests simultaneously using a repeated two-way ANOVA. [Results] Regarding physique and body composition, there were significant interactions between group and test in body weight, body mass index, fat mass, and percent body fat. These variables decreased significantly in TR. 2) Regarding indices of hypertension, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and pulse pressure decreased significantly in TR. Regarding indices of dyslipidemia, triglyceride decreased significantly in TR. Regarding indices of atherosclerosis, TG/HDL-C ratio decreased significantly in TR. [Conclusions] It was concluded that the 10-week sports climbing training would be beneficial for reduction of body fat despite its’ influence on fat-free mass was limited, and would also contribute on improving surrogate indices of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerosis in obese elderly women. Future research investigating the effects of various period, intensity, duration, and frequency of sports climbing training would be warranted.
Purpose The present study compared physical fitness, metabolic syndrome risk factors, and resting metabolic rate (RMR) according to body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat (%BF) in 20s females. Methods Fifty-one women in their 20s were recruited and assigned into three groups, i.e., normal group (n=18), normal weight obesity (NWO) group (n=18), and obesity group (n=15) according to BMI and %BF. Physical fitness, metabolic syndrome risk factors, and RMR were measured and compared among three groups. Results Main results were as follows: 1) Physical fitness were not significantly different among three groups. 2) Regarding 1-RM, arm curl and leg extension were significantly lower in normal group and NWO group than obesity group. Leg press was significantly lower in normal group than obesity group. 3) Regarding metabolic syndrome risk factors, there were significant differences in waist circumference, ordering from low to high such as normal, NWO, and obesity groups. Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were significantly lower in normal group and NWO group than obesity group, while HDL-C was significantly higher in normal group than NWO group and obesity group. 4) Regarding RMR, absolute values of RMR such as VO2(㎖·min-1), RMR (Kcal·min-1), RMR (KJ·min-1), and RMR (Kcal·day-1) were significantly lower in normal group and NWO group than obesity group. On the other hand, relative value of RMR such as RMR (KJ·kg-1FW·h-1) was significantly higher in normal group than NWO group and obesity group. Conclusions It was concluded that obese women showed increased risk of metabolic syndrome and low relative RMR level, and NWO had similar problems. Active health management through physical activity and dietary control should be committed to NWO individuals because the NWO has possibility of high risk of metabolic syndrome and reduction of metabolic rate from 20s even though there was no problem in their external appearance.
