Purpose The study examined the effects of a 12-week high intensity circuit training (HICT) on abdominal fat, physical fitness, blood lipids, and insulin resistance in middle-aged obese women. Methods Thirty obese women, aged 32-48 yrs, were recruited and randomly assigned to either HICT group (TR; n = 15) or control group (CON; n = 15). Subjects in the TR group participated in HICT of which resistance exercise and aerobic exercise were performed with a duration of 40 min/session and 3 sessions/wk for 12 weeks, whereas subjects in the CON group were asked to maintain their normal life patterns. Dependent variables included abdominal fat area, body composition, physical fitness, blood lipids profiles, and insulin resistance index. Analysis of variance with repeated measures with Bonferroni corrections was used to compare the outcomes between two groups. Results Main findings of the present study were as follows: 1) compared to the CON group, the TR group had significant reductions in overall (i.e., body mass index and percent body fat) and abdominal obesity (i.e., waist circumference, total abdominal fat area, visceral fat area, subcutaneous fat area, and visceral fat area-subcutaneous fat area ratio), 2) compared to the CON group, the TR group had significant improvements in health-related physical fitness (i.e., muscular strength, muscular endurance, muscle power, flexibility, balance, and cardiorespiratory endurance), and 3) compared to the CON group, the TR group had significant improvements in fasting lipids, glucose, insulin, and insulin resistance. Conclusions The current findings of the study suggested that HICT would be an effective exercise intervention to improve metabolic complications associated with obesity and poor physical fitness in obese middle-aged women.
PURPOSE This study aims to investigate the effects of a 12-week equipment-based Pilates training on physical fitness, cardiovascular function, and vascular endothelial function in obese middle-aged women. METHODS Twenty-four women, aged 30-40 years with a body mass index ≥ 25 and percent body fat ≥ 30% were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the Pilates training group (TR; n=12); and control group (CON; n=12). The TR participants underwent three 50-minute equipmentbased Pilates training sessions per week for 12 weeks. Participants in the CON maintained their normal life patterns for the same intervention period. Variables regarding physical fitness, cardiovascular function, and vascular endothelial function were measured and compared pre-test and post-test u a two-way ANOVA with repeated measures. RESULTS The main results of the study were as follows: 1) Regarding physique and body composition, participants’ body weight, body mass index, fat mass, percent body fat, waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio decreased significantly in the TR. 2) Regarding physical fitness, muscle strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and cardiorespiratory endurance increased significantly in the TR. 3) Regarding cardiovascular response, SV increased significantly in the TR. 4) Regarding vascular endothelial function, blood vessel diameter at rest and during vasodilation as well as blood flow volume during vasodilation decreased significantly in the CON, resulting in a significant interaction between group and test in FMD percentage. CONCLUSIONS It was concluded that the 12-week equipment-based Pilates program improved the physical fitness and vascular endothelial function in obese middle-aged women.
