Purpose The purpose of the study was to determine difference of body composition, bone mineral density and health-related fitness by physical activity level in young women. Methods A total of 90 women aged 19-29 years participated in this study. The subjects were divided into three groups (low, middle, and high level) according to the physical activity level estimated by bone-specific physical activity questionnaire(BPAQ). Body height and weight were measured. Body composition parameters including four sites of bone mineral density(BMD) were estimated by DXA (Hologic, QDR-4500, USA). Health-related fitness tests was assessed using sit & reach, grip strength, sit-ups, and VO2max. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS version 9.4. All data were presented in terms of means and standard deviations. One-way ANOVA was applied to determine difference of dependent variables by physical activity level. Duncan's multiple range test was used as a post-hoc test. The statistical significance level was set at p < .05. Results There were significant differences on body weight(F = 4.867, p = .01), body mass index(F = 5.053, p = .008) and fat-free mass(F = 8.364, p = .0001) among the three groups. Significant differences were found on whole body BMD(F = 16.730, p = .0001), lumbar BMD(F = 11.480, p = .0001), femur BMD(F = 42.182, p = .0001) and forearm BMD(F = 5.560, p = .005) among the three groups. There were also significant differences on sit and reach(F = 11.433, p = .0001), sit-ups(F = 17.972, p = .0001), VO2max(F = 3.106, p = .05) and duration of GXT(F = 7.479, p = .001). Conclusions There were differences on body composition, bone mineral density and health-related physical fitness by physical activity levels. Nevertheless, the questionnaire used in this study was not able to judge participation in various exercise types including aerobic exercise or resistance exercise. Therefore, in the future study, longitudinal study considering various types of physical activity and dietary intake will be needed.
Purpose The study was designed to compare physical fitness, indices of lifestyle disease, and biochemical property of muscle according to sarcopenia and obesity in elderly women. Methods One hundred elderly women were alloted to one of four groups, i.e., sarcopenia+obesity (SO: n=20) group, sarcopenia (S: n=20) group, obesity (O: n=29) group, and normal (N: n=31) group. Criterion for sarcopenia was 'appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM)/height2<5.4 kg/㎡', and criterion for obesity was 'percent body fat>35%'. Dependent variables regarding physical fitness, lifestyle disease, and biochemical property of muscle were measured and compared among four groups. Results 1) Regarding daily living fitness, grip strength, upper arm flexion, sit-and-reach, up and go, and VO2max in SO group and S group were significantly lower than N group. Regarding isokinetic function, peak torque and average power in SO group and S group were significantly lower, and relative values to body weight in SO group and O group were significantly lower than N group. 2) Regarding hypertension, resting HR and RPP in SO group and O group were significantly higher than S group and N group. Regarding diabetes mellitus, fasting plasma glucose and HOMA-IR in SO group and O group were significantly higher than S group and N group. Regarding hyperlipidemia, HDL-C in SO group and O group were significantly lower than S group and N group. Regarding atherosclerosis, TC/HDL-C ratio and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio in SO group and O group were significantly higher than S group and N group. 3) Regarding biochemical property of muscle, IL-6 in SO group and O group were significantly higher than S group and N group. Conclusion It was concluded that physical fitness was declined in sarcopenia elderly, and that relative value of isokinetic function, indices of lifestyle disease, and inflammation markers were deteriorated in obesity elderly. Especially, the decline and deterioration of physical fitness and indices of lifestyle disease were even more severe in the elderly who had the both status. Therefore, the efforts should be made to prevent and improve sarcopenia and/or obesity.
This study was designed to investigate the effects of increment of physical activity for 12 weeks through aerobic exercise training or change from own vehicle to public transportation for commuting on physical fitness, insulin resistance, inflammatory markers, and liver function in middle-aged men. Forty-four subjects, aged 30-50 yrs, were randomly assigned to either one of three groups, i.e., aerobic exercise training group (TR: n=14), change to public transportation group (PT: n=15), or control group (CON: n=15). Subjects in TR performed aerobic exercise for 30 min per sessions, three sessions per week, subjects in PT changed from their own vehicle to public transportation for commuting, and subjects in CON maintained their life patterns during the same intervention period. Physical fitness, insulin resistance, inflammatory markers, and liver function were measured at pre- and post-test, and the data were analyzed by repeated two-way ANOVA. Main results of the present study were as follows: 1) All variables related to physical fitness improved significantly in TR. Right grip strength, standing long jump, side step test, and sit-and-reach improved significantly in PT. 2) Although there were no significant changes in all variables related to insulin resistance, the variables tended to be improved in TR and PT. 3) TNF-α decreased significantly in TR and PT. IL-6 and CRP tended to be improved in TR and PT; however, the changes did not reach statistical significant level. 4) ALT decreased significantly in PT. AST and γ-GT tended to be improved in TR and PT; however, the changes did not reach statistical significant level. It was concluded that the 12 weeks of change to public transportation as well as aerobic exercise training would be beneficial for physical fitness and inflammatory markers. These interventions also would be possible to improve insulin resistance and liver function. The increment of physical activity through change from own vehicle to public transportation was found to be equally beneficial for health promotion compared to aerobic exercise.
