Effects of different exercise programs in clinic and functional status of overweight women

Resumen

The present day physical exercise has been indicated as a tool in the prevention of chronic degenerative illness, between them the obesity. In this way, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different short duration exercise protocols on body composition, aerobic capacity and muscle strength. 20 women classified with overweight, 28.5 years old in average, 77.77kg body mass and 34.17% of body fat were selected. The participants were randomly divided in the following groups: I) a group that performed 4 weeks of strength, aerobic with bicycle and/or treadmill and circuit training, identified as (FAC, n=10) and II) a group that performed 4 weeks of strength and aerobic training, exclusively composed by bicycle and/or treadmill, identified by (FA; n=10). The evaluation before the beginning of the exercise training served as the control baseline, composing respectively the control FAC group (ConFAC, n=10) and the control FA group (ConFA, n=10). Body fat was measured by bioelectrical impedance. Strength training loads were determined by load repetitions test and VO2max was estimated by Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test 1.600 meters walking protocol. Both groups showed non significant reductions in the variables: body mass, body fat, fat mass, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist hip ratio and fat free mass maintenance. However, VO2max significant statistical increase was observed only for FAC group. The exercised groups showed increase in strength production capacity, (p?0.05). These results indicate that, even a short training period (4 weeks) induce positive adaptations in functional status of this population.