Effects of circuit-based exercise programs on the body composition of elderly obese women

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of circuit-based exercise on the body composition in obese older women by focusing on physical exercise and body weight (BW) gain control in older people.

Seventy older women (>60 years old) voluntarily took part in the study. Participants were randomized into six different groups according to body mass index (BMI): appropriate weight (AW) control (AWC) and trained (AWT) groups, overweight (OW) control (OWC) and trained (OWT) groups, and obesity (O) control (OC) and trained (OT) groups. The exercise program consisted of 50 minutes of exercise three times per week for 12 weeks. The exercises were alternated between upper and lower body using rest between sets for 40 seconds with intensity controlled by heart rate (70% of work). The contraction time established was 5 seconds to eccentric and concentric muscular action phase. The following anthropometric parameters were evaluated: height (m), body weight (BW, kg), body fat (BF, %), fat mass (FM, kg), lean mass (LM, kg), and BMI (kg/m(2)).

The values (mean ± standard deviation [SD]) of relative changes to BW (-8.0% ± 0.8%), BF (-21.4% ± 2.1%), LM (3.0% ± 0.3%), and FM (-31.2% ± 3.0%) to the OT group were higher (P < 0.05) than in the AWT (BW: -2.0% ± 1.1%; BF: -4.6% ± 1.8%; FM: -7.0% ± 2.8%; LM: 0.2% ± 1.1%) and OWT (BW: -4.5% ± 1.0%; BF: -11.0% ± 2.2%; FM: -16.1% ± 3.2%; LM: -0.2% ± 1.0%) groups; additionally, no differences were found for C groups. While reduction (P < 0.03) in BMI according to absolute values was observed for all trained groups (AWT: 22 ± 1 versus 21 ± 1; OWT: 27 ± 1 versus 25 ± 1, OT: 34 ± 1 versus 30 ± 1) after training, no differences were found for C groups.

In summary, circuit-based exercise is an effective method for promoting reduction in anthropometrics parameters in obese older women.