The Effects of Aerobic Exercise Training on Basal Metabolism and Physical Fitness in Sedentary Women

Abstract

Objective: Aerobic exercises are the basic activity on fight against obesity. And obesity is related with metabolic rate. So our study is aimed to investigate the effects of 8 weeks aerobic exercise on basal metabolic rate and physical parameters. Methods: Sedentary women between the ages of 35 - 45 (n = 40) were randomized into control group (CG) (n = 20) and exercise group (EG) (n = 20). EG underwent 8 weeks of aerobic-run-walk exercise training: 3 days a week, 1 hour sessions. The CG was not trained. Basal metabolic rate (BMR), body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), body fat percentage (BFP), body fat mass (FM) and lean body mass (LBM) were measured for all of the subjects before and after the training program. Results: Mean BMR decreased from 1386 ± 213.6 kcal to 1327 ± 253.7 in CG, and raised from 1308 ± 201.8 to 1409 ± 218.3 kcal in EG. While BMI raised from 31.39 ± 6.15 kg/m 2 to 31.51 ± 6.09 kg/m 2 in CG, it decreased from 29.62 ± 3.78 kg/m 2 to 28.47 ± 3.74 kg/m 2 in EG. There was also statistically significant difference in parameters of WHR, BFP, FM and LBM in favour of EG (p < 0.05). Conclusion: After 8 weeks aerobic exercise training program, there was a statistically significant difference in favour of EG in BMR, BMI, BFP, FM, LBM, WHR and weight parameters.