Current ACSM guidelines for people with obesity suggest cardiovascular training of up to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week with little focus on resistance training. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of 10-weeks of cardiovascular only (CO) vs. cardiovascular and resistance training (CRT) on metabolic health and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among people with obesity.
Four male and 14 female participants with a BMI of 30 to 40 kg/m2 were randomly assigned to either CO (9) or CRT (9) groups. Participants were verbally administered the CDC HRQOL-14 and completed other assessments, including systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), fasting blood glucose, homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), resting energy expenditure, and body fat percentage before beginning and after completing the exercise program. Both groups exercised for 1 hour, 4 days a week, for 10 weeks. CO completed 225 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio for weeks 1-2 and progressed to 177 minutes of moderate and 48 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardio for weeks 3-10. CRT completed 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio training and 1 hour of RT for the first two weeks and progressed to 48 minutes of moderate and 48 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardio along with 130 minutes of RT for weeks 3-10. Paired samples t-tests were used to compare pre-and post-intervention variables within groups. One-way ANOVAs were used to compare groups at baseline and the change from pre- to post-intervention for each variable between groups.
Of the 18 participants, 100% completed the study. There were no significant differences between groups at baseline. The CRT group had a significant reduction from baseline to post-intervention for SBP (-8.8±10.6mmHg, p<.05) and a significant increase for log adjusted 5-RM (0.7±0.01kg, p<.001). BMI (x̄= −0.8±1.0, p=.060), body weight (x̄= −5.7±7.7, p=.057), and %BF (x̄= −1.8±2.5, p=.059) decreased in the CRT group trending towards significance. The CO group had significant reductions from baseline to post−intervention in DBP (−7.3±7.6mmHg, p<.05), bodyweight (−7.4±5.3lbs, p<.05), BMI (−1.2±0.9 kg/m2, p<.05) and body fat percentage (−2.8±2.5%, p<.05). The only significant difference in change variables between groups was log-adjusted 5-RM (p<.001).
Ten weeks of CO or CRT improve markers of metabolic health. Combing cardiovascular and resistance training may improve SBP and muscle strength to a greater extent than cardiovascular training alone, while cardiovascular training may have a greater impact on body weight and body fat percentage.