Physiologic Status at 1-year Follow-up of Obese Women Engaged in a Supervised Conditioning Program

Abstract

A follow-up study was conducted to re-evaluate a group of obese middleaged women (n=13), eight of whom had completed an 18-wk supervised (3 d/wk) plus unsupervised (2 d/wk) conditioning intervention program (at least 90 min per day) as the exercise plus diet group ; while five of the remainder served as the control group. Each session had included a 25-to 45-min jog/run at intensities between the heart rate (HR) corresponding to lactate threshold (LT) and that slightly above the HR@LT. During I year following the program, the women participated in self-controlled training such as running, aerobic danclng, or jazz dancing 2.6±l.1 d/wk. Dietary intake averaged approximately 17.36d:152 kcal/d at the pretreatment, 1404±124 kcal/d at the post-treatment, and 1645±147 kcal/d I year after the post-treatment. Interestingly however, oxygen uptake corresponding to LT (VO₂@LT), maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂max), weight, systolic blood pressure, and the ratio of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol to total cholesterol (HDLC/TC) observed I year after the post-treatment were significantly different from the original pre-treatment and/or mid-treatment values. For instance, the significant 42% increase (14.7±2.4-21.3±4.2 ml/kg/min) in VO₂@LT and 18% mcrease (0.284+0.106-0.335+0.093) in HDLC/TC from the pre-test to post-test were maintained throughout the 1-year follow-up period, suggesting no detrimental effect either on a cardiorespiratory fitness factor or on an anti-atherogenic factor. These findings indicate that physiologic status of obese middle-aged women engaged in a conditioning intervention program may not regress to pre-treatment status for at least one year after completion ; provided they continue to participate in a 2.6-d/wk self-controlled training program with dietary intake of 1600-1700 kcal/d. Another interesting findlng was that significant relationships existed between individual changes (Δ) in training frequency and individual changes (Δ) in physiologic variables (i.e., ΔVO₂max, ΔVO₂@LT, ΔWt. Δfat, and ΔHDLC/TC) during the follow-up study. It is concluded that, although the improved physiologic status of obese women can be maintained fairly well during I year following the conditioning program ; continuation of training (3 d/wk or more) should be critical, elther supervised or self-controlled, for successful maintenance of lost weight (8.2±2.9 kg) and improved fitness.