12-week of Training Decreased Body Fat and Improved Health-related Fitness in Obese Women

Purpose: Adult obesity has received considerable attention as a global health problem and has become one of the most important health risk factors. Some types of aerobic training programs have relevant effects on body composition and physical fitness in adult obesity. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of a 12-week Taekwondo training program on body composition, health-related fitness, and isokinetic muscle strength in obese women. Methods: Thirty obese women, aged 35-55 years old, participated in the study. The subjects were randomly assigned to a Taekwondo training group (TTG, n = 15) and a control group (CON, n = 15). Taekwondo training was performed for 60 min/day, 3 times/week at 60-80% intensity of their heart rate reserve for 12 weeks. Body composition parameters were measured by DXA. Health-related fitness included sit and reach, grip strength, sit-up, and cardiorespiratory endurance tests. Isokinetic muscle strength was measured by Cybex. Peak torques and relative peak torques for muscle strength and endurance were measured with 60°/sec (3 repetitions) and 180°/sec (15 repetitions). Two-way repeated measures ANOVA were applied. Paired and independent t-tests were used as a post hoc test. The significant level was set at 0.05. Results: Significant interaction effects of time and group could be obtained on fat mass (p < 0.01), percent body fat (p < 0.01), and WHR (p < 0.01) after 12 weeks of the intervention period between TTG and CON. TTG group decreased significantly these variables between baseline and post-test, but not in CON group. There were also significant interaction effects of time and group for sit and reach (p < 0.01) and sit-ups (p < 0.01). TTG group improved significantly on these fitness tests after the intervention period. Left extensor peak torque (p < 0.01), left flexor peak torque (p < 0.001), left (p < 0.01),and right flexor total work (p < 0.05) were increased significantly in TTG group between pre- and post-tests, but no changes were found in CON. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that a 12-week Taekwondo training program decreased body fat and improved health-related fitness measured with sit and reach, sit-up, and isokinetic muscle strength tests in obese women. Further studies should focus on increasing lean body mass with concomitant decreasing of fat mass.