| Keywords |
Walking exercise ; Metabolic syndrome risk factors ; Cardiorespiratory fitness ; Middle-aged women |
| Abstract |
The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of regular walking exercise on cardiorespiratory fitness, metabolic syndrome risk factors in middle-aged women. A total of 30 middle-aged women was classified normal (NO), obese (OB) and metabolic syndrome (MS) group based on the guidelines of the national cholesterol education program, including elevated waist circumference (WC), triglycerides (TG), fasting blood glucose (FBG), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and low HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C). Walking exercise was designed to energy expenditure of 500 kcal per day, with a frequence of 3 days per week for 24 weeks. Body composition (Weight, BMI, BF(%), Hip, WHR), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and metabolic syndrome risk factors (WC, TG, FBG, SBP, DBP, HDL-C) were measured at the baseline, at the mid-point (12 week), and after the walking exercise program (24 week). Two-way ANOVA analyses with mixed design showed significant time×group interaction effects for body composition, CRF and metabolic syndrome factors. In summary, Body composition (Weight, BMI, Hip) had significant (p<0.05) time×group interaction effects following the 24-week exercise intervention program. Also, CRF and metabolic syndrome risk factors (WC, SBP, DBP, HDL-C) had significant (p<0.05) time and group effects following the 24-week exercise intervention program. The current findings of the study suggest that walking exercise is an effective means of improving body composition, CRF and metabolic syndrome risk factors, with no group differences. |