It is known that midlife women may experience an increase in total body fat, accelerated accumulation of fat in the intra-abdominal region, and a decrease in lean body mass. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of exercise training alone on the total and regional body lean and fat mass distribution. A total of 29 sedentary perimenopausal women aged 45-55 years (mean=49.9; sd=3.34) were randomly assigned to the exercise (n=14) or the non-exercise (n=15) group. While the non-exercise group maintained their sedentary life style during the 12-week study period, the exercise group completed a 12-week, one-hour/per session, three times/week, individualized, facility-based program consisting of both aerobic and resistance exercise training directed by a personal trainer. Body composition (using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) and other relevant measures were taken at baseline and 12 weeks for both groups. We found that the exercise group had a significant reduction in hip circumference (p=0.03) and percent fat mass in total soft tissue (p=0.03), arms (p=0.02), and legs (p=0.049) after the 12-week period compared to the non-exercise group. We also found that the exercise group had a significant increase in lean mass in total soft tissue (p=0.02), legs (p=0.03), and trunk (p=0.02) compared to the non-exercise group. In conclusion, exercise training results in significant beneficial changes in total and regional lean and fat mass in perimenopausal women. However, no preferential central adiposity reduction was observed following the exercise training. Further studies with sufficient statistical power are warranted to validate the findings.
Session #1219 - Poster Session I
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)