Iron Beats Electricity: Resistance Training but Not Whole-Body Electromyostimulation Improves Cardiometabolic Health in Obese Metabolic Syndrome Patients during Caloric Restriction-A Randomized-Controlled Study.

Dejan Reljic,Hans J Herrmann,Markus F Neurath,Yurdagül Zopf

doi:10.3390/nu13051640

Abstract

Caloric restriction (CR) and exercise are cornerstones in the treatment of obesity and cardiometabolic disorders. Recently, whole body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) has emerged as a more time-efficient alternative to traditional resistance training (RT). However, the effects of WB-EMS compared to RT on cardiometabolic health in obese metabolic syndrome (MetS) patients performed during CR are still unclear. In total, 118 obese MetS patients (52.7 ± 11.8 years, BMI: 38.1 ± 6.9 kg/m2) undergoing CR over 12 weeks (aim: −500 kcal deficit/day) were randomly allocated to either WB-EMS, single-set RT (1-RT), 3-set RT (3-RT) or an inactive control group (CON). Primary outcome was MetS severity (MetS z-score). Secondary outcomes were body composition, muscle strength and quality of life (QoL). All groups significantly reduced body weight (~3%) and fat mass (~2.6 kg) but only 1-RT and 3-RT preserved skeletal muscle mass (SMM). All exercise groups increased muscle strength in major muscle groups (20–103%). However, only the two RT-groups improved MetS z-score (1-RT: −1.34, p = 0.003; 3-RT: −2.06, p < 0.001) and QoL (1-RT: +6%, p = 0.027; 3-RT: +12%, p < 0.001), while WB-EMS and CON had no impact on these outcomes. We conclude that traditional RT has superior effects on cardiometabolic health, SMM and QoL in obese MetS patients undergoing CR than WB-EMS.

Highlights

The global prevalence rates of obesity have continued to rise over the last decades [1].Increased body weight with an excessive accumulation of body fat is associated with an elevated risk of a number of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes and some cancer types [2]
In the 3-resistance training (RT) group, DBP was significantly decreased post-intervention (−4 mmHg, 95% confidence intervals (95% CI): −7 to −1 mmHg, p = 0.009)
Reductions in mean arterial blood pressure (MAB) were significantly greater in the 1-RT (−9 mmHg, 95% CI: −17 to −2 mmHg, p = 0.009) and 3-set RT (3-RT) group (−8 mmHg, 95% CI: −16 to −1 mmHg, p = 0.034) compared to the whole body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) group

Summary

Introduction

The global prevalence rates of obesity have continued to rise over the last decades [1].Increased body weight with an excessive accumulation of body fat is associated with an elevated risk of a number of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes and some cancer types [2]. The global prevalence rates of obesity have continued to rise over the last decades [1]. The clustering of obesity-related cardiometabolic risk factors, including hypertension, excess visceral fat, abnormal blood lipid, and glucose levels— known as the metabolic syndrome (MetS)— raises the risk of serious health problems and premature mortality [3]. It has been observed during the current COVID-19 pandemic that patients with obesity and preexisting cardiometabolic conditions are at a substantially higher risk of developing a severe clinical course following a coronavirus infection [4,5].

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