Long-term Effects Of Exercise On Cardiovascular Disease Risk Profile Following Weight Loss In Overweight Women

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Despite the widely recognized benefits of weight loss, minimal research has examined the longitudinal effects of exercise training on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors after weight loss. PURPOSE: To evaluate the long-term influence of exercise training on CVD risk factors after weight loss in previously overweight women. METHODS: A randomized weight loss trial was conducted in 64 premenopausal women (BMI 28.3±1.2 kg/m2; age 33.7±6.4 yrs). Participants were assigned to either aerobic training (AT: continuous treadmill exercise at 67-80% of maximum heart rate), resistance training (RT: 10 total body exercises at 65-80% of 1-RM), or control (C: no exercise). All groups consumed a standardized diet until achieving BMI <25kg/m2. Exercise groups trained 3x/wk during the weight loss period and were encouraged to exercise 2x/wk for one yr following the initial weight loss. Body weight, % body fat, abdominal fat, resting blood pressure (BP), insulin sensitivity, total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides (TG) were measured. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze dependent variables at baseline, post-intervention, 1 yr post intervention, and 3 yrs post intervention. Post hoc paired sample t-tests were used to examine changes from baseline to 3 yrs post intervention. Significance was accepted at p≤0.05. RESULTS: Mean weight loss for all subjects was 11.92 kg. Significant group x time interactions were found for body weight, % body fat, systolic BP, TG, HDL, and TC:HDL ratio, with no significant interactions for any other variable. Three yrs after weight loss, body weight (74.9.4±5.7 to 71.1±9.6 kg), body fat (39.7±3.9 to 35.9±6.2 %), systolic BP (120.0±13.0 to 111.4±8.0 mmHg), HDL (42.0±13.4 to 55.1±11.9 mg/dL), and TC:HDL ratio (4.2±1.6 to 3.3±1.2 mg/dL) were significantly improved from baseline in AT. TG (87.5±32.2 to 74.3±27.0 mg/dL), HDL (41.2±8.9 to 49.4±13.4 mg/dL), and TC:HDL ratio (3.9±0.8 to 3.5±0.8 mg/dL) significantly improved from baseline in RT. C had no differences. CONCLUSIONS: Three yrs after initial weight loss, several CVD risk factors were more favorable in women who exercise trained compared to non-exercisers. Further longitudinal research examining the effects of exercise on the maintenance of improved CVD risk factors is warranted.