Resistance Training and Sarcopenic Obesity Elderly Women

In this manuscript, we investigated the effect of resistance training (RT) on body composition, functional capacity, inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in sarcopenic obesity elderly women, using a randomized controlled trial.

To investigate the effects of resistance training (RT) program on body composition, functional capacity, inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in sarcopenic obesity elderly women. This study is a randomized controlled trial. Thirty-seven sarcopenic obesity (SO) elderly women were randomly allocated into two groups: a training group (TG, n=18) or a non-exercising control group (CG, n=19). A supervised RT program was performed by TG for 12 weeks and CG did not perform any type of physical exercise during this period. Body composition (DXA), functional capacity \[(muscular strength, and the 10 m walk test (10MW), and rising from sitting position test (RSP)\] and blood sample measurements (after a 12 h fasting) were performed pre- and post-training. The investigation was carried out over a period of 16 weeks, with 12 weeks dedicated to the RT program and 4 weeks allocated for measurements. Anthropometric, muscular strength, body composition, and blood samples measurements were performed at weeks 1-2, and 15-16. A supervised progressive RT was performed between weeks 3-14. The CG did not perform any type of physical exercise during this period. However, given the possible positive effects of exercise, elderly women of this group were incorporated into a new exercise program after the end of this experiment. Data distribution was tested using the Shapiro Wilk test. Descriptive statistics are presented as means and standard deviations. Student's independent t-test and chi-square test were used to compare the control and intervention groups regarding the general characteristics and clinical conditions (categorical variables), respectively. Two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for repeated measures was applied for comparisons, with baseline scores used as covariates. When F-ratio was significant, Bonferroni's post hoc test was employed to identify the mean differences. Between group effect size (ES) was calculated to verify magnitude of the difference between groups. The Z-score of the percentage changes (from pre- to post-training) of the raw data for each parameter was calculated, and a total Z-score, derived from the all components was calculated. To verify the differences among groups on total Z-scores, a test T independent also was applied. For all statistical analyses, significance was accepted at P\< 0.05. The data were analyzed using STATISTICA software version 13.2 (Statsoft Inc., Tulsa, OK, USA).

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* 60 years old or more;
* presented sarcopenic obesity SO \[which was defined by the simultaneous presence of sarcopenia and obesity (Batsis et al., 2015; Studenski et al., 2014), whereas women were considered sarcopenic if appendicular lean soft tissue (LST) \<15.02 kg, and obese if percentage of body fat ≥ 35% (Batsis et al., 2015)\];
* physically independent;
* free from cardiac or orthopedic dysfunction;
* not receiving hormonal replacement and/or thyroid therapy;
* not using equipment that would compromise the accomplishment of protocols and tests;
* not performing any regular physical exercise more than once a week over the six months preceding the beginning of the investigation.

Exclusion Criteria:

* individuals with any metallic implant or artificial pacemaker, who had undergone surgery, who were unable to perform the tests and trainings;
* volunteers who failed the medical examination for any reason;
* refused or were unable to give consent.