Effect of a short-term functional training program on body composition in postmenopausal women

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of 8 weeks of functional training on body composition in postmenopausal women. METHODS: The study was conducted on 38 postmenopausal women, divided into two groups: Training Group (TG) and Control Group (CG). TG women (n=21) performed a program of physical exercise for a period of 8 weeks, 3 times a week on nonconsecutive days, with 90 minutes per session. For the same period, CG women (n=17) did not perform any systematic physical activity. All participants were assessed at baseline and after 8 weeks. The evaluations were performed by the same trained raters. Analysis of body composition was performed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), which allows estimation of body composition in the whole body and by segment. TG participants performed a functional exercise program 3 days a week (non-consecutive), with 11 stations consisting of exercises developed in circuit format sessions. The objectives of the exercises were the development of strength, agility, coordination and proprioception, followed by aerobic exercise (walking). After normality of the data was determined by the Shapiro-Wilk test (p<0.05), we applied the Student t-test for independent samples to check for possible differences in anthropometric variables and body composition between groups at both times of intervention (pre and post-test). All analyses were performed using the SPSS software v. 17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) with the level of significance set at 5%. RESULTS: At baseline, no significant difference was observed between groups regarding anthropometric body variables or age composition, indicating homogeneity of the groups. After 8 weeks of training, significant differences were observed between TG and CG regarding fat -CG=0.2 +/- 0.7 and TG=-0.4 +/- 0.5, total body fat (kg) -CG=0.2 +/- 1.3 and TG=-0.7 +/- 0.8, and total weight -CG=0.4 +/- 1.4 and TG=-0.6 +/- 1.1. Percent body fat was reduced in terms of absolute values, although without significance: CG=0.1 +/- 1.5 and TG=-0.8 +/- 1.5. CONCLUSION: Functional training in circuit format can be used as a strategy to alter body composition in postmenopausal women, particularly in terms of reduction of adipose tissue. This is a model that promotes high adhesion on the part of the participants, suggesting that it is an attractive proposal for the investigated age group.