THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FREQUENCY OF BRISK WALKING AND WEIGHT LOSS AND OTHER METABOLIC PARAMETERS IN OBESE INDIVIDUALS

Background and aim: Our aim was to find the relationship between exercise frequency and metabolic parameters and laboratory results in obese individuals with no additional disease. Materials and methods: The study included healthy individuals with a BMI >30 kg/m(2). While the first group has done brisk walking for 45 minutes 3 days a week, the second group has done exercise for 45 minutes 6 days a week. For the compliance of diet and exercise, participants were followed monthly. Inadaptable individuals and those who did not do the exercise properly were excluded from the study. The weight of the participants, waist circumference, body fat ratio and laboratory values were recorded at the beginning and at the end of the 6th month. Results: While 28 participants did exercise 3 days per week, 26 of them did exercise 6 days per week. When the initial values of the both groups were compared with the values at the end of the 6th month, there was a statistically significant difference in terms of weight loss, waist circumference, blood pressure, and laboratory parameters. However, when the two groups were compared each other at the end of the 6th month, there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of weight loss, waist circumference, blood pressure, and laboratory parameters. Conclusions: We found that exercise was effective on both weight loss, waist circumference and body fat ratio as well as laboratory values. However, when we increased the frequency of weekly exercise, we found that there was no significant difference between the groups. We thought that the benefits of increasing the frequency of exercise from 3 to 6 days per week are limited in obese female individuals without any chronic disease.