The Effects of Step Aerobics on Anthropometric Characteristics Transformation and Body Composition in Young Females/Efectos de los Pasos Aerobicos Sobre la Transformacion de las Caracteristicas Antropometricas y la Composicion Corporal en Mujeres Jovenes

The aim of this study was to determine the effects 12 weeks Step aerobics program on anthropometric characteristics and body composition in young females. A total of 94 female participants were randomly divided in two groups. The E group subsample consisted of 44 participants (20[+ or -]0.4 years), who had three Step aerobics program trainings per week and the C group subsample consisted of 50 participants (20[+ or -]0.6 years), who did not take part in any organized exercise program and only conducted their regular daily activities. The following measurements were used: Body height, body weight, waist size, abdomen skinfold, back skinfold, upper arm skinfold, upper leg skinfold, body fat percentage and muscle mass percentage. Upon the Step aerobics program implementation, there was a body fat reduction by 4.9% and waist size by 7.7%, while the muscle mass was increased by 9.4%. Above mentioned skinfolds showed a reduction (p>0.05) at the final measurement compared to the initial one--abdomen by 25%, upper leg by 23.7%, back by 15.7 % and upper arm by 3.5%. Likewise, there was a body fat percentage reduction by 2.1% and BMI by 6.4%. Based on the obtained results, we can conclude that the Step aerobics training is efficient in reducing subcutaneous fat tissue and viscelar fat, as well as in increasing muscle mass. KEY WORDS: Fitness; Recreation; Body composition; Step aerobic; Young women. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar los efectos de un programa aerobico Step de 12 semanas sobre las caracteristicas antropometricas y la composicion corporal en mujeres jovenes. Un total de 94 mujeres participantes fueron divididas aleatoriamente en dos grupos. La submuestra del grupo E estuvo compuesta por 44 participantes (20 [+ o -] 0,4 anos), que realizaron tres entrenamientos del programa aerobico Step por semana y la submuestra del grupo C estuvo compuesta por 50 participantes (20 [+ o -] 0,6 anos), que no participaron en ningun programa de ejercicio organizado y solo realizaron sus actividades diarias habituales. Se utilizaron las siguientes mediciones: altura corporal, peso corporal, tamano de cintura, pliegue cutaneo del abdomen, pliegue cutaneo de la espalda, pliegue cutaneo de la parte superior del brazo, pliegue cutaneo de la parte superior de la pierna, porcentaje de grasa corporal y porcentaje de masa muscular. Al implementar el programa aerobico Step, hubo una reduccion de la grasa corporal de un 4,9% y del tamano de la cintura de un 7,7%, mientras