COMPARISON OF TWO MODALITIES OF EXERCISE ON THE HEALTH PROFILE IN OLDER WOMEN WITH ABDOMINAL OBESITY

The impact of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) compared to the current exercise recommendations (moderate intensity continuous aerobic exercise; CONT) has to be verified in obese older women before being used by health professionals. Objective: The purpose of this study is to compare the effect of HIIT to CONT on body composition, metabolic profile and affective responses in obese elderly. Methods: A total of 20 older and sedentary women (60–75 years) with abdominal obesity (waist circumference ≥ 88 cm) are currently recruited and randomized to one of the following group: 1) HIIT (n=10); 2) CONT (n=10). All variables are measured before and after 8 weeks of intervention: Anthropometry (weight, height, body mass index), body composition (fat mass [FM], lean body mass [LBM], visceral adipose tissue [VAT]; DXA), metabolic profile (fasting lipid profile, glucose and insulin) and physical capacity (senior fitness test). Affective responses are measured before and after each training session. Preliminary Results: VAT tend to decrease in HIIT group only (p=0.07) while total FM remained unchanged. Moreover, HDL-C tend to increase in HIIT only (p=0.09) while LDL-C decreased (p=0.01) in both groups. Finally, while HbA1c tend to increase, total cholesterol tend to decrease in HIIT and CONT (both, p=0.08). Finally, affective response before and after each training were similar between HIIT and CONT (both p>0.48) and remained unchanged. Conclusion: Our preliminary results suggest that HIIT could provide better improvements (VAT and HDL-C) compared to the current exercise recommendations in physically inactive older women.