The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of regular walking exercise on body weight, body composition, health-related physical fitness, blood lipid and inflammatory markers. One hundred[walking group(men=15, women=25) and control gr...
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of regular walking exercise on body weight, body composition, health-related physical fitness, blood lipid and inflammatory markers. One hundred[walking group(men=15, women=25) and control group(men=15, women=11)] healthy ambulatory overweight and obese older adults(≥65 years old and BMI ≥ 23) participated in this study. Subjects in walking group underwent 24-week regular walking program(3d/wk, 50-60min, ~3MET), and subjects in control group maintained normal life patterns.Following regular walking exercise there were significant decrease in waist circumference, and increases in lower extremity muscle strength, flexibility, cardiorespiratory endurance, and gait speed. However, there was no significant differences in blood triglyceride, cholesterol and high sensitive C-reactive protein levels following regular walking exercise.In conclusion, these results are interpreted to mean that regular walking exercise in overweight and obese older adults, 1) reduces waist circumference, 2) improves lower extremity muscle strength, flexibility, cardiorespiratory endurance, and gait speed, but 3) dose not alter blood triglyceride, cholesterol and high sensitive C-reactive protein levels.