Effect of 8-week Zumba training on overweight women's body composition.

Haghjoo, Marjan; Zar, Abdossaleh; Hoseini, Syeed Ali

Introduction: Sedentary lifestyle is one of the factors that increase obesity. Zumba exercise has a positive effect on body composition and rate of calorie burn and also improve people's cardiovascular endurance. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of 8-week selected Zumba fitness trainings on the body composition of overweight women. Materials and methods: Twenty-nine volunteer women participating in Zumba fitness exercises at Artay Club (branch 2), were selected as the statistical sample and divided into two groups: experimental group (16 participants) and control group (13 participants). The experimental group practiced Zumba for three one-hour sessions a week for eight weeks while the control group only did their daily activities. The participants' body composition was initially measured at the beginning of the study, and once at the end of the eighth week by means of the body composition evaluator. Kolmogorov-Smirnov, independent and dependent t- tests were used for statistical analysis of data (α=0/05). Results: The results showed that the 8-week Zumba fitness training had a significant effect on decreasing women's body fat percentage (p=0.001); body mass index (p=0.001); fat mass (p=0.001); and waistto- hip ratio (p=0.004). However, it had no significant effect on protein mass in overweight women (p=0.92). Conclusion: Based on the findings, eight weeks of Zumba exercise can improve body composition in overweight women.

ADIPOSE tissues; AEROBIC dancing; BODY composition; CLINICAL trials; OBESITY; T-test (Statistics); WOMEN'S health; BODY mass index; WAIST-hip ratio; LEAN body mass

Pars Journal of Medical Sciences, 2016, Vol 14, Issue 2, p21

2717-0284

Academic Journal

10.29252/jmj.14.2.21