The Role of Aerobic Exercise on Body Composition and Flexibility

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of eight- week aerobic exercise program on body composition and flexibilty levels in sedentary women. Volunteers aged between 30 and 55 years participated in the study and were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n:11; age:41±6,51 years; body height:162,59±6,25 cm) and a control groups (n:11; age:41,64±6,86 years; body height:164,27±5,91 cm). The experimental group engaged in supervised aerobic exercise sessions lasting 60 minutes twice a week for eight weeks, while the control group did not participate in any exercise intervention during this period. Body composition and flexibility measurements were taken from all participants before and after the intervention, and a the data were analyzed comparatively between groups. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 26.0, with normality assessed by the Shapiro-Wilk test. Paired Samples T Test was used to examine within-groups changes, while Independent Samples T Test was applied for between-group comparisons, with a significance level set at p < 0.05. The results showed significant improvements in flexibility, body fat mass, and skeletal muscle mass within the experimental group (p < 0.05). The comparison between the experimental and control groups showed a statistically significant difference in flexibility values, while no significant differences were found in body composition parameters (p > 0.05). These findings suggest that aerobic exercise has a positive impact on both body composition and flexibility in sedentary women.

Keywords

• Sedentary
• aerobic exercise
• body composition
• flexibility

Aerobik Egzersizin Vücut Kompozisyonu ve Esneklik Üzerindeki Rolü

Abstract

Bu araştırmanın temel amacı, sedanter yaşam tarzına sahip kadın bireylerde sekiz haftalık aerobik egzersiz antrenmanlarının vücut kompozisyonu ve esneklik düzeylerine olan etkilerini değerlendirmektir. Araştırmaya yaşları 30 ile 55 arasında değişen gönüllü kadın katılımcılar dahil edilmiştir. Katılımcılar rastgele olarak deney (n:11; yaş: 41±6,51 yıl; boy: 162,59±6,25 cm) ve kontrol grubuna (n:11; yaş: 41,64±6,86 yıl; boy: 164,27±5,91 cm) ayrılmıştır. Deney grubuna haftada iki gün 60 dakika süren aerobik egzersiz uygulamaları sekiz hafta boyunca düzenli olarak uygulatılmıştır. Kontrol grubuna ise aynı süre zarfında herhangi bir egzersiz müdahalesi yapılmamıştır. Tüm katılımcılara egzersiz süreci öncesi ve sonrası olmak üzere vücut kompozisyonu ile esneklik ölçümleri uygulanmış ve bu veriler gruplar arası karşılaştırmalı olarak analiz edilmiştir. Verilerin analizinde SPSS 26.00 programı kullanılmış, normallik dağılımları Shapiro-Wilk testi ile analiz edilmiştir. Egzersizin etkisini incelemek için grup içindeki gelişime bağımlı örneklem t test, gruplar arası karşılaştırma için ise bağımsız örneklem t testi kullanılmış, p değeri 0,05 olarak belirlenmiştir. Yapılan analizler sonucunda deney grubuna ait, esneklik, vücut yağ ağırlığı ve iskelet kas ağırlığı verilerinde olumlu yönde bir gelişim olduğu belirlenmiştir (p<0,05). Deney ve kontrol grubu arasında yapılan karşılaştırma sonucunda esneklik verilerinde istatistiksel olarak anlamlı, vücut kompozisyonu parametreleri arasında ise anlamlı bir fark olmadığı ortaya çıkmıştır (p>0,05). Araştırma bulguları, aerobik egzersizlerin sedanter kadın bireylerde hem vücut kompozisyonu hem de esneklik düzeyleri üzerinde olumlu yönde değişimlere katkı sağladığını göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Sedanter
• aerobik egzersiz
• vücut kompozisyonu
• esneklik

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