BACKGROUND: Regular aerobic exercise can effectively increase microvascular function in skeletal muscle and promote the oxidation of fatty acids. However, whether the effect of aerobic exercise intervention is affected by fat content is worth of further exploration. In this study, by means of yoga combined with exercise, the authors explored the effect of aerobic exercise on morphology and blood lipids in female college students.METHODS: A total of 81 female college students who voluntarily participated in this study were enrolled by Body Mass Index (BMI) obtained from the physical examination when entering the school. The participants were assigned to normal (BMI: 20.98±1.52 kg/m2, N.=29), overweight (BMI: 25.57±1.34 kg/m2, N.=27), and obesity (BMI: 28.46±2.36 kg/m2, N.=25) groups by BMI, and all of them completed a 12-week Yoga combined with aerobic exercise training program. Relevant morphological such as body weight, body height, waist circumference, hip circumference, etc. and blood lipid indicators such as low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) were measured before and after training. One-way ANVOA, paired-sample t-test were used in this study.RESULTS: After training program, the results indicated that: 1) the hip, body weight, BMI and body fat percentage in all three groups significantly decreased; 2) waist circumference in normal and obesity groups had a significant change than that in overweight group, hip circumference and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in overweight group were better than those in normal and overweight groups; the decrease in BMI in overweight and obesity groups was significantly greater than that in normal group, and the weight loss and decreased body fat percentage in obesity group were the highest, followed by overweight group, and the smallest in normal group; 3) in all three groups, HDL-C significantly increased, LDL-C, TC/HDL-C, TG/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C significantly decreased, TC and TG significantly decreased in obesity group; and 4) TC/HDL-C and TG/HDL-C in obesity group were significantly higher than those in normal and overweight groups, while change in TC and TG were the highest in obesity group, the second the overweight group, and the lowest in normal group.CONCLUSIONS: Twelve-week yoga combined with aerobic exercise training has a significant positive effect on morphological and blood lipid indicators in female college students. The yoga combined with aerobic exercise training can be recommended for young women with overweight and obesity population.
Body Fat Distribution Body Mass Index