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Impact of a novel home-based exercise intervention on health indicators in inactive premenopausal women: a 12-week randomised controlled trial

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Abstract

Purpose

This study tested the hypothesis that a novel, audio-visual-directed, home-based exercise training intervention would be effective at improving cardiometabolic health and mental well-being in inactive premenopausal women.

Methods

Twenty-four inactive premenopausal women (39 ± 10 years) were randomly assigned to an audio-visual-directed exercise training group (DVD; n = 12) or control group (CON; n = 12). During the 12-week intervention period, the DVD group performed thrice-weekly training sessions of 15 min. Training sessions comprised varying-intensity movements involving multiplanar whole-body accelerations and decelerations (average heart rate (HR) = 76 ± 3% HRmax). CON continued their habitual lifestyle with no physical exercise. A series of health markers were assessed prior to and following the intervention.

Results

Following the DVD intervention, HDL cholesterol (pre: 1.83 ± 0.45, post: 1.94 ± 0.46 mmol/L) and mental well-being, assessed via the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, improved (P < 0.05). Conversely, [LDL cholesterol], [triglycerides], fasting [glucose], body composition and resting blood pressure and HR were unchanged following the DVD intervention (P > 0.05). There were no pre-post intervention changes in any of the outcome variables in the CON group (P > 0.05).

Conclusion

The present study suggests that a novel, audio-visual-directed exercise training intervention, consisting of varied-intensity movements interspersed with spinal and lower limb mobility and balance tasks, can improve [HDL cholesterol] and mental well-being in premenopausal women. Therefore, home-based, audio-visual-directed exercise training (45 min/week) appears to be a useful tool to initiate physical activity and improve aspects of health in previously inactive premenopausal women.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

BMI:

Body mass index

BP:

Blood pressure

bpm:

Beats per minute

cm:

Centimetre

CHD:

Coronary heart disease

CON:

Control group

CV:

Coefficient of variation

DVD:

Audio-visual-directed exercise training group

HDL-C:

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol

HR:

Heart rate

HRmax :

Maximum heart rate

kg:

Kilogram

MAP:

Mean arterial pressure

min:

Minute

mL:

Millilitres

ml·kg1·min1 :

Millilitres per kilogram body mass per minute

mmHg:

Millimetres mercury

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

LDL-C:

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol

OGTT:

Oral glucose tolerance test

RPE:

Ratings of perceived exertion

SD:

Standard deviation

tAUC:

Total area under the curve

TC:

Total cholesterol

WEMWBS:

Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale

y:

Year

YYIE1:

Yo-Yo Intermittent Endurance Level 1 test

References

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participants for their outstanding efforts and perseverance throughout the testing and intervention period. The authors would also like to thank the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust for their analytical help.

Funding

The study was supported by FIFA-Medical Assessments and Research Centre (F-MARC) and Nordea-fonden (Grant No. 1-ST-P$$$-$$$-036-JZ-F1-05858).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

LC, SS, JF, AJ, KK, PK, SB and JB conceived the presented idea and designed the study. SS was involved in producing the exercise training protocol and training the participants for unsupervised exercise training at home. LC, SS and CM were involved in participant recruitment. LC, SS, CM and JF performed the data collection. LC, SS, CM and JF performed the analysis. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luke J. Connolly.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (The Sport and Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee at the University of Exeter, Exeter, UK. Ref: 141015/A/01) and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Additional information

Communicated by Lori Ann Vallis.

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Connolly, L.J., Scott, S., Morencos, C.M. et al. Impact of a novel home-based exercise intervention on health indicators in inactive premenopausal women: a 12-week randomised controlled trial. Eur J Appl Physiol 120, 771–782 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04315-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04315-7

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