Combined Diet and Low-Impact Aerobic Exercise Program: Impact on Weight, Girth, and Muscular Strength, Part 1

Fifty-six subjects were studied in a single blinded randomized study to assess the impact of a 10-day weight-loss program with low-impact aerobics on weight, girth, and muscular strength. Exercises were performed for appropriately 60 minutes a day, and upper and lower body girth, strength changes of the quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteus maximus muscles were measured. The subjects were broken into 2 unequal groups. One group of 25 subjects did not engage in any exercise or diet programs but were used for reliability of test measurements made at the beginning and end of the 10-day period. The second group, the active group (n = 33), exercised 1 hour a day in an exercise program following video tapes and maintained a 1200 calorie per day diet for a period of 10 days. The results of the experiments showed significant losses in girth, especially around the waist and gluteal areas, which is associated with this diet and Petrofsky1-vol5no1 3/8/05 4:05 PM Page 124