The effect of 6 weeks of intensive intermittent exercise training with fenugreek supplementation on lipid profile and body composition indices in overweight and obese women

Background and Aim: Obesity as a global challenge is caused by positive energy balance. Increasing the intensity of physical activity is related to reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and probably because of this, it leads to the improvement of the characteristics of blood lipoproteins. Also, in recent years, special attention has been paid to the role of various plants in reducing blood fats and as a result reducing obesity-related diseases. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of 6 weeks of high-intensity intermittent exercise training with fenugreek supplementation on lipid profile factors and body composition in obese and overweight women. Methods: Accordingly 48 obese and overweight women with age average of 29.79±7.8 years and a body mass index of 29.29 ± 2.6 kg / m2 were purposefully selected and randomly divided into 4 groups of 12. Individuals received training + placebo, training + supplement, supplement and placebo. Supplement consuming groups consumed 500 mg fenugreek capsule daily for 6 weeks. The training groups performed an exercise protocol of HIIT with maximum speed during 6 weeks, and three sessions/ week. Blood samples were taken 48 hours before, and 48 hours after the training period.  Statistical analysis of data was performed by analysis of covariance and Scheffe post hoc tests at a significance level of P <0.05.  Results: The findings of the study showed a significant decrease in TG in the groups of exercise (p = 0.001), supplement (p = 0.003) and exercise + supplement (p = 0.0001), significant decrease in TC in the groups of Exercise (p = 0.001), supplement (p = 0.001), and supplement + exercise (p = 0.0001), significant decrease in LDL in exercise (p = 0.001), Supplement (p = 0.002) and exercise + supplement (p = 0.0001) groups, significant weight loss in exercise (p = 0.0001), supplement (p = 0.007) and exercise + supplement (P = 0.0001), fat percentage in exercise (p = 0.0001), supplement (p = 0.0001) and exercise + supplement (p = 0.0001) groups, and BMI in exercise (P = 0.001) supplementation (p = 0.001) and exercise + supplementation (p = 0.0001), and no significant change in HDL (p = 0.18) and WHR (p=0.78). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, it seems that HIIT combined with fenugreek supplementation can be more effective in preventing some obesity-related diseases.