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Objective: Aim of the study was to determine the effect of pilates and low-intensity cardio-exercise on insulin resistance among women who have developed insulin resistance. Material and Methods: The study included women with insulin resistance aged 20 to 40 years who neither regularly attend any exercise program nor received any medication for the last six months. A total of 45 volunteer women were equally divided into low-intensity cardio exercise (LICE), pilates exercise (PE) and control (K) groups. Exercise groups received a 60-minute pilates or low-intensity cardio exercise program 3 times a week. Anthropometric measurements of the participants such as height, weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumferences, waist-to-hip ratio as well as blood parameters such as triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), total cholesterol (TC), fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FI) and insulin resistance (IR) were measured before and after the 12 week exercise period. Pre and post-test measurements of the groups were analyzed by Wilcoxon Sign-T test, differences between the groups by Kruskal Wallis H test, and paired comparisons of the groups were analyzed by Mann Whitney U test using SPSS 18.0 software. Results: It was found that LICE and PE exercises caused a statistically significant decrease in weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumference, however, there was no statistically significant difference in C group. It was found that both exercises caused a statistically significant decrease in FBS, FI and IR values. Although LDL (p=0.04) and TC (p=0.03) were decreased in LICE group, they remained almost same in the PE group. After 12 weeks of exercise, there was a statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of FI and IR (p=0.01), but there was no significant difference in fasting blood glucose values. A statistically significant decline in IR (p=0.04) was observed in LICE group when compared to C group. Conclusion: LICE program helps to decrease the IR when administered for at least 12 weeks. Pograms should include flexibility and balance impoving exercises such as pilates.

BackgroundObesity has become a major health issue in the world and directly reduces the quality of life. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of aerobic and resistance exercises on body composition and quality of life (QoL) in overweight and obese women. Method An experimental study involving 90 overweight/obese women aged between 20-45 years participated in the study voluntarily and were randomized into control (n=30), aerobic exercise (AE) (n=30), and resistance exercise (RE) (n=30) groups. Either AE or RE groups performed exercise for 60 minutes per day for 10 weeks, whereas the control group did not perform any exercise. The body composition and QoL of the women were measured before and after the exercise. ResultsBody weight, BMI, fat mass, and waist and hip circumferences decreased significantly in both AE and RE groups after the exercise intervention compared to the control group (p<0.05). In addition, quality of life sub-dimensions including physical health, psychological health, social relationship, and environment sub-dimensions improved significantly in the AE and RE groups compared to the control group (p<0.001). Post hoc Tukey test showed that AE was as effective as RE for improving body composition parameters and QoL sub dimension compared to control group. ConclusionThis study demonstrated that both AE and RE were effective in improving body composition and thereby increasing the QoL in overweight and obese women. Both AE and RE programs are effective and should be considered within any multicomponent therapy program in overweight and obese women.