Effects of Aerobic-Anaerobic Exercise on Social Avoidance, Positive and Negative Affects, and Self-Consciousness of Obese Women

Abstract

Background: We aimed to investigate the effects of aerobic-anaerobic exercise on social avoidance, positive and negative emotions, and self-awareness in obese women as well as provide some basis for guiding them to increase their physical exercise and promote physical and mental health.
 Methods: Sixty obese women (body mass index≥23 kg/m2) who volunteered to participate in the experiment were selected in Tianjin, China in 2022, and divided into control group and observation group with 30 people in each group. The control group received normal physical training, whereas the observation group received a uniform diet and an aerobic-anaerobic exercise intervention based on normal physical training that lasted for 12 weeks. The changes in the two groups before and after the intervention were compared.
 Results: After intervention, the body fat rate and fat weight of obese women in the observation group were significantly decreased, the lean body weight and muscle weight were significantly increased, and the improvement of body composition index was better than those in the control group was (P<0.05). The obese women in the observation group showed lower scores in negative affect and higher scores in positive affect (P<0.05). The obese women in the observation group showed higher scores in comfort, health assessment, satisfaction of body parts, overweight, gregariousness, anxiety, physical appearance and properties, intelligence, school situation, and behavior, while the observation group received lower scores in social avoidance and social distress.
 Conclusion: Aerobic-anaerobic exercise has a better role in strengthening the physical exercise and physical and mental development of obese women.

Exploring the Nexus between Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity, Self-Disclosure, Social Anxiety, and Adolescent Social Avoidance: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Study in Central China

“…Kagawa et al [57] found that as the physical activity-pleasure index (PA-PI) increased, avoidance/rumination behaviors gradually decreased. Aerobic-anaerobic exercise can improve body composition and shape in obese women, enhance self-image and self-awareness, reduce social avoidance and distress, and achieve the goal of boosting self-esteem, confidence, and social skills [58]. Based on previous research, it can be inferred that there may be a negative correlation between physical activity and social avoidance.…”