Effects of a 12-week Combined Pilates and Weight-bearing Exercise Program on Physical Fitness and Lifestyle Disease Indicators in Postmenopausal Obese Women

This study investigated the effects of a 12-week combined Pilates and weight-bearing exercise program on physical fitness and lifestyle disease indicators in postmenopausal obese women.Participants in the training group (TR; n=12) performed 60 minutes per session, 3 sessions per week for 12 weeks, while the control group (CON; n=12) maintained their usual lifestyle.Two-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant decreases in body weight, fat mass, and waist-to-hip ratio, and significant improvements in muscular strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance in the TR.In addition, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, bone alkaline phosphatase, and bone mineral density improved significantly in the TR.These findings suggest that combined Pilates and weight-bearing exercises can improve body composition, physical fitness, and lifestyle disease risk factors in postmenopausal obese women.