Abstract:

Aim: To investigate the effects of a program of gymnastics on body composition and aerobic conditioning of students in a federal institution. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of 20 students of a federal institution in the Tucuruí-PA city with 21.05 ± 4.5 years for both sexes. The program consisted of aerobics and localized classes, often three times weekly in alternate days for two months period. The variables evaluated were: body composition using the Body Mass Index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR), body density and body Fat percentage (Protocol and Jackson Pollock -3DC) and Cooper test to verify cardiorespiratory fitness. We used the Student t test and Wilcoxon according to the normal distribution for statistical analysis. Results: There was a statistically significant improvement for the variables related to aerobic conditioning, which are: the distance in the Cooper test with (Δ% = 12.2%, p = 0.031) and VO2Máx(Δ% = 15%, p = 0.032). However, there was no statistical improvement (p >0.05) for body composition variables. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that the effect of an exercise program with two months of intervention was effective for aerobic conditioning and was also beneficial for the maintenance of body composition of young people undergoing training.

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