The Effects of 16-Week Circuit Training in Healthy Women

The Effects of 16-Week Circuit Training on Physical Fitness Parameters, Pulmonary Function, and Quality of Life in Healthy Women

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of 16-week CT on physical fitness parameters, pulmonary function, and quality of life in healthy women.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy Women
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Circuit Training

Detailed Description

Circuit training (CT) is an important type of training that can combine different types of exercises in a single form of training. This training is generally circular with the different exercise stations it contains, so it is known as CT. The initial protocol of this training, developed by researchers at the University of Leeds in 1953, consisted of 9 to 12 moderate intensity exercises (40% to 60% of 1RM) performed at different exercise stations and with a specific repetition and duration. Nowadays, it is seen that this training is applied in different intensities and protocols. Also, CT has gained popularity due to its practicality and effectiveness and is preferred by all age groups in recent years.

CT can be applied in many sport settings and does not require expensive equipment. Also, this training can be adjusted to any level of physical fitness and includes bodyweight exercises and functional movements. This training generally includes aerobic and strengthening exercises and improves musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and pulmonary functions. On the other hand, CT allows individual interaction both between participants and between participants and the sports or health professionals who provide this training. Lastly, the hallmark of CT is that it includes different exercise stations and short rest periods without breaks and the advantage of CT is that it effectively improves several parameters of physical fitness simultaneously.

Current literature investigating the effects of CT on physical fitness parameters in different populations is still emerging. However, it was seen that few studies focused on the healthy women population. Also, it was concluded that these studies reported different results regarding the effects of CT. Accordingly, it has been concluded that 6-week CT improved lower and upper extremity muscle strength and endurance, but had no positive effect on flexibility and body composition in healthy women. However, it has been reported that 12-week CT had no positive effect on body composition, knee flexor and extensor muscle strength in healthy women. Lastly, it has been concluded that12-week of CT had positive effects on body composition, and improved flexibility and lower extremity muscle strength in healthy women. These results in the literature suggested there is no clear consensus on the effects of CT on physical fitness parameters in healthy women.

Moreover, the fact that CT also includes aerobic exercises shows this training may also have an effect on pulmonary function. In this context, previous studies reported the positive effects of this training on pulmonary function in adolescent, professional volleyball players, women with sarcopenia, and people with human immunodeficiency virus. However, there is insufficient evidence regarding the effects of CT on pulmonary function in healthy women. To the best of our knowledge, only one previous study reported the positive effects of CT on some pulmonary function in healthy women. Accordingly, it is clear that studies is needed to examine the effects of CT on pulmonary function on healthy women. This training may also improve pulmonary function in healthy women by increasing the performance of the diaphragm muscle through aerobic exercise. Moreover, these positive effects on pulmonary function may also improve quality of life in healthy women. Lastly, similar to physical fitness parameters, studies investigating the effects of CT on quality of life also included different populations. However, it was concluded there were few studies that included healthy women and the results of these studies differed.

Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effects of 16-week CT on physical fitness parameters, pulmonary function, and quality of life in healthy women. Also, the investigators hypothesized that the 16-week CT would be positive effects on physical fitness parameters, pulmonary function, and quality of life in healthy women.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 29
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • İzmir, Turkey
    • Izmir Katip Çelebi University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 45 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• volunteering to participate in study
• not have any musculoskeletal disease

Exclusion Criteria:

• history of malignancy
• using any drugs or supplement
• history of any surgery
• being pregnant

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Training Group; CT will be applied to the participants, taking into account the recommendations of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), 3 days a week, an average of 40 minutes a day, for a total of 16 weeks

Other: Circuit Training; CT will be applied to the participants, taking into account the recommendations of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), 3 days a week, an average of 40 minutes a day, for a total of 16 weeks. Warm-up and cool-down protocols will be applied before and after each CT, and each exercise will be performed as 15 repetitions and an average of 40 seconds of rest will be given between exercises. Also, the intensity of CT will be determined according to the Borg scale (between 11 and 14). CT will include 'mini squat', 'step up', 'sit ups', 'reverse sit ups', 'leg press', 'leg curl', 'leg extension', 'crunches', 'lunge', 'prone bridge', and 'side bridge' exercises.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Body Mass Index (kg/m2)	Body Mass Index (kg/m2) will be assessed with the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis System.	Sixteen week
Waist(cm)/Hip(cm) Ratio (%)	Waist(cm)/Hip(cm) Ratio (%) will be assessed with the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis System.	Sixteen week
Muscle Strength	Muscle strength will be assessed with the isokinetic dynamometer Biodex System-4 Pro (Biodex, Shirley, New York), which is a valid and reliable method. The strength of right/left knee flexor, and extensor muscles of the participants will be determined by mean peak torque at '60°/sec and 180°/sec angular velocities.	Sixteen week
Flexibility	Flexibility will be assessed with the sit-and-reach test, which is a valid, and reliable method. Participants will be asked to reach forward as far as possible three times without bending their knees after one trial. The obtained values (cm) will be recorded and the best value will be used for analysis.	Sixteen week

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second (FEV1) (L/sec)	Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second (FEV1) (L/sec) will be assessed with a spirometer (Minispir, Italy) device. Measurement will be taken with the participant seated and in the resting state. Primarily the nose latch will be fitted to prevent air leakage. Then, the participant will be asked to inhale as much as possible and then exhale as quickly and completely as possible. This process will be repeated 3 times, and the highest values will be used for analysis.	Sixteen week
Forced Vital Capasity (FVC) (L)	Forced Vital Capasity (FVC) (L) will be assessed with a spirometer (Minispir, Italy) device. Measurement will be taken with the participant seated and in the resting state. Primarily the nose latch will be fitted to prevent air leakage. Then, the participant will be asked to inhale as much as possible and then exhale as quickly and completely as possible. This process will be repeated 3 times, and the highest values will be used for analysis.	Sixteen week
FEV1/FVC (%)	FEV1/FVC (%) will be assessed with a spirometer (Minispir, Italy) device. Measurement will be taken with the participant seated and in the resting state. Primarily the nose latch will be fitted to prevent air leakage. Then, the participant will be asked to inhale as much as possible and then exhale as quickly and completely as possible. This process will be repeated 3 times, and the highest values will be used for analysis.	Sixteen week
Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) (L/min)	Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) (L/min) will be assessed with a spirometer (Minispir, Italy) device. Measurement will be taken with the participant seated and in the resting state. Primarily the nose latch will be fitted to prevent air leakage. Then, the participant will be asked to inhale as much as possible and then exhale as quickly and completely as possible. This process will be repeated 3 times, and the highest values will be used for analysis.	Sixteen week
Life Quality	Quality of life will be assessed with the Short Form-36 (SF-36), a valid and reliable scale developed by Ware et al. It includes mainly the physical and the mental function scores. The best score is "100" and the worst score is "0". Higher scores indicate better physical or mental functioning. The obtained physical and the mental function scores will be used for analysis.	sixteen week

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Celal Bayar University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Derya Ozer Kaya, Izmir Katip Çelebi University; Principal Investigator: Seyda Toprak Celenay, Ankara Yildirim Beyazıt University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 15, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 15, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): July 15, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 8, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 17, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): March 21, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 4, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 3, 2023
• Last Verified: August 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Exercise; Women; Health; Physical Fitness
• Other Study ID Numbers: CBU-FTR-ES-O2

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: The investigators do not want to share individual participant data

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No