Effects of a 6-week controled exercise program and semi-controled diet on body fat and skeletal muscle mass in adults

Aim. To investigate the effects of a 6-week of controlled exercise program followed by a semi-controlled dietary regimen on indicators of body fat mass (BF) and skeletal muscle mass (SMM) of adults. Materials and methods. The sample consisted of 28 particpants with the main characteristics of the sample being: age = 29.70 ± 8.35 years, body height (BH) = 177.35 ± 9.36 cm, and body mass (BM) = 105.20 ± 27.06 kg. Body composition parameters, BM, body fat mass (BF), trunk fat (TF), skeletal muscle mass (SMM), percent of body fat (PBF), percent of skeletal muscle mass (PSMM), body mass index (BMI), and index of hypokinesia (IH) were collected before and after six weeks of exercise program and semi-controlled diet regimen. A Paired sample T-test and effect size (ES) were used to determine the effects and their magnitude of the treatment applied. Results. A 6-week treatment significantly affected investigated variables, wherein BF (-6.75 kg, p < 0.001), TF (-3.28 kg, p < 0.001), and SMM (-0.91 kg, p = 0.003) tissue decreased in a different degree, leading to a small but highly significant increase in PSMM (2.60 %, p < 0.001). A decrease in BF and SMM resulted in a significant reduction in BMI, while IH decreased in a smaller degree than BMI because PBF and PSMM changed inversely. Conclusion. Six weeks of a controlled exercise program 3 times/week and semi-controlled diet is an effective approach to the reduction of BM, BF, and TF and to increasing the movement potential by changing the proportions of PBF and PSMM.