The Effect of Aerobic Training with Vitamin D Supplementation on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Obese Women

Vitamin D has an important role in treatment and prevention of metabolic syndrome which may enhance the benefits of sportive training. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of 8 weeks of aerobic training with and without vitamin D supplementation on metabolic syndrome parameters in sedentary women. In this semi-experimental study with pretest–post designs، thirty obese middle-age women (aged 44. 25±5. 4 y) were randomly assigned to aerobic training only (RG)، vitamin D supplementation (50000IU/w) plus aerobic training (VR) and control (non-exercising=CG) groups. Aerobic training program was performed 50-60 min/d، 3d/wk، for 2 months. Serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D، body composition and metabolic parameters were assessed before and after the training period. Vitamin D supplementation increased serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels significantly (P<0. 05). Aerobic training caused significant improvement in body weight، waist circumference، HDL-cholesterol، blood glucose and insulin resistance index (P<0. 05). Vitamin D supplementation in conjunction with aerobic training lead to greater improvement in adiposity indices، HDL-cholesterol، LDL-cholesterol، total cholesterol، triglyceride، blood glucose and insulin resistance index (P<0. 05). These results suggest that aerobic training is a safe and effective for improving cardiometabolic health in middle-age women. Also vitamin D combination can enhance some of the beneficial effects of training over a two-month period.