The Effect of Aerobic and Resistance Concurrent Training on Leptin and Cortisol Levels in Overweight and Obese Anxious Adolescent Girls

The purpose of this study was to investigation the effect of aerobic and resistance exercise leptin and cortisol levels in overweight and obese anxious adolescent girls.

In this quasi- experimental study, 30 over weight and obese anxious teenage girls were randomly divided to experimental (n = 15, age: 16.33 ± 0.97 years, BMI: 30.48 ± 3.26 kg/m2) and control (n = 15, age: 16.53 years, BMI: 30.32 ± 2.21 kg/m2) groups.
Participants in experimental group performed aerobic exercise training program consisted of 3 sessions per week, each session of 90 minutes for 8 weeks. Aerobic exercises performed at 60-80% of maximal heart rate and resistance training performed at 50-70% of one-repetition maximum. Leptin, cortisol levels and anxiety variables were measured before and after 8 weeks of exercise. Data were analyzed using independent and dependent t-test and Spss statistical software version 22 and the significance level was considered at < 0.05.

The results indicated that 8 weeks of Concurrent training caused a significantly decrease in leptin (P = 0.01) and anxiety (P = 0.04). However, there was no significantly difference in cortisol levels (P > 0.05).

It seems that 8 weeks aerobic and resistance concurrent training may significantly improve leptin and anxiety levels in overweight and obese adolescent girls