Study of Weight Loss Parameters Among Sedentary, Overweight Postmenopausal Females Using Different Time Models of Aquafit

Although time models of Aquafit are necessary among clinical guidelines to reduce weight, their implications on the health of the body are still controversial.

This study aimed to examine whether different time models of Aquafit per se would have beneficial effects on weight loss parameters.

This prospective experimental research was conducted at the Ukrainian Sports Medicine Center (Kyiv, 2017) for 12 weeks. Selected volunteers from sedentary, overweight postmenopausal females (66 individuals) were randomly divided into two exercise programs, containing 33 females per group: moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT, mean age and BMI of 53.5 ± 6.3 years and 28.6 ± 1.2 kg/m2, respectively), and high-intensity interval training (HIIT, mean age and BMI of 54.6 ± 5.4 years and 28.7 ± 1.1 kg/m2, respectively). Both study groups performed water aerobics with three sessions of 60 minutes a week with similar energy expenditures (1500 kcal per week). Parameters of weight loss, such as body mass, BMI, lipid profile, and circumference of the waist, have been calculated before and after the study.

Compared with initial data, all studied parameters in both intervention groups were significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Significant differences were only found in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) between MICT and HIIT groups (P < 0.001). As well as, total cholesterol (T-C) to HDL-C ratio in HIIT was increased more than the MICT group (respectively, 0.75 and 0.69; P < 0.001).

Weight loss caused by Aquafit results in the decrease of pro-atherogenic lipoproteins (T-C and LDL-C) in both groups of females during the menopause, whereas a further rise of HDL-C increases as a critical element of cholesterol transport, only with HIIT.