The Effect of 12-Weeks Pilates Body Training on Serum Levels of Apelin and Omentin-1 in Inactive and Overweight Women

Recently it has been shown that some adipose tissue-derived hormones, such as apelin and omentin, can be effective in regulating metabolic metabolism. So the aim of the current study was to examine the effect of 12-weeks Pilates’ body training on serum levels of apelin and omentin-1 in inactive and overweight women.

This is a pre-test and post-test clinical trial study in which 28 volunteer overweight women with average BMI of 27.2±1.1 kg/m2 participated. They were randomly divided into training group (n=14) and control group (n=14). Pilates exercise training was performed 3 sessions per week, 60 min per session for 12 weeks. In order to measure the changes in serum levels of apelin and omentine-1, blood samples were taken after 12-14 hours at fasting status in two steps, 48 hours before the first training session and 48 hours after the last training session. The paired t-test and the ANCOVA test were used to examine intra-group and inter-group differences, respectively.

Based on the findings of this study, 12 weeks of Pilates training had a significant decrease in apelin serum levels in both intra-group and inter-group with significance level of (p=0.001) and (p=0.009) respectively. Serum levels of omentin-1 also changed significantly in both intra-group and inter-group. The serum levels of omentin-1 in the exercise group significantly increased after 12 weeks compared to pre-training with significance level of (p=0.002) and in comparison with the control group with significance level of (p=0.003).

Regarding to the results of the current study and the positive effect of Pilates exercise on adipokines levels, it seems that Pilates exercise can be a functional factor for regulating adipose tissue hormones (adipokines) in obese or overweight women, and overweight people can do Pilates exercise  based on their ability.