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Korean J Health Promot > Volume 16(2); 2016 > Article
Yoon, Song, Hwang, Son, Kim, and Song: The Effect of Circuit Training and Workplace Improvement Program on the Prevention of Metabolic Syndrome and the Improvement of Physical Function in Office Workers

Original Article

Korean Journal of Health Promotion 2016;16(2):134-143.

Published online: January 20, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15384/kjhp.2016.16.2.134

The Effect of Circuit Training and Workplace Improvement Program on the Prevention of Metabolic Syndrome and the Improvement of Physical Function in Office Workers

Dong Hyun Yoon1, Han Sol Song1, Su Seung Hwang1, Jun Seok Son1, Dae-Young Kim1, Wook Song1,2,

1Health and Exercise Science Laboratory, Institute of Sports Science, Seoul, Korea

2Institute on Aging, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

Corresponding author: Wook Song, PhD Health and Exercise Science Laboratory, Institute of Sports Sciece, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea
Tel: +82-2-880-7791, Fax: +82-2-872-2867 E-mail: songw3@snu.ac.kr

Received December 16, 2015       Accepted June 02, 2016

Copyright © 2016 The Korean Society of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

Background

Physical inactivity and reduced energy expenditure lead to increase in obesity among office workers. In this study, we investigated how 10 weeks of high intensity circuit training and working environment improvement can change body composition, physical strength and markers of metabolic syndrome.

Methods

A total of 83 employees at risk for metabolic syndrome participated in 10 weeks program of one-hour circuit training (30 minutes twice weekly) and workplace improvement program, which consisted of dynamic stretching twice daily for all weekdays. Body composition, anthropometry, blood test, muscle strength/endur-ance and cardiopulmonary function of participants were assessed at the baseline and after 10 weeks.

Results

At the end of 10 weeks, significant increases in levels of body composition, serum lipids, muscle strength and cardiopulmonary were observed in metabolic syndrome risk factor group. In body composition, significant improvements of body weight, body mass index, lean body mass, %body fat, visceral adipose tissue, waist and hip circumference and systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure were observed in metabolic syndrome risk factor group. In lipids, hemoglobin A1c and high density lipoprotein were increased significantly in metabolic syndrome risk factor group. In muscle strength and endurance, significant increases were found. Also, there was a significant difference in cardiovascular function of maximal oxygen uptake and total running time among the groups.

Conclusions

These intensive 10 weeks of high intensity circuit training and workplace improvement program were effective in improving body composition, muscle strength/improvement and cardiopulmonary function. Therefore, based on this study result, workplace improvement programs might be more developed and applied for high-risk employees to improve their metabolic syndrome.

Keywords: Circuit-based exercise, Occupational health, Metabolic syndrome X, Resistance training, Muscle strength

Figure 1.
Experimental design.
kjhp-16-134f1.jpg
Table 1.
Characteristics and changes in body composition/anthropometry of subjects
  A (n = 16) B (n = 13) C (n = 16)
  Pre Post Pa   Post Pa Pre Post Pa
Age, y 45.88±8.91   44.20±7.10   41.06±6.59  
Height, cm2 170.19±3.0   172.96±2.9   174.63±3.9  
Weight, kg 82.63±12.0 81.83±12.0 0.020 78.25±6.2 76.12±6.6 0.006 81.23±9.1 80.27±8.7 0.009
BMI, kg/m2 28.42±2.9 28.13±3.0 0.022 26.38±1.0 25.42±1.5 0.004 26.61±2.1 26.28±2.0 0.009
BMD, g/cm2 1.18±0.10 1.19±0.10 0.074 1.17±0.09 1.17±0.10 0.248 1.16±0.1 1.14±0.1 0.023
Lean Mass, kg 48.528±8.85 52.745±9.12 0.000 49.853±4.91 56.191±5.41 0.001 49.606±7.5 54.189±8.4 0.001
Body fat, % 32.49±3.7 28.34±4.1 0.000 25.91±3.0 19.54±2.3 0.001 29.19±5.9 25.12±6.3 0.001
VAT Area, cm2 149.59±33.8 133.19±34.6 0.001 109.79±14.3 80.25±12.2 0.001 132.43±27.0 114.07±27.1 0.001
Waist circ., cm 97.38±7.5 93.50±6.6 0.001 92.85±3.4 88.46±4.1 0.001 96.19±4.9 92.06±4.1 <0.001
Hip circ., cm 105.44±5.5 102.34±4.4 0.001 101.62±3.7 98.92±3.2 0.007 103.81±5.0 100.75±4.4 0.001
Systolic BP, mmHg 128.94±12.2 135.81±18.8 0.088 130.23±8.3 124.38±8.5 0.025 132.44±6.9 127.81±10.5 0.105
Diastolic BP, mmHg 86.94±7.1 84.06±11.6 0.245 84.08±6.6 74.31±6.8 0.003 84.25±10.8 82.44±6.5 0.409

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; BMD, bone mineral density; Waist circ, waist circumference; Hip circ., hip circumference; BP, blood pressure. Values are presented as mean±SD.

aCalculated by Wilcoxon signed rank test.

Table 2.
Changes in blood profiles of subjects
  A (n = 16) B (n = 13) C (n = 16)
  Pre Post Pa Pre Post Pa Pre Post Pa
Cholesterol, mg/dL 202.13±34.3 203.13±32.5 0.691 192.15±29.4 192.00±29.0 0.972 201.31±31.9 200.00±34.4 0.737
TG, mg/dL 165.25±91.9 164.00±69.9 0.836 156.31±71.6 130.38±57.2 0.442 207.81±102.2 156.25±61.1 0.063
HDL-C, mg/dL 50.5±16.0 51.94±15.9 0.441 48.15±11.1 52.77±12.7 0.007 47.31±15.0 49.81±12.6 0.070
LDL-C, mg/dL 131.81±35.6 133.31±28.8 0.569 128.62±23.9 125.31±27.2 0.600 127.63±31.9 130.44±32.2 0.518
HbA1c mol/mol 6.48±1.2 6.09±0.7 0.001 5.69±0.2 5.51±0.2 0.009 5.91±0.3 5.76±0.3 0.035

Abbreviations: TG, triglyceride; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HbA1C, hemoglobin A1c. Values are presented as mean±SD.

aCalculated by Wilcoxon signed rank test.

Table 3.
Changes in muscle strength and muscle endurance
  A (n = 16) B (n = 13) C (n = 16)
  Pre Post Pa Pre Post Pa Pre Post Pa
60°/sec peak torque (Nm) / %BW                  
Extensor 204.6±34.0 217.4±35.9 0.006 230.5±19.9 241.5±20.5 0.023 215.8±45.2 230.4±47.0 0.025
Flexor 105.8±19.3 111.4±17.7 0.047 130.3±24.4 140.5±25.1 0.040 115.6±32.1 124.9±30.9 0.009
Ratio 52.5 51.2   56.5 58.1   53.5 54.2  
60°/sec average power per repetition (W) / %BW                  
Extensor 131.2±20.1 140.5±24.3 0.006 145.9±15.1 158.9±14.3 0.004 140.5±31.5 152.6±28.9 0.011
Flexor 79.3±15.4 86.6±15.21 0.016 100.6±18.5 108.6±18.3 0.009 89.4±24.0 97.5±24.6 0.014
Ratio 60.4 61.6   68.9 68.3   63.6 63.8  
240°/sec average torque (Nm) / %BW                  
Extensor 218.4±53.9 241.1±46.8 0.016 246.2±27.9 266.2±28.9 0.025 222.7±61.3 265.8±57.5 0.000
Flexor 113.3±29.8 125.5±32.5 0.033 139.1±35.0 159.8±27.7 0.006 125.4±35.7 153.1±41.7 0.001
Ratio 51.8 52.0   56.4 60.0   56.3 57.5  
240°/sec total work done (Nm)                  
Extensor 1409.3±309.7 1563.1±253.4 0.001 1531.2±155.1 1771.4±166.0 0.001 1366.1±313.0 1692.3±333.1 0.000
Flexor 701.5±192.5 779.2±269.8 0.105 845.2±241.8 1043.1±164.8 0.013 793.4±187.0 940.6±248.5 0.002
Ratio 49.7 49.8   55.1 58.8   58.0 55.5  
Grip strength (kg)                  
  40.5±9.1 39.5±8.6 0.214 42.6±4.9 43.05±5.6 0.507 39.7±7.7 41.5±7.5 0.103

Abbreviations: Nm, newton-meters; W, watts; %BW, % body weight. Values are presented as mean±SD.

aCalculated by Wilcoxon signed rank test.

Table 4.
Changes in cardiovascular capacity of subjects
  A (n = 16) B (n = 13) C (n = 16)
  Pre Post Pa Pre Post Pa Pre Post Pa
VO2max, mL·kg·min 32.19±4.0 36.54±4.1 0.000 34.65±3.1 39.1±2.8 0.001 30.93±4.8 35.02±6.4 0.002
mL·kg·min                  
LT, s 306.5±123.2 280.5±109.3 0.110 308.4±81.6 301.3±109.1 0.721 221.8±63.0 268.6±125.0 0.046
Total RT, s 570.4±87.0 619.93±74.3 0.001 649.0±59.3 692.4±59.5 0.004 573.8±75.3 607.9±85.2 0.017

Abbreviations: LT, lactate threshold; Total RT, total running time. Values are presented as mean±SD.

aCalculated by Wilcoxon signed rank test.

Table 5.
Changes in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome of subjects
  A (n = 16) B (n = 13) C (n = 16)
  Pre Post Change (%) Pa Pre Post Change (%) Pa Pre Post Change (%) Pa
TG, mg/dL 165.25±91.9 164.00±69.9 –0.76 0.836 156.31±71.6 130.38±57.2 –16.59 0.442 207.81±102.2 156.25±61.1 –24.81 0.063
HDL-C, mg/dL 50.5±16.0 51.94±15.9 2.85 0.441 48.15±11.1 52.77±12.7 9.60 0.007 47.31±15.0 49.81±12.6 5.28 0.070
Waist circ., cm 97.38±7.5 93.50±6.6 –3.98 0.001 92.85±3.4 88.46±4.1 – 4.73 0.001 96.19±4.9 92.06±4.1 – 4.30 <0.001
HbA1c mol/mol 6.48±1.2 6.09±0.7 –6.01 0.001 5.69±0.2 5.51±0.2 – 3.16 0.009 5.91±0.3 5.76±0.3 – 2.54 0.035
Systolic BP, mmHg 128.94±12.2 135.81±18.8 5.33 0.088 130.23±8.3 124.38±8.5 – 4.50 0.025 132.44±6.9 127.81±10.5 – 3.50 0.105
Diastolic BP mmHg , 86.94±7.1 84.06±11.6 –3.31 0.245 84.08±6.6 74.31±6.8 –11.62 0.003 84.25±10.8 82.44±6.5 – 2.15 0.409

Abbreviations: TG, triglyceride; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; Waist circ, waist circumference; HbA1C, hemoglobin A1c. Values are presented as mean±SD.

aCalculated by Wilcoxon signed rank test.

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