This study was carried out in order to find out effects of the exercise intensity in walking exercise program for 12 weeks on inflammatory responses and insulin resistance for the obese middle-aged women. The research groups consisted of the middle-intensity exercise group(n=10), high-intensity exercise group(n=10), and control group(n=10). Each group had exercise 5 times a week for 12 weeks with the treadmill. The middle-intensity group had exercised for 50 minutes at 40-60%HRR and the high-intensity group had for 40 minutes at 60-80%HRR. The changes of obesity, inflammatory responses, and insulin resistance in each group were measured and analyzed at pre- and post- walking exercise program for verifying exercise effectiveness. The results are as follows.
The obesity markers(weight, %body fat, and waist circumference), inflammatory responses(TNF-a, IL-6, and hs-CRP), and insulin resistance(blood-sugar, insulin, and HOMA-IR) of obese middle-aged women after doing the walking exercise program were significantly decreased compared to pre-program, but the differences in the exercise intensity did not appear.
The waking exercise for 12 weeks had lessened the weight and the body fat of obese middle-aged women with improved the inflammatory markers like a TNF-a, IL-6, hs-CRP meaningfully. These results led to the positive effects such as the lowering the risk of metabolic syndrome by decreasing the insulin resistance. However, there were no difference in the obesity markers, inflammatory responses, and insulin resistance variables between the middle-intensity exercise in 40-60%HRR and high-intensity exercise in 60-80%HRR. From these results, it is considered that the effectiveness of walking exercises is much influenced by the total exercising quantity(exercising time, exercise intensity, exercising frequency) rather than the exercise intensity.