Effect of Moderate Intensity Exercise on Body Composition Measurements

ABSTRACT

The purpose was to determine the effect of 30-minutes of moderate intensity (45–55% of heart rate reserve) on post-exercise (PE) body composition (BC) measurements. Pre-exercise (PreE) BC measurements were taken using air displacement plethysmography (ADP) and bioelectrical impedance analysis including lower-body (LBIA), whole-body (WBIA), and upper-body (UBIA). Forty-eight participants (27 females) were assigned to an exercise condition along with 25 (12 females) to the control condition. BC measurements were recorded immediate PE (PE0), 15-minutes PE (PE15), and 30-minutes PE (PE30). PreE body fat percent (BF%) measurements were 19.7 ± 7.7%, 22.2 ± 9.5%, 24.5 ± 8.8%, and 26.0 ± 8.5% for the UBIA, ADP, LBIA, and WBIA. There was no effect of exercise on UBIA or WBIA. Decreases in PE BF% measurements using ADP and LBIA were found (~2.5%). ADP BF% at PreE was equivalent to PE30, but post-exercise BF% measures remained for LBIA. Therefore, it is reasonable to measure body composition via ADP at PE30.

KEYWORDS:

• Adiposity
• bioelectrical impedance
• air displacement plethysmography

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Dr. Sharon Renner for her statistical expertise and Mary Mancin, Joshua Remy, Aerial Emery, and Justin Clinkscales for their help in data collection.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.