Aim: Hypertension and obesity frequently coexist and increase cardiovascular risk through vascular dysfunction, autonomic imbalance, and metabolic dysregulation. This study investigated the effects of an 8-week mat Pilates program on body composition, blood pressure, vascular function, autonomic nervous system activity, and health-related physical fitness in obese men with elevated or stage 1 hypertension. Methods: Twenty-three men with elevated or stage 1 hypertension and a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2 were initially recruited and randomly assigned to a control group (CON) or an experimental group (EXP). After withdrawal or loss to follow-up, 20 participants completed the study and were included in the final analysis (CON, n = 10; EXP, n = 10). The EXP performed mat Pilates three times per week for eight weeks, while CON maintained their usual lifestyle. Outcomes were assessed before and after the intervention. Results: Significant group × time interaction effects were observed for body weight, BMI, fat mass, hemodynamic variables, vascular indices, selected heart rate variability measures, and health-related physical fitness. Lean body mass and percent body fat improved significantly within the EXP, although the corresponding interaction effects were not significant. Overall, the EXP showed more favorable changes than the CON in several cardiometabolic and fitness-related outcomes. Conclusions: An 8-week mat Pilates program was associated with favorable changes in body composition, blood pressure and vascular function, autonomic nervous system indices, and health-related physical fitness in obese men with elevated or stage 1 hypertension. However, because body weight and fat mass also decreased and the sample size was small, these findings should be interpreted cautiously. This study cannot determine whether the changes resulted from the Pilates intervention itself, concurrent body composition changes, or their combined effects. Trial registration: KCT0010502; https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/index/index.do.
Yerin Sun, Suna Lee, Bak-Geun Jeon et al.· Exploration of Medicine· 0 citations
Background/Objectives: Mat Pilates is widely recommended for middle-aged women, but whether baseline obesity modifies its effects remains unclear. This study compared responses to a 12-week mat Pilates programme between non-obese and obese middle-aged women across body-composition, cardiovascular, blood-metabolic, haemorheological and autonomic endpoints. Methods: In an exploratory secondary analysis of a completed, uncontrolled single-arm intervention cohort, de-identified pre- and post-intervention data from 32 premenopausal women (47.5 ± 7.6 years) were stratified by BMI into non-obese (NOG; <25 kg/m2; n = 14) and obese (OG; ≥25 kg/m2; n = 18) groups using WHO Asia-Pacific criteria. All completed identical 60 min sessions three times weekly for 12 weeks, with intensity progressed every four weeks. Outcomes were analysed with mixed-design ANOVA and Bonferroni-corrected paired t-tests. Results: Group × time interactions were significant for body weight, fat mass and percent body fat (p < 0.05). Flow-mediated dilation rose in both groups (NOG +15.6%, OG +29.7%; p < 0.05). Group × time interactions were non-significant for blood pressure, lipids and haemorheology; obesity-dependent claims are therefore restricted to the outcomes with significant interactions (body weight, fat mass, percent body fat). For the remaining outcomes, within-group changes reached significance only in the OG (total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, aggregation index, critical shear stress) or only in the NOG (diastolic and mean arterial pressure) but did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusions: Following the programme, endothelial function improved in both groups, whereas body-composition responses differed significantly by obesity status. Because this uncontrolled secondary analysis lacked a non-exercising control group, these associations cannot be attributed causally to mat Pilates. The apparent BMI dependence was not reproduced when adiposity was modelled continuously (baseline BMI, percent body fat or fat mass), so all between-group contrasts are hypothesis-generating. Adequately powered randomised controlled trials with a non-exercising comparator and objective monitoring of diet, non-exercise activity, sleep and menstrual-cycle phase are needed before BMI-dependent adaptations to mat Pilates can be considered established.
Won-sang Jung, Won-Je Kim, Eunjoo Lee et al.· Metabolites· 0 citations
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