The Social Distance Impacts from COVID-19 Pandemic on the Development of Two Orders of a Concurrent Training Programme for Morbidly Obese Patients

Pedro Delgado-Floody; Luis Chirosa-Ríos; Iris Paola Guzmán-Guzmán; Claudia Andrea Vargas; Karina Sandoval-Aguilera; Felipe Caamaño-Navarrete; Francisco Guede-Rojas; Cristian Alvarez

doi:10.3390/ijerph192013408

The Social Distance Impacts from COVID-19 Pandemic on the Development of Two Orders of a Concurrent Training Programme for Morbidly Obese Patients

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Oct 17;19(20):13408. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192013408.

Authors

Pedro Delgado-Floody^{1

2

3}, Luis Chirosa-Ríos^{2

3}, Iris Paola Guzmán-Guzmán⁴, Claudia Andrea Vargas¹, Karina Sandoval-Aguilera¹, Felipe Caamaño-Navarrete⁵, Francisco Guede-Rojas⁶, Cristian Alvarez⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Education, Sport and Recreation, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4811230, Chile.
² Department Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain.
³ Strength & Conditioning Laboratory, CTS-642 Research Group, Department Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain.
⁴ Faculty of Chemical-Biological Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero, Chilpancingo 39087, Mexico.
⁵ Physical Education Career, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Temuco 4780000, Chile.
⁶ Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, School of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago de Chile 7591538, Chile.

Abstract

Background: Although there is relevant information regarding the consequences of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), little is known about the impact of the imposed social confinement (at home) on the development of exercise training programmes in populations with morbid obesity.

Aim: To describe the effects of the imposed COVID-19 confinement on the cardiometabolic health benefits acquired through a concurrent training programme that started before the pandemic in populations with morbid obesity.

Methods: This was an experimental randomized clinical study, in which sedentary morbidly obese women were assigned 1:1 to a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) plus resistance training (RT) group (HIIT + RT; n = 11; BMI 42.1 ± 6.6) or to the same exercise dose, but in different order group of RT plus HIIT group (RT + HIIT; n = 7; BMI 47.5 ± 8.4). Both groups undertook two sessions/week. When COVID-19 confinement at home started, a post-test was applied in January 2020 (Post1) and after 20 months (Post2). The main outcomes were waist circumference (WC), systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), high-density lipids (HDL-c), triglycerides (Tg), and fasting plasma glucose (FPG).

Results: In the HIIT + RT group, the WC showed significant increases from Post1 to Post2 (Δ + 3.1 cm, p = 0.035); in the RT + HIIT group, it decreased from Post1 to Post2 (Δ - 4.8 cm, p = 0.028). In the HIIT + RT group, SBP showed significant increases from Post1 to Post2 (Δ + 6.2 mmHg, p = 0.041); the RT + HIIT group decreased SBP from Pre0 to Post1 (Δ - 7.2 mmHg, p = 0.026) and increased DBP from Pre0 to Post1 (Δ + 8.1 mmHg, p = 0.015). Tg in the HIIT + RT group decreased from Pre0 to Post1 (Δ - 40.1 mg/dL, p = 0.023) but increased from Post1 to Post2 (Δ + 86.3 mg/dL, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: The COVID-19 social confinement worsened metabolic syndrome (MetS) outcomes that had improved from 20 weeks' RT + HIIT during the training period, such as WC, SBP, and Tg from HIIT + RT, when, worryingly, SBP increased to another more serious clinical classification in both groups.

Keywords: cardiometabolic risk factor; concurrent training; high-intensity interval training; metabolic syndrome; morbid obesity; resistance training.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Blood Glucose / metabolism
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Female
High-Intensity Interval Training*
Humans
Lipids
Metabolic Diseases*
Obesity, Morbid* / epidemiology
Obesity, Morbid* / therapy
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2
Triglycerides

Substances

Blood Glucose
Lipids
Triglycerides

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the University de La Frontera, Chile Project DI21-0030 and Project FRO1895. The postdoctoral researcher Pedro Delgado-Floody has a contract through the programme “Recualificación del Profesorado Universitario. Modalidad María Zambrano”, Universidad de Granada/Ministerio de Universidades y Fondos Next Generation de la Unión Europea.