Associations between functional, quality-of-life, and cardiometabolic changes following a concurrent training program in university students with overweight and obesity

Abstract

Background

Concurrent training has demonstrated beneficial effects on functional, cardiometabolic, and quality-of-life outcomes in individuals with overweight and obesity. However, evidence regarding the relationships between exercise-induced changes across these domains remains limited, particularly among university students.

Objective

To analyze the associations between changes in functional, cardiometabolic, and quality-of-life variables following a 12-week concurrent training program in university students with overweight or obesity.

Methods

Functional, cardiometabolic, and quality-of-life variables were assessed before and after a 12-week concurrent training intervention. Pre-to-post changes were calculated, and associations between changes were analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. The Benjamini–Hochberg procedure was applied to control for multiple comparisons.

Results

A heterogeneous response was observed across the domains assessed. None of the functional correlations remained statistically significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons. The strongest functional association was observed between the standing long jump and the 30-second sit-to-stand test (STS-30s). In secondary analyses, associations between quality of life and physical function were observed, particularly between the physical component and total score of the SF-12 and the prone plank test, and between the mental component of the SF-12 and the six-minute walk test (6MWT). Cardiometabolic associations were less consistent and did not remain significant after adjustment.

Conclusion

Changes following concurrent training showed a heterogeneous pattern across the domains assessed. As none of the associations remained statistically significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons, these findings should be interpreted as exploratory.