The effects of a yoga training program with fit ball on the physical fitness and body composition of overweight or obese women

A quasi-experimental study was to determine the effects of a yoga training program with fit ball on the physical fitness and body composition of overweight or obese women. Thirty participants were recruited in this study. The participants were aged between 30 to 45 years, and with 23.0 to 29.9 kg/m2 of BMI. The study was divided into three phases, namely, the pre-training period (the 1st week to the 8th week), training period (the 9th week to the 16th week), and home program period (the 17th week to the 24th week). The outcome measurements were physical fitness (flexibility, balance, muscular strength and muscular endurance) and body composition (weight, height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR), fat percentage and muscle mass). A one-way ANOVA with repeated measures and Bonferroni were used. After training period and home program period, outcome measurements showed significant improvement except in the WHR case. It was found that the results of the yoga training program with fit ball increased after the 16th week and the 24th week. The physical fitness increased as follows: flexibility, balance, muscular strength and muscular endurance (p=0.001**). More importantly, the body composition decreased: the weight (p=0.001**); the BMI (p=0.001*); waist circumference (WC) (p=0.001*); waist-hip ratio (WHR) (p= 1.000); fat percentage (p=0.001**); and the muscular muscle mass increased (p=0.001*). Therefore, the eight-week training of yoga with fit ball can improve some parameters of physical fitness and body composition in overweight or obese women.