It has been known that the obesity related health risk factors are associated with total adiposity as well as the regional distribution of adipose tissue. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of self-paced aerobic plus resistance exercise program on changes in body composition, in particular abdominal fat, and lipid in thirteen older women. Subjects (65∼78 year) exercised 3 times/week for 12 week. Body composition was measured by the impedance method, and regional body composition was assessed by computed tomography. There was little but significant change in body weight (58.6±9.6 vs. 57.3±9.6 kg, p<0.05), total body fat (34.5± 6.8 vs. 33.0±5.9%) and subcutaneous fat area (218.3±74.4 vs. 213.6±86.4 cm2) in these subjects. Unexpectedly, visceral fat area was found to increase (115.5±42.0 vs. 124.0±49.1 cm2, p<0.05) after a self-paced exercise program in older women. There were significant changes in the systolic (p<0.01) and diastolic blood pressure(p<0.01), serum levels of total cholesterol (p<0.05) and basal glucose (p<0.05) not in triglyceride. In conclusion, although the internal abdominal adipose tissue and triglyceride did not decrease, these findings provide evidence that self-paced exercise with aerobic and resistance training is an effective intervention to change the subcutaneous fat area and to improve the coronary artery disease risk factors for older persons without diet.

Keywords: Self-paced exercise, Aging, Visceral adipose tissue, Coronary artery disease risk factors