Effects of an Eight-Week Concurrent Training Program with Different Effort Character over Physical Fitness, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Lipid Profile among Hospital Workers: Preliminary Results

Abstract

El estudio evaluó los efectos de un programa de entrenamiento concurrente de ocho semanas con diferente “carácter de esfuerzo” (EC 50% y EC 100%) sobre la condición física, la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud y el perfil lipídico en trabajadores hospitalarios. Catorce participantes fueron asignados aleatoriamente a los grupos EC 50% o EC 100%. Ambos programas combinaron ejercicios de resistencia y fuerza dos veces por semana. Los resultados mostraron mejoras significativas en fuerza muscular y movilidad funcional en ambos grupos, sin diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre ellos, a pesar de que el grupo EC 50% realizó la mitad del volumen de trabajo. No se observaron cambios relevantes en la calidad de vida, aunque se registraron mejoras en el perfil lipídico (reducción de LDL-C en EC 50% y aumento de HDL-C en EC 100%). Los hallazgos sugieren que programas de menor volumen pueden ser igual de efectivos y favorecer la adherencia al ejercicio.

Background: The “effort character” (EC) is a resistance training method without reaching muscle failure. It was defined by González-Badillo and Gorostiaga Ayestarán (2002) as the rela- tionship between the repetitions performed and the repetitions achievable. Then, the EC is at its maximum (i.e., 100%) when the subject realizes all the repetitions possible in a series with any load. Therefore, an EC of 50% indicates execution of 50% of the repetitions achievable in a series. This study aimed to determine the effects of two programs of eight weeks of concurrent training (CT) with different EC over muscle strength (MS), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), functional mobility (FM), health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and lipid profile (LP) among hospital workers. Methods: Fourteen hospital workers (age: 41.1 ± 10.8 years; body mass: 63.0 ± 10.8 kg; height: 165.2 ± 6.5 cm; body mass index (BMI): 23.0 ± 3.4 kg/m2) were randomly assigned to an EC 50% (n = 7) or EC 100% (n = 7) group. Results: The main finding was that both groups significantly improved in MS and FM levels but not HRQoL, with no statistical differences between EC 50% and EC 100% in adherence and any test despite performing half the volume of the strength workout. Conclusions: An eight-week CT program with different EC (i.e., EC 50% vs. EC 100%) seems to improve the MS and FM levels in hospital workers similarly. These findings could be very useful in health-training practices because of the possibility of planning training loads with half the volume of strength workouts without the loss of any training adaptation.