Effect of Aerobic Exercise Training on Aortic Wave Velocity in Obese Subjects: A Report of Five Cases

Background: Aerobic exercise training clearly improves a number of traditional cardiovascular risk factors in populations at elevated risk, such as the obese. The purpose of this pilot investigation was to examine the effect of an aerobic exercise training program on arterial compliance in obese individuals.
Case Report: Five subjects [1 male/4 female, mean age 43.8 (±9.7) years] participated in this study. Each subject underwent a 10-week training program (20-40 minute aerobic training sessions 3-5 times per week). Aortic wave velocity (AWV), a metric of vessel stiffness, was assessed in the thoracic aorta using a magnetic resonance imaging technique. Non-parametric statistics (Wilcoxon Signed Ranks and Friedman Test) were used to assess the impact of aerobic exercise training on maximal oxygen consumption (VO2Max), oxygen consumption at ventilatory threshold (VO2 at
VT), body mass index (BMI), and AWV. Improvements in VO2Max [24.3 (±6.0) vs. 26.0 (±5.9) ml•kg-1•min-1], VO2 at VT [15.0 (±3.2) vs. 17.9 (±2.6) ml•kg-1•min-1] and BMI [41.1 (±5.2) vs. 39.4 (±5.8) kg/m2] were all significant following training (p

Keywords: aerobic exercise, arterial stiffness, Obesity