Vol. 49 - No. 1 EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL AND REHABILITATION MEDICINE 1 Effects of aerobic or combined aerobic resistance exercise on body composition in overweight and obese adults: gender differences. A randomized intervention study Clinical rehabilitation impact. Dissimilar results of exercises on sex obtained in our study serves as a guide for prescribing exercises in overweight and obese men and women. KEY WORDS: Obesity - Resistance training - Body composi- tion - Gender identity. T he World Health Organization (WHO) defnes overweight and obesity as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health. Body Mass Index (BMI), which is calculated by dividing the weight by the square of the height (kg/m 2 ), is com- monly used in classifying obesity in adults. A BMI of 25-29.9 and ≥30 defnes overweight and obesity respectively. 1 Because obesity, especially abdomi- nal obesity, is associated with an increased risk of multiple health problems, including cardiovascular diseases (mainly heart disease and stroke), diabetes, degenerative joint disease, and some cancers, it is an important public health issue. 1 Weight reduction is the common goal in the treatment of obesity. There is suffcient evidence supporting the role of exercise training in promoting weight loss. 2 Many studies in- vestigated the effects of exercise types (aerobic and/ or resistance) on weight loss; while in some studies it was demonstrated that both exercises were inef- fective 3-5 in the others aerobic exercise 6-8 or both 1 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Faculty of Medicine, Pamukkale University Denizli, Turkey 2 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey E. SANAL 1 , F. ARDIC 1 , S. KIRAC 2 Background. In the literature, it is not yet clear whether sex may affect the outcomes of exercise training in obese adults. Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate gen- der difference in the effects of combined aerobic resistance exercise (ARE) versus aerobic exercise (AE) alone on body composition in overweight and obese adults. Design. Randomized clinical trial. Setting. University-based outpatient clinic. Population. Sixty-fve healthy, untrained overweight and obese men and women Methods. They were randomized into one of two intervention groups; AE group (N.=33) performed leg cycle exercises with increasing duration and frequency; ARE group (N.=32) performed addition- ally progressive weight-resistance exercises for the upper and lower parts of body. Both groups were asked not to change their diet. Body composition including percentage of fat (PF), fat mass (FM) and fat free mass (FFM) in regional and whole body was determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at baseline and week 12. Results. ARE leads to more gains on regional and whole body FFM than AE. ARE was more effective in increasing the FFM of arms, trunk and whole body and decreasing PF of trunk in men and supe- rior on reducing FM of legs in women when com- paring with AE. Conclusion. In order to reduce the trunk fat in men and leg fat in women, resistance exercise can be added into an aerobic training program. Corresponding author: F. Ardic, MD, Department of Physical Me- dicine and Rehabilitation, Pamukkale University Faculty of Medici- ne, 20070, Kinikli/Denizli, Turkey. E-mail: fardic@pau.edu.tr ORIGINAL ARTICLES EUR J PHYS REHABIL MED 2013;49:1-11 MINERVA MEDICA COPYRIGHT® This document is protected by international copyright laws. No additional reproduction is authorized. It is permitted for personal use to download and save only one file and print only one copy of this Article. It is not permitted to make additional copies (either sporadically or systematically, either printed or electronic) of the Article for any purpose. It is not permitted to distribute the electronic copy of the article through online internet and/or intranet file sharing systems, electronic mailing or any other means which may allow access to the Article. The use of all or any part of the Article for any Commercial Use is not permitted. The creation of derivative works from the Article is not permitted. The production of reprints for personal or commercial use is not permitted. It is not permitted to remove, cover, overlay, obscure, block, or change any copyright notices or terms of use which the Publisher may post on the Article. It is not permitted to frame or use framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information of the Publisher.