Combined effects of weight training and aerobic exercise accompanied by normal and low-calorie diets on fat percentage of young women

Abstract

Sports with a combination of weight training and aerobics are expected to be an alternative to increase students' desire to exercise and reduce fat more effectively. Therefore, this study aims to determine the potential of combined aerobic exercise and weight training to be an alternative to reducing body fat combined with a normal diet program with a low calorie diet program. This research is a quantitative quasi-experimental research with pre-test and post-test control group design. With a total of 60 participants, which were divided into two groups, namely the experimental group using the low calorie diet program and the control group using the normal diet program. All data obtained were searched for the mean and the differences between the two body fat reduction programs using independent sample t-test. The combination of aerobic exercise and weight training can reduce participants' body weight, body fat and waist circumference, both in the normal diet and low-calorie diet groups. However, the low calorie diet program is more effective than the normal diet. This is evidenced by the significant reduction in body fat and strengthened by the independent sample t-test which is seen from the t value which is greater than the t table and the significance value obtained is less than 0.025, namely 0.012 for weight loss, 0.011 for a decrease in the percentage of fat, and 0.010 for a decrease in waist circumference. It is concluded that there is a difference in the decrease in the percentage of fat in the normal diet and low calorie diet groups.