Physical exercises as a strategy to prevent and to treat obesity: physiological and methodological aspects

Abstract

Obesity has assumed epidemic proportions in many countries worldwide, including Brazil, where it has also been considered as a major public health problem. The disease is characterized by an undesired accumulation of fat in all the deposit sites. The etiology of obesity has factors whose origins may be linked to genetic, nutritional, endocrine, hypothalamic, pharmacological, behavioral and environmental (mainly physical inactivity), which are interrelated and feed off of each other. Currently, adipose tissue has been recognized as a multifunctional organ that produces and secretes a number of bioactive peptides and proteins, which are involved in inflammation and immune response. According to its location, the adipocyte has different metabolic characteristics, and the fat excess, mainly located in the abdominal region shows a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. Concomitant with obesity, physical inactivity has been considered an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Therefore, the systematic practice of aerobic and resistance exercise has been recommended as a major non-pharmacological intervention for prevention and treatment of obesity and its associated risk factors. However, to promote benefits exercise prescription must be made with consistent approaches. Thus, this article aims to review the role of aerobic and resistance exercises in obesity, as well as to detail guidelines used in the design of physical training sessions targeting obesity. Therefore, the text was organized in four sessions. The first one was devoted to the effects of resistance training on body composition, inflammatory markers and risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease. The second session was about the performance of aerobic exercise on energy expenditure and the role of exercise intensity in this context. The third session was designed to describe recommendations for exercise prescription in obesity, highlighting the aerobic and resistance exercises. This session details the methodological aspects that govern the structure of the different variables of the exercise prescription. Finally, conclusions were made summarizing some aspects described in this review.