Comparison of the effect of resistance training on the body compositions of different women groups: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

INTRODUCTION

This study attempts to investigate whether simple resistance training (RT) exerts different effects on the body composition of different women groups.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

Relevant articles from PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched and simultaneously screened by two authors. Twenty-three randomized controlled trials are included. The qualities were evaluated by the Cochrane bias risk evaluation tool. Data about sample size, Means and SD of FM, BF %, FFM and MM from original articles were extracted and processed by Reviewer Manager 5.3 software.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

For women with postmenopausal, RT can significantly reduce their BF% and FM, and increase their FFM; while for women with premenopausal, it can only obviously reduce their BF%. RT can significantly reduce the FM and BF% of women with overweight/obese and increase their FFM, however, it has no significant effect on women with non-overweight/obese. RT can substantially and positively affect the FM, BF% and FFM of women with sedentary, and can significantly increase the FFM of women with non-sedentary.

CONCLUSIONS

The effect of RT on women's body composition varies across different subgroups with different physiological characteristics. As a consequence, it is more recommended to use RT as a training method for women with postmenopausal, overweight/obese or sedentary, which can achieve a better effect of improving body composition.