Sasa Pantelic; Zoran Milanovic; Goran Sporis & Jelica Stojanovic-Tosic

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a twelve-week aerobic dance-training program on the body composition parameters of young women. The sample of 59 young women belonged to one of two groups, an experimental (EXP) or a control (CON) group. The experimental group consisted of 29 female subjects (age 23.1±1.9 years, body height 164.4±6.1 cm, body weight 62.1±5.6 kg, BMI 23.0±2.2 kg/m2), while the control group was made up of 30 subjects (age 22.7±1.8 years, body height 165.3±6.2 cm, body weight 59.4±6.3 kg, BMI 21.7±1.7 kg/m2). To assess body compositions, the following measures were used: the overall sum of the upper body skinfolds, the overall sum of the lower body skinfolds, the overall sum of skinfolds of the upper and lower body, the percentage of body fat, the percentage of muscle mass in the body, body height and body weight. For all of the sums of skinfolds for the subjects of the EXP group, we noted a statistically significant decrease (p< 0.05) at the final measuring in relation to the initial measuring (ΣSFUPPER - 39.35 mm compared to 42.87 mm; Σ SFLOWER - 39.35mm compared to 49.88 mm; ΣTOTAL SF - 76.97 mm compared to 92.75 mm). In the case of BF%, a decrease was noted at the final measuring in relation to the initial one (20.37% compared to 22.66%), which was statistically significant (p< 0.05). On the basis of our results, we can conclude that aerobic dance decreases subcutaneous fatty tissue and body composition of the young women.

KEY WORDS: Young women; Body fat; Muscle mass; Skinfolds.

PANTELIC, S.; MILANOVIC, Z.; SPORIS, G. & STOJANOVIC-TOSIC, J. Effects of a twelve-week aerobic dance exercises on body compositions parameters in young women. Int. J. Morphol., 31(4):1243-1250, 2013.