Impact of a novel home-based exercise intervention on health indicators in inactive premenopausal women: a 12-week randomised controlled trial

Purpose This study tested the hypothesis that a novel, audio-visual-directed, home-based exercise training intervention would be effective at improving cardiometabolic health and mental well-being in inactive premenopausal women. Methods Twenty-four inactive premenopausal women (39 +/- 10 years) were randomly assigned to an audio-visual-directed exercise training group (DVD; n = 12) or control group (CON; n = 12). During the 12-week intervention period, the DVD group performed thrice-weekly training sessions of 15 min. Training sessions comprised varying-intensity movements involving multiplanar whole-body accelerations and decelerations (average heart rate (HR) = 76 +/- 3% HRmax). CON continued their habitual lifestyle with no physical exercise. A series of health markers were assessed prior to and following the intervention. Results Following the DVD intervention, HDL cholesterol (pre: 1.83 +/- 0.45, post: 1.94 +/- 0.46 mmol/L) and mental well-being, assessed via the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, improved (P < 0.05). Conversely, [LDL cholesterol], [triglycerides], fasting [glucose], body composition and resting blood pressure and HR were unchanged following the DVD intervention (P > 0.05). There were no pre-post intervention changes in any of the outcome variables in the CON group (P > 0.05). Conclusion The present study suggests that a novel, audio-visual-directed exercise training intervention, consisting of varied-intensity movements interspersed with spinal and lower limb mobility and balance tasks, can improve [HDL cholesterol] and mental well-being in premenopausal women. Therefore, home-based, audio-visual-directed exercise training (45 min/week) appears to be a useful tool to initiate physical activity and improve aspects of health in previously inactive premenopausal women.