Increasing Physical Activity

M etabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of risk factors associated with the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The US National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III defines metabolic syndrome as having at least 3 of the following risk factors: fasting glucose level >110 mg/dL (>6.1 mmol/L), abdominal obesity (>102 cm in men, >88 cm in women), elevated blood pressure (>130/85 mm Hg), serum trigylceride level >150 mg/dL, and decreased HDL (<40 mg/dL in men, <50 mg/dL in women). The prevalence of MetS is a significant public health problem in the United States, and strategies are needed to slow its trajectory toward increasing the prevalence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It is known that physical activity positively affects risk factors associated with MetS. Therefore, one strategy to slow the trajectory of MetS is to increase physical activity. It is often difficult to engage sedentary adults to exercise. Thus, the authors designed an exercise intervention with that in mind. The exercise intervention took place in a community-based fitness center. Participants received twenty 1-hour group personal training (GPT) sessions over a 10-week period followed by a 16-week period of individual exercise. GPT groups consisted of 3 to 4 women led by a personal fitness trainer. The focus of the GPT was weight resistance exercises. After the 10-week GPT ended, participants received biweekly e-mail, mail, and/or phone calls to encourage them to continue to exercise and to provide education about MetS for the duration of the 16-week individual exercise period. Seventeen sedentary postmenopausal women with MetS were recruited from the community, and their physician confirmed MetS (16 African Americans, 1 Latina). The intervention was successful in engaging sedentary women with MetS to exercise. Sixteen women completed the Tina L. Harralson, PhD