Evaluating Human Balance Following an Exercise Intervention in Previously Sedentary, Overweight Adults

Abstract

Previous research suggests that an improvement in body composition could potentially lead to improvement in balance performance in previously overweight individuals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if an exercise intervention without any specific balance training can lead to an improvement in standing balance. Fourteen overweight, but otherwise healthy adults (nine females, six males) (mean age: 23.5 years; mean height: 1.70 m, mean starting body mass: 94.1 kg) participated in this study. Balance performance was assessed with sensory organization test (SOT) and motor control test (MCT) on the NeuroCom ® Equitest™, prior to and after a 10-week exercise intervention. Results revealed significant improvements in the following balance parameters following exercise intervention: eyes open, sway-referenced visual surrounding and platform condition (p = 0.033) for SOT equilibrium scores; SOT center of pressure (COP) sway in the eyes closed condition for anterior-posterior sway velocity (p = 0.006) and in the eyes open sway-referenced condition (p = 0.048).The results of the current study suggest that improved balance performance can result from an exercise intervention without any specific balance directed exercises, but that the results may be limited to the conditions where the somatosensory system plays a larger role in balance maintenance.