the effects of resistance training with and without electrical muscle stimulation on body composition of obese women

Background and purpose: nowadays, total body resistance exercise has been added to instability training and has become popular for improving health and sports performance. resistance training is a beneficial way to improve body composition and increase muscle strength. this study aims to evaluate the effect of suspension training (total resistance exercises [trx]) with and without electrical muscle stimulation (ems) on body composition and muscle strength in obese women. materials and methods: this quasi-experimental research is an applied study in terms of research goal. a total of 36 class 1 obese women (mean±sd age: 30.9±5.3 years, mean±sd body mass: 95.4±9.4 kg, mean±sd height: 168.2±7.8 cm) were randomly selected from qualified volunteers and grouped randomly into three groups (n=12 for each group): ems, trx, and trx-ems. the trx group performed 8 weeks of suspension resistance training (3 sessions per week), and the trx-ems group performed the trx exercises wearing a whole-body suit that provided electrical stimulation. ems intervention includes 3 applications of 90 min/3 days per week for 8 weeks. data were analyzed by analysis of covariance at a significance level of 0.05 using spss software. results: findings of this study demonstrate significant differences in body composition measurements among three groups after 8 weeks of interventions (p≤0.05). all three interventions increased muscle strength after 8 weeks. trx+ems was the most effective intervention on body composition measures (-4.3% in body mass index [bmi], -7.2% in body fat mass [bfm], and +3.6% in skeletal muscle mass [smm]) and muscle strength (21.93% in bp-1rm and 27.4% in lp-1rm). also, these findings may indicate that ems was the least effective intervention on body composition and muscle strength compared with the trx and trx-ems. conclusion: according to these results, it is suggested that obese women use ems with suspension training to lose weight and improve body composition and strength.