BIOLOGY OF EXERCISE

VOLUME 8.1, 2012

Emerging trend of gym practice and its consequence

D.O.I: http:doi.org/10.4127/jbe.2012.0054

PRASENJIT CHAUDHURI1, PALLAV SENGUPTA2,

SAUMYA GANGULY1, RUDRA PRASAD HALDAR1
1
Department of Physiology, Sonarpur Mahavidyalaya, University of
Calcutta, West Bengal, Kolkata, India
2
Department of Physiology, Vidyasagar College for Women, Uni-
versity of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
over physical and physiological fitness

ABSTRACT

In last few decades there have been an alarming trend

was observed not only among young individuals but also in
every persons regarding gym-practice as most used fitness
media. Thus, the present study has been undertaken to
evaluate whether regular gym going modulates physical and
physiological fitness or not. The investigation was conduct-
ed in randomly selected male regular gym goers (mean age
22.0) and non - gym - goer college students (mean age 21.3)
of Kolkata. A significant difference (p ⬍ 0.05) in blood pres-
sure, PFI, energy expenditure and MUAC was found in gym
goers. But, in contrast, BMI, BF%, BSA, RHR, anaerobic
power, VO 2max and thigh and calf circumferences were found
to be non - significant. Hence, this study infers a definite
positive influence of regular gym going over physical fitness
and muscle mass (strength) and also an influence over car-
diovascular fitness.

KEY WORDS: Gym, Physical Fitness, Energy Expenditure,

Anaerobic Power, VO 2max, Body Fat, Harvard Step Test.
48 JBE – VOL. 8.1, 2012

INTRODUCTION
‘Strength, O man, strength, says the Upanishads, stand up and be strong’
– Swami Vivekananda (28).
Since the ancient era, Indians are searching for more and more physical and
mental strength; although they mainly worship mental strength, they understood
that – “Sharirmadyam, khalu dharma sadhanam.” , that is, to develop mental
strength, a strong body is required. That is why they developed Hatha Yoga to
make a healthy body. In recent years, besides Hatha Yoga and orthodox weight lift-
ing, Gym centers have become very much popular among young population. These
gym centers are well equipped with modern machines which make exercise more
easy and scientific. These gym centers are an established part of American culture.
The rise of the modern gym centers (or health clubs) began in California in the
1940s, but their predecessors came from 19th century Europe (6). The word Gym
comes from the word ‘gymnasion’ which was used in Ancient Greece to mean a lo-
cality for both physical and intellectual education of young men, whereas in Eng-
lish the meaning of physical education was pertained in the word gym. It is among
the oldest sports. While it survives into the present in its Greek form, the people
of Asia and the Middle East practiced a form of gym. The first recorded evidence
of gym comes from ancient Egypt. During the time of the Pharaohs, acrobats
would perform for the nobility. It also had its military uses and as early as 800 B.C.
it was used as a part of military training in Greece, the Middle East and China (21).
The beneficial health effects of regular gym going with proper guidance are vast
and extend beyond physical strength. It has a positive influence over coronary artery
disease (CAD) and chronic heart disease (CHD). Reports suggest men who trained
with weights 30 minutes or more per week had a 23% reduction in risk compared
to men who did not (2). It boosts of opiate - like chemicals called endorphins, these
surge all over the body and put a person into a good mood. Also, levels of the
nerve chemical serotonin rise during strenuous activity and contribute further to a
positive mood (19). But to create a buff body in hurry, many young gym goers use
protein powder, fat burners, anabolic steroids and other therapeutic agents which
have a lot of side effects. In addition, irregular gym going, improper diet and wrong
exercise schedule may create severe physical problems (16).
Reports about the overall physiological effects of regular gym going are quite
scanty. Thus, the present study has been undertaken to find out the effects of
regular gym going on some common physiological parameters those may con-
tribute to the physical as well as cardiovascular fitness of an individual.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Selection of Subjects

Two different groups of 15 non - smoker male subjects between 18 - 22

years of age (age of 22.0 ± 2.96) are randomly selected to participate in the
FITNESS ASSESSMENT OF REGULAR GYM GOERS 49

present study. Subjects of one group are regular gym goers who are practic-
ing for minimum of one year continuously; and the other group consists of col-
lege students (age of 21.3 ± 2.22) who do not go gym (control). Subjects were
instructed to take their last meal at least two hours before conducting the test
in order to avoid the specific dynamic action (SDA) of food. All the experiments
were carried out and measurements were taken in temperature of 20° - 25°C
and relative humidity of about 45 - 50% in winter season in India, both in con-
trol subjects and gym goers, to avoid seasonal influence on fitness pattern. To
minimize the experimenter bias each measurement was taken for three times
and the mean was represented as final result. Subjects with any type of dis-
ease, specially cardiac and respiratory ailments were not taken for experi-
ments, only healthy subjects are considered for each experiment. Each subject
was given sufficient rest before each experiment to get accurate result.

Assessment Body Mass Index (BMI)

The body mass index (or Quetelet Index) is the statistical measure which
compares a person’s weight and height by the following formula (20, 15):
BMI = mass (kg) / (Height in m) 2. The WHO (31) regard a BMI of less than 18.5
as underweight and may indicate malnutrition, an eating disorder, or other
health problems, while a BMI greater than 25 is considered overweight and
above 30 is considered obese.

Measurement of Body Fat Percentage

Body fat can be estimated from the Body mass index or BMI. There is a lin-
ear relationship between densitometrically - determined body fat percentage (BF
%) and BMI, taking age and gender into account. Based on which following
prediction formulas have been derived which showed a valid estimates of body
fat at all ages, in males and females. But, in obese subjects the prediction for-
mulas are slightly overestimated. The prediction error is comparable with oth-
er methods of estimating body fat percentage, such as skinfold thickness mea-
surements or bioelectrical impedance. (12, 13, 29). The following formula (12)
to predict body fat percentage is based on current BMI, age, and gender:

Adult Body Fat % = (1.20 × BMI) + (0.23 × Age) – (10.8 × gender) – 5.4
Gender values for male = 1, female = 0

Determination of Body Surface Area (BSA)

Body surface area (BSA) is the measured or calculated surface of a body.

Various calculations have been published to arrive at the BSA without direct
measurement. Dubois & Dubois formula was used for estimating body surface
area (BSA) (14): BSA (m 2) = 0.007184 × Weight (kg) 0.425 × Height (cm) 0.725 .
50 JBE – VOL. 8.1, 2012

Determination of Resting Heart Rate and Blood Pressure

Baseline HR was obtained after five minutes rest in the sitting position. The
resting heart beat was measured at carotid pulse. When two successive heart
rate scores become equal then it was considered as resting heart rate (18).
Arterial pressure is most commonly measured by a sphygmomanometer,
which historically used the height of a column of mercury to reflect the circu-
lating pressure (4). BP values were obtained after five minutes rest in the sit-
ting position (7).

Determination of Physical Fitness Index (PFI)

PFI was calculated by measuring heart rate after performing Harvard step
test (HST) using certain mathematical formula. The Harvard Step Test is a
method used to assess cardio - respiratory fitness, which was developed by
Brouha et al. (5) in the Harvard Fatigue Laboratories during World War II. It
is based on heart rate recovery following a given work load of 5 minutes. A
subject is instructed to step up and down on a stool approximately 51 cm in
height for 5 minutes, with a rate of stepping is set at 30 cycles per minute
(every 2 seconds). One cycles consists 2 steps up and 2 steps down. The
subject immediately sits down, and the total number of heart beats is count-
ed between 1 to 1.5 minutes after finishing. This is the only measure required
if using the short form of the test. If the long form of the test is being con-
ducted, there are additional heart beat measures taken at between 2 to 2.5
minutes, and between 4 to 4.5 minutes. After that this 4 to 4.5 minutes is
modified to 3 to 3.5. In view of the stature problem of Indians this test have
been modified under Indian condition, where the height of the stool is reduced
to 45 cm from 51 cm with some modification in scoring pattern and other thing
remain same. The subject was asked to step up and down with a rate of 30
cycles / min for 5 minutes or up to exhaustion. Exhaustion is defined as when
the subject cannot maintain the stepping rate for 15 seconds (25, 23).
There are two versions of the Harvard Step Test, the short form and the
long form (25). But here the long form equation was used to determine PFI:

100 × Τest duration in seconds

Long Form Equation – Fitness Index =
2 × Recovery heart rates
(1 to 1.5 mins + 2 to 2.5 mins + 3 to 3.5 mins)

Anaerobic Power Test by Margaria Double Step Method

The Margaria double step method is performed by the subjects for the cal-
culation of anaerobic power. It is a short - term anaerobic test or power test in
FITNESS ASSESSMENT OF REGULAR GYM GOERS 51

which the subject taking two steps at a time, the height of the stairs are mea-
sured by measuring tape. To calculate the anaerobic power; the height of as-
cend, the body weight, and the duration (sec) is noted by the stopwatch. At
first the work done is calculated by the following formulae: Work done = body
weight × height of ascend × 0.002342. After the calculation of work done the
anaerobic power (kg / meter / sec) is calculated by the following formulae (22):

Work Done (Kg/ mitre)

Anaerobic power =
duration (sec)

Determination of VO 2 Max

It can be defined as the maximum amount of O 2 consumed during rhyth-

mic dynamic progressively increasing exercise done by any kind of ergometer
(treadmill, stationary bicycle ergometer, hand cranking etc.) at sea level under
thermally neutral condition when more muscle mass recruited then capacity of
O 2 is increased. Here Nomogram of Astrand was used to determinate the
VO 2max (1).

Energy Expenditure

Energy expenditure for any kind of job is normally measured by different

calorimetric methods. It is also determined by many predictive equations. The
following formula has been used for the present study (10):
EE (Kcal min – 1) = 1.42 + (0.045 ± peak HR).

Mean Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC)

It is the curvilinear distance taken around the midpoint of upper arm. It is

an index of body energy store and protein mass, although it could be used as
an independent measure. Sometime it is combined with skin fold thickness to
calculate the areas of arm muscle and adipose tissue. The measurement is
taken of a subject standing erect and wearing sleeveless clothing (24).

Thigh Circumference

It is the curvilinear distance taken around the mid-thigh circumference. It is

an indicator of adiposity and lean body mass. It also indicates muscle atrophy
due to disease or atrophy. The measurement is taken of a subject standing
erect and wearing bathing suit (24).
52 JBE – VOL. 8.1, 2012

Calf Circumference

It is the maximum curvilinear distance taken around calf muscle of leg. It

provides an estimate of cross - sectional and adipose tissue areas of calf. The
measurement is taken of a subject standing erect or sitting on the table (24).

Statistical Analysis

Data are expressed as mean ± SD. Comparison of parameters between

control and gym goers was done by two tailed unpaired t - test, using Mi-
crosoft Excel - 2007 and the result was considered as significant when the
two - tailed p value ⬍ 0.05 (8).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Results are represented in Table 1 and Table 2. The height (cm) and body
weight (kg) of controls subjects are 164.6 ± 7.21 and 59.3 ± 7.5 (mean ± SD)
and of gym goers are 166.4 ± 5.44 and 64.1 ± 9.4 (mean ± SD) respectively.
Table 1 represents comparative aspects of physical fitness variables (includ-
ing PFI). PFI scores reveal that the gym goers have an excellent physical fit-
ness level. On the other hand, RHR and diastolic pressure shows the better
endurance of them than control subjects. Table 1 also represents the com-
parative aspect of anaerobic power, energy expenditure and predicted aerobic
capacity (VO 2max ). Regular gym practitioners showed a greater but non - sig-
nificant anaerobic power and VO 2max but significantly lower expenditure of en-
ergy for a specific work than control subjects (p ⬍ 0.05).

Table 1. Comparison of physical and physiological fitness parameters

between control and gym goers.

Variables Control Gym goers p value

BMI (Kg / m 2 ) 21.7 ± 1.93 23.1 ± 2.42 0.101

BSA (m 2 ) 1.68 ± 0.08 1.70 ± 0.12 0.609
Body fat % 20.5 ± 1.73 22.1 ± 3.05 0.167
Resting heart rate (Beats / min) 76.2 ± 8.16 73.9 ± 4.04 0.429
Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) 115 ± 4.66 126 ± 7.94# 0.003
Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) 74.1 ± 6.87 83.3 ± 5.20# 0.001
PFI 79.9 ± 11.81 96.1 ± 6.53# 0.002
Anaerobic power (kg.m – 1.sec – 1 ) 12.2 ± 2.47 13.2 ± 2.54 0.504
VO 2max (liters.min – 1 ) 3.00 ± 0.30 3.52 ± 0.60 0.092
Energy Expenditure (K.cal.min – 2 ) 5.71 ± 0.53 4.33 ± 0.69# 0.002

values denote mean ± SD, sample size (n 1 = n 2 = 15). Superscripts (#) indicate significant differ-
ence between two groups by two tail unpaired t - test (for equal variances) at p ⬍ 0.05.
FITNESS ASSESSMENT OF REGULAR GYM GOERS 53

Morphometric analysis of the body is virtually the investigation of the

process of life which reflects the general health status of an individual. Vari-
ous anthropometric indices including BMI and body circumferences are avail-
able those play an important role in predicting the health status. In this pre-
sent study, no significant difference was observed in BMI, BSA and body fat
percentage between two groups. It may be attributable to their age. Both
groups are young and so are likely to be lean than obese (26).
VO 2max along with RHR is very good parameters of endurance (9). Reports
concerning changes in cardiovascular system during endurance training are
contradictory. Some researchers suggest training increases variability (mostly
reduction) in RHR, while others do not. They showed a reduction of vagal ac-
tivity with increased parasympathetic modulations, while some others suggest
decreased sympathetic activity could then come into play (3, 11). On the oth-
er hand VO 2max value is also a predictor of right heart rate training zone of
performer to increase endurance. In the present study no such alteration was
found in these parameters (30). As gym centers mainly put emphasis on in
strength exercises, this possibly the explanation why no significant result was
obtained in these cases.
Strength exercise increases ventricular muscle mass which increases the
force of contraction and hence cardiac output (17). This may cause significant
increase of blood pressure. Any kind of regular exercise leads to quick re-
covery which means better fitness. Thus, significantly higher PFI and lower
energy expenditure (p ⬍ 0.05) was found in the present investigation. It is
easy to assume that regular gym goers should have better anaerobic power
than normal. But no significant change in anaerobic power between two
groups was reported. That may be due to because determination of anaero-
bic power by Margaria double step method was performed just after Harvard
Step Test which may have influence over the same.

Table 2. Anthropometric measures of control and gym goers.

Variables Control Gym goers

Upper arm circumference (cm) 27.1 ± 4.16 31.7 ± 2.63*

Thigh circumference (cm) 47.4 ± 5.54 46.07 ± 4.57
Calf circumference (cm) 32.7 ± 3.75 34.6 ± 2.17

values denote mean ± SD, sample size (n 1 = n 2 = 15). Superscript (*) indicates significant differ-
ence between two groups by two tail unpaired t - test (for equal variances) at p ⬍ 0.05.
54 JBE – VOL. 8.1, 2012

It was also reported that MUAC is significantly higher in gym goers. It is an

estimate of energy store and protein mass of the body which is an indirect es-
timate of strength (27). But no significant difference was found in thigh and calf
circumference between two groups. This may be due to the common tendency
of gym goers to stress more on biceps and triceps exercise than thigh and calf.

CONCLUSION
Present study revealed that gym practice definitely have positive influence over
physical fitness and muscle mass (strength) and also a circuitous influence over car-
diovascular system. But along with strength exercise, regular gym goers should
practice more endurance exercise for better endurance, for better health and fitness.

ABBREVIATIONS
BF% Body Fat Percentage
BMI Body Mass Index
BP Blood Pressure
BSA Body Surface Area
CAD Coronary Artery Disease
CC Calf Circumference
CHD Chronic Heart Disease
EE Energy Expenditure
HST Harvard Step Test
MUAC Mean Upper Arm Circumference
PFI Physical Fitness Index
RHR Resting Heart Rate
SDA Specific Dynamic Action
TC Thigh Circumference
VO 2max Maximal Aerobic Capacity

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Authors want to acknowledge B.Sc. Final Year Physiology Honors students
(2010) and the Principal, Sonarpur Mahavidyalaya, Kolkata & Gym goers of
gym training centre ‘Sasthyasree’, Kankurgachi, Kolkata for their help in con-
ducting the work.

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Address for correspondence:

Pallav Sengupta
Lecturer
Department of Physiology
Vidyasagar College for Women
University of Calcutta
39, Sankar Ghosh Lane
Kolkata 700 006, West Bengal, India
E-mail address: sunny_pallav_1984@yahoo.co.in