Effects of flexi bar training model to health-related physical fitness in overweight adults.
Yanyong Phanpheng, Ashira Hiruntrakul
PMID 32884167WHAT IT FOUND
40 overweight adults trained 12 weeks.
Flexi-bar vibration and moderate running both improved fitness. Flexi-bar showed larger gains in several upper-body strength measures, sit-up endurance, and basal metabolic rate.
Key findings
01After 12 weeks, both groups had significant within-group improvements in body composition, resting heart rate, VO2 max, and flexibility, and each group improved several muscular strength measures.
02Flexi-bar training had significant between-group advantages in biceps curl, lat pull down, chest press, shoulder press, hand grip, 30-second sit-up, and basal metabolic rate.
03Moderate running had significant within-group improvements in leg extension and leg curl, while flexi-bar training did not show a significant leg curl change.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 40 young overweight adults were studied, so the results may not apply to older adults, people with higher BMI, or patients with chronic disease. The paper does not clearly state random allocation, blinding, or dropout handling, so group differences may be due to chance or testing bias. Many outcomes were measured, but no primary outcome is named, making it easy to overinterpret any one positive result. The paper first says 40 participants, then says 2 samples were cut out, then says 40 were chosen, so the analysed sample is unclear. Diet and other exercise were recorded daily, but the paper does not report what they were, so changes cannot be confidently attributed to training. No follow-up after week 12 is reported, so durability is unknown.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The paper does not state a funding source.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that flexi-bar training is better than running for weight loss. Both groups had significant reductions in weight, BMI, and fat percentage, and the paper does not show a between-group advantage for those body-composition outcomes.