Comparison of Pre and Post-Exercise Body Composition Measurements and Self-Esteem of Women Who Do Pilates Exercise

Abstract

Purpose: In this study, the effect of participation in a twelve-week Pilates exercise program on some body composition characteristics and self-esteem was examined. Method: Ten women (23.10 (+/- 1.97 years)) who did not undergo any exercise program before and who recently started the Pilates course participated in the study. Self-esteem of these individuals was evaluated by using Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale. Participants received 60 minutes of Pilates exercise for twelve weeks, three times a week. At the end of 12 weeks, the same inventory was reapplied. Results: According to the results of Paired Sample t-Test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test, significant difference was found in favour of the participants who applied the program when pre-test post-test Body Weight, BMI (p<0.05), Waist Circle scores were analysed (p<0.01). Conclusions: The study also showed that there was no significant difference in self-esteem scores according to pre-test and post-test results (p>0.05). As a result, these findings show that at the end of twelve-week Pilates exercise program, physical fitness levels of women were positively affected, while self-esteem levels did not differ