Abstract
CHANGES IN BODY IMAGE DURING A RESISTANCE TRAINING PROGRAMME
FOR WOMEN.
There are conflicting results regarding the relationship between exercise
and body image. Most research has been cross sectional and cannot
determine if dis/satisfaction motivates exercise behaviours or if exercise
participation changes dis/satisfaction for better or worse. Also, it has not been
established if exercise influences how accurately we estimate our size and
how this relates to perception and evaluation of ideals and others.
Furthermore, little attention has been directed towards investigating if body
image actually changes and it is not clear if exercise plays a therapeutic or
detrimental role. The aim of this study was to: a) investigate changes in
perceptual and attitudinal body image and changes in body composition during
an exercise training programme for women and b) examine the relationship
between changes in physical measures and changes in psychological
measures.
The treatment group (25 females) participated in a 16 week resistance
training programme. The control group (n = 12) did not undertake any exercise
(above a recreational level). Anthropometric and psychometric tests were
administered at 0, 8 and 16 weeks outside pre- and menstrual phases. The
results obtained indicated that
1) for both exercise and control groups, there were significant decreases in
skinfold thicknesses but no changes in gross measures such as mass, body
mass index (BMI), chest-to-waist ratio (CWR) and waist-to-hips ratio (WHR); 2)
both groups demonstrated improved size estimation accuracy, less
discrepancy between the actual and self-estimated BMI, increased ideal size
and a decrease in the perceptual measure of dissatisfaction; 3) both groups
increased the sum of regional satisfaction scores; 4) both groups decreased
dissatisfaction measured via the Body Shape Questionnaire and 5) similar to
other studies, anthropometric variables explain only a small part of the
variability in body image.
The study demonstrates that body image, measured by a number of
instruments, can change. However, improvements in body image cannot be
fully explained by exercise participation or changes in body composition. It is
possible that desensitisation to exposing the body during repeated measures,
perceived social support of the experimenter or even seasonal factors may
have contributed to such changes. Exercise is associated with many benefits
but is not evident if it has a unique contribution to improved body image health.
It cannot be excluded as a potential intervention but should be tailored to
individual motivations.