The effects of aerobic- versus strength-training on body image among young women with pre-existing body image concerns

• Women participated in 8 weeks of supervised aerobic or strength-training.
• Generally, aerobic training yielded greater improvements in body image.
• Body image change correlated with perceived body fat and aerobic endurance change.
• Body image change correlated with increased aerobic self-efficacy.
• Body image change was unrelated to actual fitness change.

This experiment compared the effects of aerobic-training (AT) versus strength-training (ST) on body image among young women with pre-existing body image concerns. Theory-based correlates of body image change were also examined. Participants were 46 women (M age = 21.5 years), randomly assigned to an 8-week AT or ST intervention consisting of supervised exercise 3 days/week. Multidimensional measures of body image were administered pre- and post-intervention, along with measures of physical fitness, perceived fitness, and exercise self-efficacy. Women in the AT condition reported greater reductions in social physique anxiety (p = .001) and tended to report greater improvements in appearance evaluation (p = .06) than women in the ST condition. Changes in perceived fatness, perceived aerobic endurance and aerobic self-efficacy were significantly correlated with body image change (ps < .003). Results provide direction for prescribing exercise to improve body image and advancing theory to account for the effects of exercise.