Pump iron to stop middle-age spread

[Dodger]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11657010/
Lifting weights can help women control belly fat, study finds

DALLAS - By just lifting weights twice a week for an hour, women can battle the buildup of tummy fat that often takes hold with aging, a new study suggests.And they didn’t even diet.

The study focused on intra-abdominal fat, the deep fat that wraps itself around organs and is the most unhealthy because it’s linked with heart disease.

“One of the most common complaints in women, especially as we continue to age, especially as we go through menopause, the No. 1 complaint is abdominal growth,” said Dr. Tracy Stevens, a cardiologist who directs the women’s heart center at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City.

“It’s the apple-shaped person I’m most worried about,” said Stevens, who was not involved in the study. “The more central the fat, the more it’s laid down in the arteries.”

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and is being presented Friday at an American Heart Association conference in Phoenix.

In it, 164 overweight and obese Minnesota women ages 24 to 44 were divided evenly into two groups. One group participated in a two-year weight-training program and the other was simply given a brochure recommending exercise of 30 minutes to an hour most days of the week. Both groups were told not to change their diets in a way that might lead to weight changes.

Women who did the weight-training for two years had only a 7 percent increase in intra-abdominal fat, compared to a 21 percent increase in the group given exercise advice.

The strength-training group also decreased body fat percentage by almost 4 percent, while the group just given advice remained the same.

“I think we need to provide people with multiple possibilities, multiple roads to the same end. If this is what you’re willing to do, I’ll tell you what you can get out of it,” said the lead author of the study, Kathryn Schmitz, an epidemiologist at the school of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Researchers reported only marginal effects from the training on total fat mass and the fat you can pinch under the skin.

Using both free weights and machines, the women in the strength-training group worked out for about an hour and were encouraged to gradually increase the weights they lifted.

“This is not a program you could do in your home, unless you can afford to have a full gym in your basement,” Schmitz said.

Fountain of youth
The women, who completed 70 percent of the advised exercise throughout the study, were in supervised strengthening classes for 16 weeks.

Schmitz said the focus was on chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, lower back, buttocks and thighs. She noted that adding muscle mass can help overweight women move faster so they burn more calories.

Dr. Rita F. Redberg, a cardiologist at the University of California San Francisco, pointed out that since muscle burns more calories than fat, increasing muscle mass means losing more calories.

“Certainly, any kind of exercise is better than not doing anything,” Redberg said. But for “maximal benefit, cardio with weight training will get a lot more bang for your buck.”

“I think exercise is the fountain of youth,” she said. “If it was a pill, everyone would be taking it.”

[dane]

Good article, except for this:
“This is not a program you could do in your home, unless you can afford to have a full gym in your basement,” Schmitz said.
Bah! All you need to start is a bench, a barbell, a set of dumbbells, and some weight plates. Other pieces of equipment can be added as you go along, and it doesn't have to be expensive or space-sucking.

[Dodger]

Women who did the weight-training for two years had only a 7 percent increase in intra-abdominal fat, compared to a 21 percent increase in the group given exercise advice.Even with weight training, the women gained fat. So weight training is not a fix.

[Frederick]

In my view, weight training alone is rarely enough.

For most of us, the combination of weight training and cardio would be optimal.

In the end, what matters most is probably what we eat.

[bkloots]

Frederick is right, of course. It takes a combination of healthy eating and exercise to maintain fitness.

I think Schmitz's comment related to the specific training program these women were on--not strength training in general. OF COURSE you can do an effective strength training program at home. And you can do it with minimal equipment. Just one example: Christi Taylor's video workout "Strength, Balance, and Flexibility" uses mostly body weight and a pair of dumbbells (3-5 lbs) for a very challenging routine. (I don't work for Christi, but she's a great trainer and I commend all of her home videos.)

I'm no bodybuilder, but I do a good job of maintaining muscle strength and endurance, as well as body fat control, with a home-based exercise routine. The difficulty--as with eating--is consistency over time. You simply have to keep doing it, day in and day out.

[bigpeach]

When I was in high school, I lifted heavy weights 3-4 days per week. Despite lots of bread, pasta, meat, beer, and almost everything else, I did not gain weight. Perhaps I could have put on muscle if I hadn't included the beer and the reefer. But, even with that horrendous diet, didn't gain any fat. Heavy weight training really ups your metabolism.
If your heart isn't pumping as hard in your strength training routine as it is during your brisk walking, you're not lifting enough weight.

[kwikdriver]

Good article, except for this:
Bah! All you need to start is a bench, a barbell, a set of dumbbells, and some weight plates. Other pieces of equipment can be added as you go along, and it doesn't have to be expensive or space-sucking.


Women don't even need that. A typical woman could do an adequate newbie weight training routine with a couple of one gallon milk containers and enough water to fill them. Eight pounds per container, and it's more weight that those silly little hand weights you see sometimes, which are what, four pounds? If the entire gallon is too much weight, just fill them half or three quarters.

[ProfGumby]

In my view, weight training alone is rarely enough.

For most of us, the combination of weight training and cardio would be optimal.

In the end, what matters most is probably what we eat.

Honestly, I think it is all 3 that matter the most. I know there are many here who have lost big weight and not exercised, but I fully believe the best way to tighten up a few floppy things here and there is by the WOE, weight training and cardio.

I started to get the arm flaps after losing the bulk of the weight and only through weight training did they go away. Only through cardio and weight trainig is the battle of the bulge (my floppy belly fat) going away.

To the article, I love how they twist things, a 7% gain is still a gain! Yes Iwould rather have had a 7% gain vs. a 21% gain myself, but it is not a loss.

To be fair they should ALSO have had control groups doing a LC WOE and a Low FAt WOE with the weight trainig. Then, IMHO, they would have had some study results that would be very interesting.

[steveed]

First things first. The foundation of what happens to our bodies is the fuel we use. If we make good choice in our fuel, it will show in our energy output. What we eat decides how efficiently we exercise. If we eat junk, we will not be able to exercise properly.

For some of us, what we eat decides if we will exercise at all!

[LilithD]

I just need 4kg and 6kg dumbbells and my body weight for a full workout twice a week. My upper body is much more toned than before. My legs get enough from jumping daily (against osteoporosis) and walking. They are almost too muscular (but what is considered attractive is different between ordinary models and fitness models - the latter have thicker, more muscular legs).

My partner uses elastic bands for his workouts (which I also use when we travel), and he looks un-be-leavable! At 48 he has never looked so toned, beautifully balanced and sexy, and few men look like that (at any age)! LOL, It's so annoyingly easy for men, with all that testosterone - it only took him a few months to get there.

[kebaldwin]

I do "natural strength" weight training. No equipment required, it travels with you, you can do it anytime, anywhere.

If you want a muscular body then more protein and amino acids, little cardio, lots of strength training, and supplements.

If you want a thinner body then more plants, high cardio, little strength training, and supplements.