Fitness Friday

Pumping Iron May Have More Benefits Than Cardio For Older People

The age-old adage that just cardio will keep you healthy, may not be the case anymore.

The obesity epidemic in America is at epic proportions, and physicians/specialists everywhere are trying to come up with solutions to curve the trend. Many people believe that just completing cardio is the answer to losing weight, and to some degree they are right. Moderate to intense aerobic exercise is an excellent way to lose weight, especially when paired with a consistent low calorie diet. But is it the best way to lose weight when taking into consideration other biometric factors? Wake Forest University recently conducted research to see if strictly aerobic exercise or strength training with a low calorie diet was the best option,.

A common concern when losing weight is the loss of muscle mass along with the loss of fat. Wake Forest conducted an 18-month study of 249 adults in their 60's who were overweight and obese. The groups were divided into diet and aerobic exercise, diet and strength training, and diet alone. The study resulted in 16 pounds of fat lost for the diet and aerobic exercise, 17 pounds for the diet and strength training, and 10 pounds of fat lost the dieting alone approach. Muscle mass loss was the greatest during diet plus walking (4 pounds), while diet alone only resulted in 2 pounds of muscle loss. On the contrary, strength training with diet resulted in less than 2 pounds of muscle loss. So when your looking to lose weight, be sure to include some strength training in your regimen to ensure you don't lose important muscle mass.