A new study has been published. European Heart Journal When comparing the results of groups of people who did only strength training, only aerobic exercise, or a combination of the two, the researchers found that weightlifting and aerobic exercise reduced body fat percentage similarly, even though those who strength trained ate 100 to 200 more calories per day for most of the year-long study.
the study
406 overweight adults with a BMI of 25-40 (53% women) and ages 35-70 completed three hour-long sessions of strength training, aerobic exercise, or a combination of both, three times a week for one year. Some participants were assigned to a control group.
The aim was to look at outcomes for four risk factors: blood pressure, cholesterol, fasting blood glucose and body fat percentage.
The average exercise session lasted about 60 minutes, with a five-minute warm-up, 50 minutes of strength training for the resistance group, 50 minutes of aerobic training for the cardio group, 25 minutes of both workouts for the combined group, and a further five minutes of cool-down.
The resistance group was programmed to perform three sets of eight to 16 repetitions at 50% to 80% of their one-repetition maximum with one minute rest between each set on 12 gym machines, including the leg press, hamstring curl, quad extension, shoulder press, lat pulldown, bicep curl, tricep extension, and ab crunch. The strength training group consumed 100 to 200 more calories per day.
The aerobic exercise group exercised on a treadmill, stationary bike, or cross trainer at 50% to 80% of their heart rate reserve (the difference between their maximum heart rate and their resting heart rate).
The combo group was required to complete half the total number of sets as the strength group, i.e., two sets of 8-16 repetitions at 50%-80% of their 1RM on nine machines, and also perform aerobic exercise at 50-80% of their heart rate reserve.
result
Over the course of one year, all three groups experienced a reduction in body fat percentage, measured using a standardized score: -1.0 in the strength group, -1.1 in the aerobic group, and -1.2 in the combined group, with similarly significant changes in all three groups.
Body fat percentage was also the only one of the four risk factors to decrease, the other three did not decrease in any of the exercise groups.
The aerobic exercise group lost 1.9cm in waist circumference, as did the combined group (2.2cm), but lean body mass only increased by 1.2kg in the resistance group. The aerobic exercise group also saw the greatest improvements in their cardiovascular fitness.
Strength training or cardio for fat loss?
While endurance training tends to burn more energy while you’re exercising, strength training increases your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) – the increased amount of calories and oxygen your body burns (for a longer period of time) after exercise to return to your normal resting state. Strength training also increases muscle mass, and studies have shown that increasing muscle mass also increases your resting metabolic rate, or the number of calories you burn when you’re not doing anything.
With strength training, your body doesn’t start to limit your energy expenditure — that is, it adapts to the extra physical activity by reducing the energy it dedicates to other activities, maintaining the total energy consumed at a constant level, whereas with aerobic exercise this effect does occur. So if fat loss is your goal, it’s probably a good idea to include strength training in your fitness plan, even if you’re already doing cardio.
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