Two one-hourly sessions of weight lifting per week can bring down the chances of age-related fat buildup on the abdomen, a study funded by National Institutes of Health has found. This kind of fat is considered the most dangerous as it puts pressure on the heart and the arteries, increasing the chances of heart troubles.
Under the study, researchers, led by Kathryn Schmitz of the University of Pennsylvania, tracked bodily changes in 164 overweight and obese Minnesota women aged between 24 and 44 years. The women were randomly divided into two groups, with one group being given a 16-week weight-training program and the other being recommended 30 minutes to one hour of exercises on several days of the week. After the 16-week session was over, the first group returned four times a year for booster sessions for two years.
A follow-up of two years showed a 7 per cent increase in the abdominal fat of women who did weight-training exercises. In comparison, women who undertook other kinds of exercises faced a 21 per cent gain in abdominal fat over the same period. The body fat of those in the weight-training category also fell by 4 per cent, with no such change seen in those other group. Both the groups did not make any dietary alterations.
“On average, women in the middle years of their lives gain one to two pounds a year, and most of this is assumed to be fat. This study shows that strength training can prevent increases in body fat percentage and attenuate increases in the fat depot most closely associated with heart disease. While an annual weight gain of one to two pounds doesn't sound like much, over 10 to 20 years the gain is significant,” said lead author Kathryn Schmitz.
She added that the change in total body fat was not much for weight trainers and a combination of different exercises and weight training might be the answer to good health. “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,” Schmitz said.
Hailing the study, Dr Tracy Stevens, a cardiologist from St Luke's Hospital from Kansas City, said abdominal fat was the most common problem among women. “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. It's the apple-shaped person I'm most worried about. The more central the fat, the more it's laid down in the arteries,” she said.
Agreed Rita F Redberg, a University of California San Francisco cardiologist, while asserting that the findings stem from the fact that muscles burns more calories than fat. “Any kind of exercise is better than not doing anything. (But for) maximal benefit, cardio with weight training will get a lot more bang for your buck,” she said.
Schmitz said that increasing muscle mass through weight-training exercises has earlier been shown to retard age-related functional degeneration. “It also is a moderate program that is behaviorally feasible and has a measurable impact on body composition. Younger Americans may also benefit from increased lean muscle mass as well,” she said.
The findings of the study were presented at the American Heart Association conference.
