14 DAY TRIAL // A new study presented at the Obesity Society meeting in San Diego on which type of exercise, or combination thereof, can best prevent the onset of obesity, reveals that combining aerobics with weight training is highly recommended.
For a very long time, opinions on the merits of one type of workout or the other have remained divided; recent research shows though that a combination of the two could be just what the doctor ordered.
It’s a known fact that dieting alone is not useful in terms of long-term weight loss simply because it doesn’t encourage it: a diet is conceived to give results only over a specified period of time.
Moderate intensity workouts of the aerobic type (such as walking) also return better results if combined with weight training, it has now emerged, as USA Today informs.
The study was conducted on three groups with type 2 diabetes, with the first group doing only aerobics, the second only weight training, and the third a combination of the two.
At the end of the study (after 9 months), those in the third group had the best results in terms of weight loss: they had lost most body fat (3 pounds) and trimmed most off their waistline (1 inch).
From this, the conclusion that the best way to get rid of the extra pounds AND keep them off is to combine aerobic activities with lifting weights – and, of course, eating healthy and moderately.
“For optimal health, you need to work your heart and lungs with aerobic exercise and your muscles and bones with weight lifting,” Timothy Church, director of preventive medicine research at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and co-author of “Move Yourself,” says.
According to health guidelines, a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise (brisk walking) or 75 minutes of intense exercise (swimming laps, jogging) every week is mandatory to stay healthy.
A combination of the two is also possible, on the condition that all exercise be done in at least 10-minute bouts.
“Do muscle-strengthening (resistance) activities two or more days a week at a moderate- or high-intensity level for all major muscle groups, including exercises for the chest, back, shoulders, upper legs, hips, abdomen and lower legs,” USA Today recommends.