Harvard Researchers Say to do This to Maintain a Small Waist
Losing weight is a common goal for many Americans who want to live healthier lives. However, the loss of fat mass often comes at the expense of lost muscle mass and, for many, and especially seniors, is associated with functional impairment[1].
Generally speaking, most people engage in a diet to make positive changes in their appearance but don’t consider the health implications of losing muscle mass. It is for the above reasons that researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health approved a study that examined the differences in waist circumference and body weight when participants engaged in weight training versus moderate to rigorous aerobic training over a sustained period of time.
If you’re not one to read medical publications such as the one we will be referencing here, Weight training, aerobic physical activities, and long-term waist circumference change in men, here is the takeaway:
Weight or resistance training was shown to be the best method for preventing or maintaining waist circumference and moderate to rigorous exercise the best method for body weight change.
The Type of Exercise, Not Just the Mere Practice, Can Be Equally as Important
We all know that we should be exercising but the fact that over two-thirds of Americans are obese shows that many of us are not. Being overweight can lead to heart disease which continues to be the number one killer for both men and women in this country.
In addition to maintaining a healthy appearance, heart health should especially be of concern to those over the age 65, as 35 percent of seniors end up dying from these somewhat preventable diseases, even more so than cancer[2].
Going beyond the data and research behind cardiovascular health and its importance, the Harvard study sought to determine the most favorable types of activity for waist circumference as well as body weight changes.
Understanding that age-associated waist circumference gains were reduced with 20 minutes per day with this type of exercise is important, especially as it relates to sarcopenia, the loss of muscle tissue as is natural with the aging process.
Researchers did go on to state that the combination of weight training and moderate to rigorous aerobic exercise tends to lead to the most beneficial results in waist circumference change. Still, for those study participants that choose one over the other it was evident that weight training had the least amount of waist circumference gains.
The Study Participants
Involved in this study were 10,500 healthy men of medical backgrounds – vets, pharmacists, optometrists, dentists, osteopaths and podiatrists – 40 to 75 years old, who began participation in the study in 1986. Every other year this group was mailed questionnaires to assess their medical history, activity levels and lifestyle. These “health” questionnaires were assembled biannually until 2010.
Within this time period the participants were asked to document the average amount of time spent weight training as well as engaging in other aerobic activities such as jogging, running, biking, swimming, on cardiovascular machines, playing sports and engaging in intensive outdoor work (such as digging or chopping wood).
As watching TV is often correlated with obesity, the participants were also asked to report how many hours per week they spent engaging in this activity. Diet was also included in the analysis as this factor can also account for weight gain or loss.
Findings: Weight Training is Recommended to Maintain Weight and Waist Size
You may be wondering why the researchers decided to study waist circumference rather than body weight exclusively. The fact is that weight training has been shown to combat sarcopenia[3], a common condition associated with aging. According to the researchers, measuring body weight alone is not an accurate reflection of healthy aging as older adults can maintain a “healthy” weight but still suffer from a loss of muscle mass.
The other benefit of weight training is that it tends not to have an inverse effect on body weight gain although it leads to increases in muscle mass. This is likely due to the fact that weight training also reduces fat mass, so individuals who utilize it tend to maintain an ideal metabolic rate (healthy metabolism) as they age.
Conclusion
Weight loss is often considered a fundamental goal for those looking to live healthier lives. For many, the solution to this an ongoing cardiovascular regimen. While any type of physical activity is beneficial, cardiovascular activity only targets fat loss but doesn’t help to build or maintain muscle mass.
Losing muscle mass, especially for those above the age of 65, is disadvantageous as the risks of sarcopenia, which can include frailty and an increased likelihood of falls, fractures and functional impairment, are increased.
Thus, the above study suggests that weight training as well as ongoing aerobic exercise should be combined to enjoy the benefits of inverse waist circumference change, weight loss, and the advantages an active lifestyle play in preventing chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease and stroke.
[1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12028177
[2] http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ahcd/agingtrends/01death.pdf
