I've been preaching the benefits of
moderate-intensity cardiovascular activity
for burning more body fat for years. I'm not talking about yard work or cleaning
your house - I'm talking about brisk walks (especially done fasting
first thing in the morning) and other forms of long duration moderate exercise.
The routines in
Fit Over 40 that I personally give are
perfect examples
of blending low and high intensity exercise in a way to get the best out of both
methods of training.
We now know that this form of exercise is all the heart requires to maintain optimum
health from numerous studies. The rub is the frequency - this must be a daily
or near-daily activity. Also, I certainly do not exclude intense exercise such as
weight training and hard cardio done
infrequently from one's total
health and fitness routine. Quite the contrary. If you ignore the power of intensity
altogether, you will simply never get the body most of us want.
Here's a new study on the subject from
The International Journal of Sports
Medicine. This should come as wonderful news for all of us over 40 who
simply do not fair well with daily intense exercise.
(Reuters Health) - A brisk walk through the park might be better than a fast run
when it comes to shedding pounds, a small study suggests.
Researchers found that among 14 women who embarked on a three-month exercise regimen,
those who worked out at a moderate pace lost more weight than those who exercised
more intensively.
But it's not time for runners to start slowing down, according to the study
authors. For one, women in the higher-intensity exercise group did retain more muscle
mass than those who worked out more moderately.
(Editor's Note: While this
is true, muscle mass needs to be increased, not merely
maintained. Running cannot accomplish this, but resistance training most certainly
can.)
More importantly, though, there is no such thing as one "magic exercise,"
said lead study author Dr. Vassilis Mougios of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
in Greece.
To get the greatest health and fitness benefits, he told Reuters Health, people
should strive for a mix of moderate and vigorous cardiovascular exercise, as well
as strength training.
To study the question, Mougios and his colleagues randomly assigned 14 normal-weight
and overweight women to one of two groups: one that exercised on a treadmill at
a moderate pace, four times a week; and one that worked out at a more vigorous clip,
also four times per week.
The researchers set the duration of the workouts so that women in both groups would
burn 370 calories each time. After three months, exercisers in both groups were
slimmer, but the lower-intensity group lost more weight - about 7 pounds,
on average, compared with 4 pounds in the high-intensity group.
Fat-free mass decreased slightly (less than half a pound) in the low-intensity exercisers
and increased slightly (about 1 pound) in the high-intensity group.
It's possible, according to Mougios, that women in the high-intensity group
shed fewer pounds because they ended up eating more, or were so drained by their
regimen that they relaxed more in their leisure time.
In turn, the women may have held on to more muscle simply because they lost less
weight. On the other hand, the researchers note, high-intensity exercise may actually
spur some growth in muscle fibers.
The bottom line, according to Mougios, is that people should stay active with various
forms of exercise. But for those who want to know whether they're working
hard or moderately, he said a heart rate monitor or some simple pulse checks during
the workout will provide that information.