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Exercise - Exercise's Effects on Weight

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An in-depth report on the benefits and types of exercise.

Exercise's Effects on Weight:

Exercising helps people reduce their weight, maintain weight loss, and fight obesity. Research has shown that women who regularly exercise but do not change their diet can lose significantly more weight than less active women.

Thirty minutes of moderate-intensity exercise may be adequate to maintain cardiovascular health, but it might not prevent weight gain. Between 45 and 60 minutes of exercise per day may be needed to promote weight loss. Children may need more activity.

Losing significant weight requires both exercise and calorie restriction. In addition, if a person exercises without dieting, any actual weight loss may be minimal because dense and heavier muscle mass replaces fat. Nonetheless, regardless of weight loss, a fit body will look more toned and be healthier.

People who exercise are more apt to stay on a diet plan. Exercise improves psychological well-being and replaces sedentary habits that usually lead to snacking. Exercise may even act as a mild appetite suppressant.

Exercising without dieting still adds health benefits, maybe even lowering the death rate of overweight, unfit people. People who have trained for a long time may develop more efficient mechanisms for burning fat and are able to stay leaner.

Lifting weights builds muscle, which burns calories more efficiently than other body tissues.

The following are some suggestions and observations on exercise and weight loss:

The treadmill burns the most calories of standard aerobic machines. Exercise sessions as short as 10 minutes, which are done frequently (about four times a day), may be the most successful program for obese people.
The more strenuous the exercise, the longer the body continues to burn calories before returning to its resting level. This state of fast calorie burning can last for as little as a few minutes after light exercise, to as long as several hours after prolonged or heavy exercise.
Resistance (strength) training is excellent for reducing fat and building muscles. It should be performed two or three times a week.
Fidgeting may be very helpful in keeping pounds off. Regular exercise is certainly the best course, but for people who must sit for hours at work, frequently shifting positions while sitting may have some benefit.
It is important to realize that as people slim down, they burn fewer calories per mile of walking or jogging. The rate of weight loss slows down, sometimes discouragingly so, after an initial dramatic head start using diet and exercise combinations. People should be aware of this trend and keep adding to their daily exercise routine.
Changes in fat and muscle distribution may differ between men and women as they exercise. Men tend to lose abdominal fat (which lowers their risk for heart disease faster than reducing general body fat). In women, aerobic and strength training are more likely to result in fat loss in the arms and trunk. However, they do not gain muscle tissue in those areas.

Because obesity is one of the risk factors for heart disease, anyone who is overweight must discuss their exercise program with a physician before starting.

Resources

http://fitness.gov -- The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
www.ncppa.org -- National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity
www.acefitness.org -- American Council on Exercise
www.arthritis.org -- The Arthritis Foundation offers tips on exercising with arthritis
www.justmove.org -- Just Move (American Heart Association)
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan -- We Can! (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

References

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American Diabetes Association (ADA). Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes -- 2008. Diabetes Care. 2008;31:S12-S54.

Brown WJ, Burton NW, Rowan PJ. Updating the evidence on physical activity and health in women. Am J Prev Med. 2007;33(5):404-411.

Brown SG, Rhodes RE. Relationships among dog ownership and leisure-time walking in Western Canadian adults. Am J Prev Med. 2006 Feb;30(2):131-6.

Brown WJ, Burton NW, Rowan PJ. Updating the evidence on physical activity and health in women. Am J Prev Med. 2007;33(5):404-411.

Byberg L, Melhus H, Gedeborg R, et al. Total mortality after changes in leisure time physical activity in 50 year old men: 35 year follow-up of population based cohort Brit Med J. 2009;338:b688.

Calton BA, Lacey JV Jr, Schatzkin A, Schairer C, Colbert LH, Albanes D, Leitzmann MF. Physical activity and the risk of colon cancer among women: A prospective cohort study (United States). Int J Cancer. 2006 Feb 17; [Epub ahead of print]

Di Loreto C, Fanelli C, Lucidi P, et al. Make your diabetic patients walk: long-term impact of different amounts of physical activity on type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2005 Jun;28(6):1295-302.

Gaziano JM, Manson JE, Ridker PM. Primary and Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease. In: Libby: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine, 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 2007:chap 45.

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Larson EB, Wang L, Bowen JD, et al. Exercise is associated with reduced risk for incident dementia among persons 65 years of age and older. Ann Intern Med. 2006 Jan 17;144(2):73-81.

Meyerhardt JA, Heseltine D, Niedzwiecki D, et al. Impact of physical activity on cancer recurrence and survival in patients with stage III colon cancer: findings from CALGB 89803. J Clin Oncol. 2006 Aug 1;24(22):3535-41.

Mikkelsson LO, Nupponen H, Kaprio J, Kautiainen H, Mikkelsson M, Kujala UM. Adolescent flexibility, endurance strength, and physical activity as predictors of adult tension neck, low back pain, and knee injury: A 25 year follow up study. Br J Sports Med. 2006 Feb;40(2):107-13.

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Mustelin L, Silventoinen K, PietilÃ¤inen K, Rissanen A, Kaprio J. Physical activity reduces the influence of genetic effects on BMI and waist circumference: a study in young adult twins. Int J Obes (Lond). 2009;33(1):29-36.

National Asthma Education and Prevention Program. Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR-3): Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma- summary report 2007. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2007 Nov;120(5 Suppl):S94-138.

Taylor, A.H., Ussher, M., & Faulkner, G. The acute effects of exercise on cigarette cravings, withdrawal symptoms, affect and smoking behaviour: a systematic review. Addiction. 2007;102:534-543.

Tehard B, Friedenreich CM, Oppert JM, et al. Effect of physical activity on women at increased risk of breast cancer: results from the E3N cohort study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006 Jan;15(1):57-64.

Reviewed last on: 5/4/2009
Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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