The Importance Of Exercises For Effective Weight Loss

Written on November 22, 2024 - 1:09 am | by admin

Exercise has several potential effects in weight management. It may result in weight and body fat losses and help individuals sustain their weight loss over the longer term. It may also help prevent weight gain across the lifespan or attenuate the degree of weight gain that is typically experienced through early and late middle age.

Exercise and weight loss

Recently several reviews, some of them meta-analytical, have addressed the research literature on the effectiveness of exercise in weight loss. here is considerable variation in results from individual studies and rarely are the details of the exercise programme and the context in which it operates adequately described to enable full judgement. Only recent studies comply with current recommendations aimed at improving health and long-term exercise adherence and so it is difficult to judge the effectiveness of best known exercise practice. However, the general conclusions of these reviews, and in agreement with the most recent review of Wing, is that randomized controlled trials have established the following:

• Exercise by itself results in modest weight loss of the order of 0.5 kg to 1 kg per month.
• Exercise and diet together provide greater weight loss than diet or exercise alone.

A typical three of four session a week aerobic exercise/walking programme would produce between 600 and 1000 kcal extra energy expenditure (depending on body weight) and this would roughly explain this degree of weight loss. Exercise is effective, particularly over the long term; however, the rate of loss is often disappointing to the patient who wishes to lose large amounts of weight rapidly. Weight loss due to exercise also seems to be less in females than in males. Furthermore, exercise for severely obese patients is usually too difficult for them to accumulate sufficient energy expenditure for significant amounts of weight loss. For this reason, exercise becomes more important as the degree of obesity diminishes, and where prevention of further weight gain rather than substantial weight loss is targeted.

This is substantiated by evidence that exercise has a differential effect on the source of weight lost. When exercise is added to a hypocaloric diet, there is a greater loss of fat mass and conservation of lean tissue (mainly muscle mass) when compared to diet alone. This is likely to be important in the long term as fat-free mass largely determines resting metabolic rate, the degree of energy expended by the body while at rest, and this is the bulk of daily energy expenditure for all but highly active athletes. For this reason, resistance (weight training) exercise has recently been investigated. One study using magnetic resonance imaging indicated no loss of muscle tissue during weight loss in obese women undergoing a resistance exercise programme and diet.

The effect of exercise on high-risk abdominal fat deposition, which is characteristic of men and postmenopausal women, was recently reviewed by Ross and Janssen and by the US National Institutes of Health and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The general consensus was that exercise is effective in reducing abdominal adiposity in overweight and obese adults. This may eventually prove to be significant in terms of long-term health outcomes.

In summary, the amount of weight loss due to exercise may seem disappointing, especially as it cannot compete with dieting for rapid weight loss. However, when viewed over the longer term its effect on energy balance, both through the extra energy expended during the activity itself and through higher resting metabolic rate, is likely to be very important for weight control. It is also very important through its contribution to health and fitness gain for any person undergoing weight loss.

Key points in dietary management

• It is useful to emphasize the overall health benefits of eating well rather than focusing solely on weight loss effects, for example reduced risk of developing cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.

• Changing eating habits is challenging; the way people eat and what they eat are long-standing habits which cannot be changed overnight. It follows that as obesity is a chronic relapsing condition, regular support is central to successful management.

• As health professionals we tend to talk to patients in terms of nutrients: ‘it’s important to reduce your fat intake’. However, patients do not make nutrient changes they make food changes, therefore it is vital that such nutritional messages are translated into food changes pertinent to the individual which are sustainable and enjoyable.

Physical activity plays a key role in terms of reduced risk of early mortality and several diseases. Physical activity becomes even more important as the degree of obesity diminishes and where prevention of weight gain rather than substantial weight loss is targeted. When physical activity or exercise alone is used in the treatment of obesity, weight losses are modest and average 2 to 3 kg. This weight loss, although small, exceeds that predicted if direct energy expenditure calculations are performed. For any given weight loss, the loss of fat-free mass (FFM) is less in exercising versus nonexercising subjects: this is important because FFM is the best predictor of resting metabolic rate, which is the largest contributor to total daily energy expenditure. A review of RCTs reveals strong evidence that physical activity alone in obese adults results in modest weight loss and increased cardiovascular fitness.

Many patients harbour misconceptions about the type and amount of physical activity required and this may act as a barrier to exercise adoption . The suggested exercise target for adults is an accumulation of moderate physical activity (equivalent to brisk walking) on at least 5 days each week. The risks from exercise are not great providing it is introduced gradually and other complications such as osteoarthritis and ischaemic heart disease are taken into account. The results from RCTs suggest that a combination of diet and exercise generally produces greater weight losses than diet alone including a decrease in abdominal fat. More importantly, subjects in the exercise group adhere to the prescribed diet better than the no exercise group. One of the most consistent findings in studies of exercise is weight maintenance, with maintenance of lost weight being seen in randomized control trials after 2 years from the start of intervention.

Wanna get flat stomach? In this case you have to learn more about abs workout.

Surely abs workout are not some sort of magic against all problems, but if you take care of abs workout seriously - then it will will serve you the right way.

Right now we are living in the world where knowledge quickly enhances the quality of our life.

That is why if you are properly armed with the knowledge in your topic you can be sure that you will always find the solution to any bad situation. So, please make sure to visit this site on a regular basis or - an ideal solution for you - sign up to its RSS feed. In such an easy way you will have a direct shortcut to the freshest info updates here. Blogs can be helpful, you just need to know how to use them.

Fitness Online