Strength Training vs.Aerobics for Fat Loss:


Are you under the impression that you can't lose fat without aerobics? Well, you need to reconsider. In a recent blog, top fitness trainer Alwyn Cosgrove wrote about a couple studies that strongly favor the use of strength training when trying to lose weight.

In one study from the Journal of American College of Nutrition, volunteers were put on an extreme low calorie diet. One group did resistance (strength) training and the other was assigned to do aerobic training.

While both groups lost weight, the strength training group lost significantly more fat and no lean muscle tissue. The strength group also increased their resting metabolism while the aerobics group decreased metabolism.

In another study, subjects on an extreme low calorie diet lost 35 pounds while participating in strength training, yet they managed to increase their muscle size, which would help keep their metabolism high. Cosgrove doesn't advocate restricting calories to this extreme level.

The "take home" point from these studies is that you need to do strength training to lose fat and keep your metabolism high, burning more calories even when you are resting. Muscle tissue burns calories whether you are working or resting.

On another note, you need to work to maintain your muscle tissue as you age, in order to keep your mobility. Strong muscles support your joints and allow you to keep moving. So they are important for fat loss, as well as mobility.

Walking is a great form of exercise that I recommend for most everyone. If you end up doing a lot of walking all throughout your day, it can help keep your weight in check.

If you have limited time, however, strength training delivers more bang for your buck. You can get cardiovascular benefits by doing circuit work, where you go from one exercise to another with little rest in between.

Many Factors to Good Health!

I believe that there are many factors that go into having good health. As far as wellness and prevention, I think you need adequate movement, good posture, and proper strength to support the joints. There are many ways and different exercises to achieve this, much of which I have written about on my website.

I say all this because I don't believe in any one exercise, piece of equipment, or even therapy that does all things for all people, all of the time. I believe in a combination of these for health. So I may be highly biased towards some of these, such as joint mobility training or even whole body vibration platforms.

But a combination of different movements and exercises is what is best for most of us. We all like to do different things. For some of us that is yoga, or martial arts, and for others it may be strength training and joint mobility. My advice is to switch things up once in a while to give your body a different look.

The body adapts to doing the same thing over and over, so you have to change what you are doing to keep things fresh. A combination of mobility/flexibility and strength/stability is what is best. How you go about achieving that is up to you.

Same thing with therapy. I believe strongly in chiropractic. I have seen and felt its results, having worked with two different chiropractors for almost four years. I also believe in flexibility, posture, and movement retraining in order to get lasting results. Most people in our society don't move enough and this affects their health in a negative manner.

I believe that prevention is key if we want to try and avoid sickness and the ill affects of too little movement. So if you aren't into chiropractic for whatever reason, you need to find a highly skilled massage therapist who can help keep your body moving properly and you need to practice joint mobility, so you will have optimal control over your movements.

Ideally, use a combination of different movements and treatments for your health. There are many different articles on my website that can help you achieve this. Don't be afraid to drop me an email with any questions you might have. I've changed my spam settings so if you have tried to reach me before, you can now.

I just wrote another article that gives more information on how you can prevent back pain if you have to sit for long periods of time - How "creep" affects low back pain.