More Exercise = More Fat Loss for Older Women, Study Finds
Doubling the amount of time spent in heart-pumping workouts each week paid off after a year
The investigators found that the women who got the minimum amount of exercise did experience improvements in weight and BMI and, on average, lost body fat.
However, women who doubled their exercise regimen experienced significantly more reduction in BMI and total body fat. They also lost more belly fat, and their waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio decreased significantly more.
The findings were reported in the July 16 online edition of JAMA Oncology.
Body fat has been linked to increased breast cancer risk, because fat produces the female hormone estrogen and also increases insulin resistance and inflammation, Friedenreich pointed out.
"It's been very clearly shown that if you gain weight over your lifetime and if you are overweight after menopause, that increases your risk of breast cancer," she said.
Alpa Patel, an epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society, said "these results allow us to say that there's this much benefit if you exercise the minimum 150 minutes recommended, and there's this much more benefit added if you can get that to 300 minutes."
In this study, the women were asked to maintain their usual diet, Friedenreich said.
Women can achieve even greater weight loss and fat reduction if they pair an increase in exercise with a healthy diet, said Kerri Winters-Stone, a research professor at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing, in Portland.
Other studies have shown that combining diet and exercise can provide better weight loss results than either diet or exercise on their own, said Winters-Stone, who wrote a commentary that accompanies Friedenreich's study.
"It really boils down to an energy balance equation," she said. "You can get there quicker by changing diet and exercise, rather than trying to achieve it by exercise alone."
Winters-Stone added that increasing exercise is a good idea, but people need to make sure they understand their own physical limitations. Overuse injuries can occur if a person heedlessly pursues a stringent exercise regimen.
"People can kind of reach their max," she said. "Overexercise tends to exacerbate knee pain, for instance, or it might cause an old shoulder injury to flare up."
More Exercise = More Fat Loss for Older Women
Doubling the amount of time spent in heart-pumping workouts each week paid off after a year
The investigators found that the women who got the minimum amount of exercise did experience improvements in weight and BMI and, on average, lost body fat.
However, women who doubled their exercise regimen experienced significantly more reduction in BMI and total body fat. They also lost more belly fat, and their waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio decreased significantly more.
The findings were reported in the July 16 online edition of JAMA Oncology.
Body fat has been linked to increased breast cancer risk, because fat produces the female hormone estrogen and also increases insulin resistance and inflammation, Friedenreich pointed out.
"It's been very clearly shown that if you gain weight over your lifetime and if you are overweight after menopause, that increases your risk of breast cancer," she said.
Alpa Patel, an epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society, said "these results allow us to say that there's this much benefit if you exercise the minimum 150 minutes recommended, and there's this much more benefit added if you can get that to 300 minutes."
In this study, the women were asked to maintain their usual diet, Friedenreich said.
Women can achieve even greater weight loss and fat reduction if they pair an increase in exercise with a healthy diet, said Kerri Winters-Stone, a research professor at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing, in Portland.
Other studies have shown that combining diet and exercise can provide better weight loss results than either diet or exercise on their own, said Winters-Stone, who wrote a commentary that accompanies Friedenreich's study.
"It really boils down to an energy balance equation," she said. "You can get there quicker by changing diet and exercise, rather than trying to achieve it by exercise alone."
Winters-Stone added that increasing exercise is a good idea, but people need to make sure they understand their own physical limitations. Overuse injuries can occur if a person heedlessly pursues a stringent exercise regimen.
"People can kind of reach their max," she said. "Overexercise tends to exacerbate knee pain, for instance, or it might cause an old shoulder injury to flare up."
Source...