by Dennis Thompson
. Health reporter
Muscle Gain Fat Loss Program - More Exercise = More Fat Loss for Older Women, Study Finds
Thursday, (health news) - older women who fit more minutes of heart pumping exercise in their week will lose more body fat, a new study shows.
Canadian researchers found that postmenopausal women who received five hours of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise each week - doubling the normally recommended amount - lost significantly more body fat within one year than women who exercised less."More is better. This is definitely what we find here," said the study Christine Friedenreich, scientific leader in the Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research in Alberta Health Services-CancerControl Alberta in Calgary. "If you can do more, you will do better."
The National Health Institutes of U.S. currently recommends that adults receive at least two hours and 30 minutes of aerobic activity of moderate intensity each week, authors observed in basic information. The previous search showed that the exercise decreases body weight and total body fat, said Friedenreich, but his research team wanted to know if the increase of a person's "dose" would produce even better results.To test this theory, the researchers recruited 384 women whose body mass index (BMI) ranged from 22 to 40. An BMI below 25 is considered healthy, while 30 or more is considered obese. All women were free from diseases, non-smokers and were not taking hormone replacement therapy.
Half of women were invited to exercise the recommended minimum amount of two hours and 30 minutes a week, while the other half had to work for five hours a week.
Women could participate in any aerobic activity they liked, provided they maintained their heart rate within 65% to 75% of their heart rate reserve for at least half of each exercise session. Most of the activities involved an elliptical coach, walking, cycling or running. The heart rate reserve is the gap between a person's rest and maximum heart rate."It's not light activity," said Friedenreich of the necessary exercise. "It's something that definitely causes an increase in your heart rate."
The researchers measured the body fat of each woman before and then using X-rays and TC scanners, to track their progress after a year of exercise.
The researchers found that women who received the minimum quantity of exercise experienced improvements in weight and BMI and, on average, lost body fat. However, women who have doubled their exercise regimen have significantly experienced more reduction in BMI and total body fat. They also lost more fat from the belly, and their waist circumference relationship and hip waist decreased significantly more.
The discoveries were reported in the online edition of July 16, Jama Oncology.
Body fat has been associated with increasing the risk of breast cancer because fat produces female hormonal estrogen and also increases insulin resistance and inflammation, Friedenreich pointed out."has been very clearly shown that if you gain weight throughout your life and if you are overweight after menopause, this increases your risk of breast cancer," she said.
Alpa Patel, an epidemiologist with American Cancer Society, said: "These results allow us to say that there is so much benefit if you exercise the least 150 minute recommended, and there are many more benefits added if you can get this for 300 minutes . "
In this study, women were invited to keep their diet usual, Friedenreich said.
Women can achieve a weight loss and even greater fat reduction if they pair an increase in exercise with a healthy diet, said Kerri Winters-Stone, research teacher at Oregon Health
