Article by Ashley Finkel, Nutrition Student and Intern at Openspaceclinic.
This topic is often very controversial. Some believe that exercise plays a vital role in weight loss, while others believe that exercise is insignificant on its own.
There is one thing we do know for sure: exercise offers so many health benefits. Exercise can do wonders for the body; regular physical activity can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and even some cancers. It has also shown to help reduce stress and anxiety in healthy adults. After hearing all that, who wouldn’t want to exercise?
Now that we know how effective physical activity is in preventing major chronic disease and mental illness, let’s move on to the question you have all been waiting for: does exercise help you lose weight? To answer this question, let’s look at the evidence.
Fat Loss vs Muscle Loss
When you reduce the number of calories you eat without increasing your physical activity, you lose fat, but you lose muscle as well. When you include exercise in your weight loss plan, it can reduce the amount of muscle you lose. Retaining muscle will work in opposition with fat loss and avoid the drop in your metabolic rate that you experience when you lose weight. Therefore, it will be easier to keep off the weight, which is what we’re all hoping for!
Cardio
Whether it’s the treadmill, the spin bike or a simple walk to the park, we’re all familiar with the famous cardio workout, also known as aerobic exercise. Cardio has been very successful in helping people burn calories; however, it plays little role in affecting muscle mass. A study done in 2012 demonstrated that aerobic exercise alone, without any calorie restriction, was extremely effective in increasing weight loss for overweight and obese men and women. Many other studies have been done as well to show the beneficial outcomes of cardio; loss of liver fat, loss of visceral fat (belly fat) and so much more.
Resistance Training
Think weightlifting or body weight training—these are examples of resistance training. Resistance training can increase the strength and/or endurance of your muscles as well as burn calories. Increasing the amount of muscle you have, can increase your metabolism, which allow s you to burn more calories continuously—even when you’re taking a rest on the couch. What you can take from this is: cardio is important, but resistance training can be just as, if not more important! Both types of exercise can help you lose weight, but resistance training can help you keep off the weight, which is the hardest part of weight loss!
Does Exercise Help You Lose Weight?
The truth is: different methods work for different people. While most individuals find exercise to be very effective in weight loss, some find that they don’t lose any weight. Maybe changing your diet will be more effective for you! Most of the evidence shows that a strategy including both a healthy diet and exercise is the most effective way to lose weight and keep it off. In the end, consistency is key. Try to stay motivated and stick to a plan that works for you!
//
References
Beavers, K. M., Beavers, D. P., Nesbit, B. A., Ambrosius, W. T., Marsh, A. P., Nicklas, B. J., &
Rejeski, W. J. (2014). Effect of an 18-month physical activity and weight loss intervention on body composition in overweight and obese older adults. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 22(2), 325–331. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20607
Behrens, G., Jochem, C., Schmid, D., Keimling, M., Ricci, C., & Leitzmann, M. F. (2015).
Physical activity and risk of pancreatic cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European journal of epidemiology, 30(4), 279–298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-015-0014-9
Bouchard, C., Blair, S. N., & Katzmarzyk, P. T. (2015). Less Sitting, More Physical Activity,
or Higher Fitness?. Mayo Clinic proceedings, 90(11), 1533–1540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2015.08.005
Carter, M. I., & Hinton, P. S. (2014). Physical activity and bone health. Missouri
medicine, 111(1), 59–64.
Chaston, T. B., Dixon, J. B., & O’Brien, P. E. (2007). Changes in fat-free mass during
significant weight loss: a systematic review. International journal of obesity (2005), 31(5), 743–750. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803483
Donnelly, J. E., Honas, J. J., Smith, B. K., Mayo, M. S., Gibson, C. A., Sullivan, D. K., Lee, J.,
Herrmann, S. D., Lambourne, K., & Washburn, R. A. (2013). Aerobic exercise alone results in clinically significant weight loss for men and women: midwest exercise trial 2. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 21(3), E219–E228. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20145
Garrow, J. S., & Summerbell, C. D. (1995). Meta-analysis: effect of exercise, with or
without dieting, on the body composition of overweight subjects. European journal of clinical nutrition, 49(1), 1–10.
Goedecke, J. H., & Micklesfield, L. K. (2014). The effect of exercise on obesity, body fat
distribution and risk for type 2 diabetes. Medicine and sport science, 60, 82–93. https://doi.org/10.1159/000357338
Heymsfield, S. B., Gonzalez, M. C., Shen, W., Redman, L., & Thomas, D. (2014). Weight
loss composition is one-fourth fat-free mass: a critical review and critique of this widely cited rule. Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 15(4), 310–321. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12143
Hunter, G. R., Byrne, N. M., Sirikul, B., Fernández, J. R., Zuckerman, P. A., Darnell, B. E., &
Gower, B. A. (2008). Resistance training conserves fat-free mass and resting energy expenditure following weight loss. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 16(5), 1045–1051. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2008.38
Ismail, I., Keating, S. E., Baker, M. K., & Johnson, N. A. (2012). A systematic review and
meta-analysis of the effect of aerobic vs. resistance exercise training on visceral fat. Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 13(1), 68–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2011.00931.x
Keating, S. E., Hackett, D. A., Parker, H. M., O’Connor, H. T., Gerofi, J. A., Sainsbury, A.,
Baker, M. K., Chuter, V. H., Caterson, I. D., George, J., & Johnson, N. A. (2015). Effect of aerobic exercise training dose on liver fat and visceral adiposity. Journal of hepatology, 63(1), 174–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2015.02.022
Lavie, C. J., Arena, R., Swift, D. L., Johannsen, N. M., Sui, X., Lee, D. C., Earnest, C. P.,
Church, T. S., O’Keefe, J. H., Milani, R. V., & Blair, S. N. (2015). Exercise and the cardiovascular system: clinical science and cardiovascular outcomes. Circulation research, 117(2), 207–219. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.117.305205
Pan, S. Y., & DesMeules, M. (2009). Energy intake, physical activity, energy balance, and
cancer: epidemiologic evidence. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 472, 191–215. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-492-0_8
Stiegler, P., & Cunliffe, A. (2006). The role of diet and exercise for the maintenance of
fat-free mass and resting metabolic rate during weight loss. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 36(3), 239–262. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200636030-00005
Wang, C. W., Chan, C. H., Ho, R. T., Chan, J. S., Ng, S. M., & Chan, C. L. (2014). Managing
stress and anxiety through qigong exercise in healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 14, 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-14-8
Westcott W. L. (2012). Resistance training is medicine: effects of strength training on
health. Current sports medicine reports, 11(4), 209–216. https://doi.org/10.1249/JSR.0b013e31825dabb8
Williamson, D. L., & Kirwan, J. P. (1997). A single bout of concentric resistance exercise
increases basal metabolic rate 48 hours after exercise in healthy 59-77-year-old men. The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 52(6), M352–M355. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/52a.6.m352
Wilson, M. G., Ellison, G. M., & Cable, N. T. (2015). Basic science behind the
cardiovascular benefits of exercise. Heart (British Cardiac Society), 101(10), 758–765. https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2014-306596