Exercise & Weight Loss

Diet and Exercise

• Caloric restriction without exercise
  • Loss of muscle
    • Subsequent greater loss of resting metabolic rate (RMR)
    • No toning effect
  • Greater likelihood of regaining weight
    • Exercise is the leading predictor of long term weight maintenance
• Exercise without proper Dietary Intervention
  • Much more activity must be performed for longer periods for even a modest loss of weight
    • Exercise or activity must be performed most days of the week.
    • Aerobic Exercise
      • progress to at least 45 minutes, 60-90 minutes recommended
    • Anaerobic Exercise
      • hastens fat loss and restores muscle mass
      • but does not significantly reduce body weight without dietary changes

Weight Loss versus Fat Loss

• With a typical exercise program, it is common to maintain weight, yet lose fat and gain muscle
  • Girth can decrease since muscle is denser than fat.
  • A sheer gain in muscle results in a lower percent of body fat
  • Improvements in diet may be needed for substantial loss of fat
• Regular Body Composition Tests can assess the effectiveness of a program
  • Absolute weight of fat and lean body weight should be tracked and analyzed
  • Dietary and exercise goals can be adjusted accordingly

Combining Anaerobic and Aerobic Activity

• Aerobic exercise burns fat during exercise, but has little effect on calorie expenditure after exercise
  • Aerobic exercise should begin "light" and progress to "somewhat" hard throughout the first few weeks
    • Progressively longer durations and intensities
    • Higher intensities
      • associated with higher dropout rates for beginners
      • can be implemented later for more time-efficient workouts
• Intense anaerobic exercise increases the metabolism hours after exercise
  • Intense exercise (eg. weight training, HIIT, plyometrics, sprints) can increase metabolic rate for hours after the vigorous workout.
• Weight training
  • Restores muscle that had been lost over the years from sedentary modern lifestyle.
    • One pound of muscle can burn 30 to 50 Calories a day
    • One pound of fat burns only 3 Calories a day