Aerobics Will Make You Fatter?

I have spent my time watching hundreds and hundreds of people walk into gym and the first and only thing they do is hop on a treadmill or elliptical for hours on end. Thousands of gym goers do this every single day in hopes to get into shape and to lose the body fat that they have always trying to lose. We have also seen thousands of people fail at what they are trying to accomplish because they are just not satisfied with the results that they are not seeing. Why, do people stop coming to the gym? Why do people fail at their goals? Why are we fatter than every before/

What I am about to write will probably cause controversy with people who are going to read this blog.. Guess what? I don’t really care…The evidence is right here in front of us. 35% obesity rate in this country and rising! Note: These are studies done on fat loss/weight loss

• In a 3 month study, women exercised at 78% of their max heart rate for 45 minutes, 5 days a week and lost no more weight than those who dieted alone!
  Utter AC, Nieman DC, Shannonhouse EM, Butterworth DE, Nieman CN, Influence of diet and/or exercise on body composition and cardiorespiratory fitness in obese women. Int J Sport Nutr. 1998 Sep;8(3):213-22.

• In a 6 month study, subjects did 50 minutes of cardiovascular exercise 5 days a week, and lost no more weight than those who dieted only.
  Redman et al. Effect of calorie restriction with or without exercise on body composition and fat distribution. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Jan 2.

• In a 12 month study, subjects did aerobic exercise for 60 minutes a day, 6 days a week, and only lost an average of 3.5 pounds for the whole year!
  McTiernan et al. Exercise Effect on Weight and Body Fat in Men and Women. Obesity 2007 June - 15:1496-1512.

• In another study, 20 weeks of endurance training cost subjects 28,861 calories, while 15 weeks of interval training caused subjects to burn 13,614 calories, yet the interval training subjects showed 9 TIMES greater subcutaneous fat loss (when corrected for energy cost) that the endurance group.
  Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C. Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8.

• Another study compared 3 times a week training for 15 weeks, 20 minutes of interval training vs. 40 minutes of steady state training. Both groups ate the same. The interval training group lost 5.5 pounds of body fat and increased lean mass. The steady state actually gained an average of 1 pound of fat!
  Trapp EG, Chisholm DJ, Freund J, Boutcher SH. The effects of high-intensity intermittent exercise training on fat loss and fasting insulin levels of young women. Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Jan 15.

• This strength training group lost significantly more fat and maintained more muscle than the aerobic training group.
  Geliebter A, Maher MM,  Gerace L, Gutin B, Heymsfield SB, Hashim SA. Effects of strength or aerobic training on body composition, resting metabolic rate, and peak oxygen consumption in obese dieting subjects. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Sep;66(3):557-63.

• In a 12 week study of 3 groups: diet only, diet plus aerobics (5 times a week, progressing from 30 mins to 50 mins) and diet plus aerobics plus weight training. Diet group lost 14.6 pounds of fat, diet plus aerobics lost 15.6 pounds, and diet plus aerobics plus weights lost 21.1 pounds of fat (44% and 35% more than the other groups, respectively).
  Kramer, Volek et al. Influence of exercise training on physiological and performance changes with weight loss in men. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 31, No. 9, pp. 1320-1329, 1999.

• In a low calorie dieting study, those who added resistance training prevented lean body mass and increased their metabolism while they lost fat, whereas a dieting and aerobic exercise group lost lean body mass and decreased their metabolism.
  Bryner RW, Ullrich IH, Sauers J, Donley D, Hornsby G, Kolar M, Yeater R. Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate. J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21.

• A study showed strength training done in a circuit training protocol with 4 sets of only 3 exercises done for 10 reps each - taking 31 minutes - elevated calories burned for the next 38 hours.
  Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM. Effect of an acute period of resistance exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption: implications for body mass management. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Mar;86(5):411-7. Epub 2002 Jan 29.

Here’s my interpretation of these studies…Stay off the treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes. These studies are showing that the more aerobics we do the more our metabolism is decreased. That is because the there is no muscle building effect that takes places when we walk, bike, or jog at long slow pace. The more and more we perform these activities, then the faster your body adapts to the movement. If we do not have muscle growth and regeneration, then we do not have anything to help us to burn calories. So, I would consider this a set up for weight gain? And, you wonder why you are not losing any weight and why we as a nation are fat and continue to be fat!

More to come!