Calorie-burning continues up to two hours after workout
Resistance training burns calories for more than an hour after a workout and may be as important as aerobic exercise for women in the fight against fat, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins and Arizona State universities.
The study found that after women did a series of resistance exercises involving weights, their bodies' energy expenditure was raised for up to two hours after the workout. Typically, exercises such as jogging or aerobics burn more calories during the workout but increase metabolism for less than an hour afterward.
Results were published in the June issue of Medicine, Science Sports and Exercise, a journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.
"Women who want to lose weight typically do aerobic exercises to raise their heart rate, thinking that's how they can burn the most calories," says Carol A. Binzen, M.S., C.P.T., lead author of the study and a clinical exercise physiologist at Hopkins. "To get the maximum benefit, women need a combination of cardiovascular workouts and resistance training."
Resistance training is especially important for women older than 25, who potentially can lose up to a half-pound of muscle mass every year, Binzen says. "Resistance training could have a more lasting effect on metabolism than aerobic exercise. It burns fat and increases muscle mass."
Researchers followed a dozen women ages 24 to 34 who regularly did weightlifting exercises. For the study, on one day the women performed three sets each of 10 repetitions of the following exercises: chest press, shoulder press, leg extension, leg press, seated row, latisimus dorsi pull-down, biceps curl, triceps extension and abdominal crunches. On another day, they sat still and watched a movie.
Binzen and colleagues compared the women's energy expenditures up to two hours after the exercises and while they watched the movie. On average, the resistance exerc
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Contact: Karen Blum
kblum@jhmi.edu
410-955-1534
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
4-Jun-2001