Bethesda, Md. (July 18, 2007) Taking a break in the middle of your workout may metabolize more fat than exercising without stopping, according to a recent study in Japan. Researchers conducted the first known study to compare these two exercise methodsexercising continually in one long bout versus breaking up the same workout with a rest period. The findings could change the way we approach exercise. Who wouldnt want to take a breather for that"

Many people believe prolonged exercise will be optimal in order to reduce body fat, but our study has shown that repetitions of shorter exercise may cause enhancements of fat mobilization and utilization during and after the exercise. These findings will be informative about the design of [future] exercise regimens, said lead researcher Kazushige Goto, Ph.D. Most people are reluctant to perform a single bout of prolonged exercise. The repeated exercise with shorter bouts of exercise will be a great help [in keeping up with fitness].

This finding is part of a study entitled Enhancement of fat metabolism by repeated bouts of moderate endurance exercise, found in the June 2007 edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology, which is published by the American Physiological Society. It was conducted by Kazushige Goto, of both the Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Komaba, Tokyo, Japan and the Institute of Sports Medicine, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; Naokata Ishii, of the Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Komaba, Tokyo, Japan; and Ayuko Mizuno and Kaoru Takamatsu, both of the Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.

Summary of Methodology

The researchers used seven healthy (avg. body mass: 66.1, percentage fat: 17.6) men with an average age of 25 who were physically active and familiar with exercise and had the
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Contact: Celia Lee
clee@the-aps.org
301-634-7406
American Physiological Society
18-Jul-2007