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Updated: March 6, 2006

News Item: New Study Reinforces benefits of Weight Training

When 99.9% of people think of "exercise" they believe is aerobic exercise. That means activity that requires an increase in consumption of oxygen by the body in amounts greater than the oxygen requirement at rest. Therefore, sing this definition, all activity beyond lying on the sofa or the bed is "aerobic exercise." But, we specifically mean activity such as walking, jogging, swimming, calisthenics, yoga, cycling and spinning, skiing, rowing, even walking up stairs. If you think about them all of the exercises that are "aerobic" involves movement. Usually, movement of the entire body. Using all the muscles of the body, admittedly to varying degrees, to achieve movement.

Now, think about a form of exercise where the only movements that occur only in specific muscle groups. But, also, these muscle groups are stressed almost to their maximal capacity and exercised to fatigue. Rather than oxygen and glucose and making carbon dioxide, the muscles under stress are burning glucose so fast that they are producing lactic acid along with the carbon dioxide. When the lactic acidosis accumulates, muscles start cramping. This is "anaerobic" exercise and one form of is resistance training. That's weight lifting, folks, though weight do not necessarily have to be involved. And resistance training has got to be part of your exercise routine.

Resistance training, unlike aerobic exercise, is not done to burn calories. In fact, a standard resistance training sessions burns less calories than a moderate-intensity aerobic exercise routine. Also, the improvement in aerobic capacity (fitness) does not improve as well with resistance exercise as it does with aerobic training. (1) Resistance training does not improve the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL - the "good" cholesterol - like aerobic exercise. (2) So exactly what does resistance training accomplish during weight loss?

When you do resistance training, you are putting extreme stress on specific muscle groups. Unless you overwhelm the muscle with your exericse, it will remain the same. But, when it is stressed to the point of fatigue, muscle has a wonderful capability to adapt. Unlike most tissue in the body, it can increase in size. When stressed, the muscle starts building new protein and expanding the size of its fibers. The fibers are the building blocks of muscle tissue. As the muscle expands ("hypertrophy") the fibers and grows, it becomes stronger. And the weight that started off as being an extreme stress, becomes easier as the muscle hypertrophies.

So, in answer to the original question: what does resistance training accomplish during weight loss? It prevents the body from losing lean body mass - i.e. muscle - during weight loss. As we have discussed, exercise signals the body to directs its catabolism ("cannibalism") toward the tissue that is not being used - fat - and protects the body from muscle loss. Not only does it prevent muscle loss, it will actually increase muscle mass as your weight decreases. (3)

If you are gaining muscle mass, what is that you going to do to your plans for losing weight? My first response is: who cares? It is more important, as we have discussed elsewhere, to be stronger, leaner and have more energy than it is to weigh some artificial number on the scale. But, I also know that the number on the scale, for our culture, remains important. Fine, I can work with that also.

As you add muscle mass, yes, your weight loss - as displayed on the scale - will slow down. Women who work out with resistance training should expect to add about 2 pounds of muscle weight after 8 weeks of working out. Probably, when everything stabilizes you should expect to add a total of 5-6 pounds of muscle weight. One of the worries I always hear from my female patients when I recommend resistance training is "I don't want to look like a weight lifter!" Well, even if you "pumped iron" like a wild woman for months, you will never add the muscle bulk you fear. In order to look like a female version of Govenor Arnold Schwarzenegger, you need the male hormone testosterone. Since you don't have it (well, at least not much of it), you will not "bulk up" or "look like a man." It just ain't going to happen. But, with active resistance exercises, I can promise you that you will have more curves, a smaller dress size, and a lot more self-confidence.

A large study was done that showed, on average, women will lose 3.5 pounds of fat mass for every 2 pounds of muscle they add with strength training. On the scales, they will appear to only be losing 1.5 pounds overall. But, what you don't see from the scales is that these women are setting themselves up for weight maintenance and higher resting metabolic rate, RMR. Since a pound of muscle burns 35 calories a day, just at rest, your metabolism will be much higher as you add lean body mass. Therefore, adding 5-6 pounds of muscle, you metabolism will increase 200-300 calories per day - without doing a thing! That boost in your metabolism is about the same number of calories you would burn with a brisk 2 mile walk. See what the benefits are now? There are others:

Develop strong bones. Strength training increases bone density and decreases your risk of osteoporosis. When bone is stressed appropriately through muscle movement, it gets stronger.
Reduce your risk of injury. Building muscle protects your joints from injury during aerobic exercise and normal daily activity. For instance, strength training exercises to work your core — the muscles in your back and abdomen — help protect your lower back and keep it healthy.
Improve your sense of well-being. Strength training may give you more self-confidence and improve your overall body image.
Get a better night's sleep. When you exercise on a regular basis, you can improve the quality of your sleep.
If you don't use your muscles, you can lose them. Muscle mass diminishes with age, and your muscles can shrink if they're not used. Especially important for older women, strength training decreases your risk of falls and increases your stability. This may help you maintain your independence as you age - reason enough to adopt a lifelong strength training regimen.

And though the title of this article suggests that you should start "pumping iron," resistance training is not confined to bulky, noisy, can clanging barbells and dumbells. Therre are a number of products on the market that can provide the same anaerobic exercise that we have come to associate with lifting weights. Some of these options are shown in the table below. These particular products are offered by one of the most innovative manufacturers in the fitness industry, Spri Products. I strongly advise you to take a look at the wonderfully inventive devices they offer for the addition of strength training to your workouts. Spri also offers some excellent instructional videos and brochures for using these stretch bands, cords and assorted resistance devices. The bands and cords also come in a variety of tensions so you can begin with a low tension band or cord and advance as your strength improves.

Resistance Bands	Dumbells and Stretching Ball	Exer-Ball Weights	Toning Cords

Getting Started...

For women and some men who have never done strength training before, it can be confusing to start with. If you know someone who uses weights regularly, enlist their support (and use their equipment!) to start. A better but slightly more expensive option is to get a personal trainer. A personal trainer doesn't have to be a long-term committment. Find a trainer - the local gym is a good place to start - and see if they will work with you for a month getting started. A trainer can assess your strength and conditioning and outline a starting set of exercises. It's important to set reasonable starting weights if you are going to use weights.

The final option, if you are going to use weights - free weights (dumbells and barbells) or a resistance machine (BowFlex, etc.) is the old "trial and error" system. Pick a weight and do as many repetitions of the exercise as you can. If you can do more than 15 repetitions, stop and rest for 3 minutes or so. Then, add five pounds. Do as many repetitions as you can again. Repeat the cycle until you find a weight that you can comfortably do 12-15 repeitions with. You last "rep" should be difficult but you should not have to strain. This is a good training weight for that particular exercise (biceps curls, bench press, etc.) For an excellent slide show of various free-weight exercisies, check out the excellent Mayo Clinic web site at this link. If you need help getting started and some really terrific personalized advice and trainign schedules, check out Personal Training Programs. I have used their site for my routines and have found their advice to be solid and very clear.

If you choose to go the alternate route for resistance training and use bands, toning cords or other devices, I think you will find all the instruction and support you need from the Spri web site I have mentioned previously. If you can't find something on their site that you think might be fun to do, you really need to look again.

Walberg JL. Aerobic exercise and resistance weight-training during weight reduction. Implications for obese persons and athletes. Sports Med. 1989 Jun;7(6):343-56.
Banz WJ, Maher MA, Thompson WG, Bassett DR, Moore W, Ashraf M, Keefer DJ, Zemel MB. Effects of resistance versus aerobic training on coronary artery disease risk factors. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2003 Apr;228(4):434-40.
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.
Park SK, Park JH, Kwon YC, Kim HS, Yoon MS, Park HT. The effect of combined aerobic and resistance exercise training on abdominal fat in obese middle-aged women. J Physiol Anthropol Appl Human Sci. 2003 May;22(3):129-35.

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