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Tatyana
Elite Mentor
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3038032
Avoid middle-aged spread
Meeting Report
03/03/2006
Women may prevent, delay 'middle-aged spread' by lifting weights
Abstract 7 (EPI)
PHOENIX, Ariz., March 3 – Women who lift weights twice a week can prevent or at least slow the ”middle-aged spread,” researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s 46th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.
Video News Release
A study of 164 overweight and obese (BMI 25-35) Minnesota women 24 to 44 years old found that strength training with weights dramatically reduced the increase in abdominal fat in premenopausal participants compared to similar women who merely received advice about exercise.
Women in a two-year weight-training program decreased body fat percentage by 3.7 percent, while body fat percentage remained stable in the controls. The strength training reduced intra-abdominal fat, which is more closely associated with heart disease and metabolic disturbances. More specifically, the women who did strength training experienced a 7 percent increase in intra-abdominal fat compared to a 21 percent increase in intra-abdominal fat among controls, a difference of 15 percentage points.
“On average, women in the middle years of their lives gain one to two pounds a year and most of this is assumed to be fat,” said study lead author Kathryn H. Schmitz, Ph.D., assistant professor, Center forClinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “This study shows that strength training can prevent increases in body fat percentage and attenuate increases in the fat depot most closely associated with heart disease. While an annual weight gain of one to two pounds doesn’t sound like much, over 10 to 20 years the gain is significant.”
Strength training is a fairly time-efficient method to prevent the small increases in weight that come with aging and may increase an adults’ risk for heart disease and diabetes, she said.
The Strong Healthy and Empowered (SHE) study examined whether twice-weekly strength training would prevent increases in intra-abdominal and total body fat in women who were overweight or obese. The women initially were stratified by baseline percentage body fat and age. The strength training group participated in supervised strengthening classes for 16 weeks, and had booster sessions four times yearly with certified fitness professionals over two years. The control group received a brochure recommending 30 minutes to an hour of exercise most days of the week. All of the women were asked not to change their diets in ways that might lead to weight changes while they were participating in the study.
The weight-training sessions took about an hour, and the women were encouraged to steadily increase the amount of weight lifted. The weight lifting included exercises for all major muscle groups, including the chest, upper back, lower back, shoulders, arms, buttocks and thighs. The maximal amount of weight women could lift once (called a one-repetition maximum test) increased by an average of 7 percent in bench press and 13 percent in leg press exercises.
Researchers measured the participants’ body composition with a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan and measurements of abdominal and total body fat by single slice CT scan at baseline, and again at one and two years.
Average age of the women was 36 years. Approximately 40 percent of the sample was non-Caucasian, about two-thirds were college educated and about half had children under five years old at home. All had similar calorie intakes. On average, the women completed 70 percent of all prescribed exercise sessions over two years.
Researchers noted marginal treatment effects on total fat mass and subcutaneous abdominal fat. Because there was no dietary intervention, it was not surprising that total body weight and body mass indexes (BMI) were not altered, Schmitz said.
Strength training to increase muscle mass has been demonstrated to allow older persons to delay functional declines associated with aging, she said. “It also is a moderate program that is behaviorally feasible and has a measurable impact on body composition. Younger Americans may also benefit from increased lean muscle mass as well.”
Strength training can also increase muscle strength to allow aerobic activity in overweight people, she said. “Making women stronger and more confident behaviorally may serve as a gateway to getting overweight women to be more active.”
For her research, Schmitz will be awarded a Trudy Bush Fellowship for Cardiovascular Research in Women’s Health from the American Heart Association’s Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, in March 2006 in Arizona.
Co-authors are Peter J. Hannan, MStat, and Michael D. Jensen, M.D.
Avoid middle-aged spread
Meeting Report
03/03/2006
Women may prevent, delay 'middle-aged spread' by lifting weights
Abstract 7 (EPI)
PHOENIX, Ariz., March 3 – Women who lift weights twice a week can prevent or at least slow the ”middle-aged spread,” researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s 46th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.
Video News Release
A study of 164 overweight and obese (BMI 25-35) Minnesota women 24 to 44 years old found that strength training with weights dramatically reduced the increase in abdominal fat in premenopausal participants compared to similar women who merely received advice about exercise.
Women in a two-year weight-training program decreased body fat percentage by 3.7 percent, while body fat percentage remained stable in the controls. The strength training reduced intra-abdominal fat, which is more closely associated with heart disease and metabolic disturbances. More specifically, the women who did strength training experienced a 7 percent increase in intra-abdominal fat compared to a 21 percent increase in intra-abdominal fat among controls, a difference of 15 percentage points.
“On average, women in the middle years of their lives gain one to two pounds a year and most of this is assumed to be fat,” said study lead author Kathryn H. Schmitz, Ph.D., assistant professor, Center forClinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “This study shows that strength training can prevent increases in body fat percentage and attenuate increases in the fat depot most closely associated with heart disease. While an annual weight gain of one to two pounds doesn’t sound like much, over 10 to 20 years the gain is significant.”
Strength training is a fairly time-efficient method to prevent the small increases in weight that come with aging and may increase an adults’ risk for heart disease and diabetes, she said.
The Strong Healthy and Empowered (SHE) study examined whether twice-weekly strength training would prevent increases in intra-abdominal and total body fat in women who were overweight or obese. The women initially were stratified by baseline percentage body fat and age. The strength training group participated in supervised strengthening classes for 16 weeks, and had booster sessions four times yearly with certified fitness professionals over two years. The control group received a brochure recommending 30 minutes to an hour of exercise most days of the week. All of the women were asked not to change their diets in ways that might lead to weight changes while they were participating in the study.
The weight-training sessions took about an hour, and the women were encouraged to steadily increase the amount of weight lifted. The weight lifting included exercises for all major muscle groups, including the chest, upper back, lower back, shoulders, arms, buttocks and thighs. The maximal amount of weight women could lift once (called a one-repetition maximum test) increased by an average of 7 percent in bench press and 13 percent in leg press exercises.
Researchers measured the participants’ body composition with a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan and measurements of abdominal and total body fat by single slice CT scan at baseline, and again at one and two years.
Average age of the women was 36 years. Approximately 40 percent of the sample was non-Caucasian, about two-thirds were college educated and about half had children under five years old at home. All had similar calorie intakes. On average, the women completed 70 percent of all prescribed exercise sessions over two years.
Researchers noted marginal treatment effects on total fat mass and subcutaneous abdominal fat. Because there was no dietary intervention, it was not surprising that total body weight and body mass indexes (BMI) were not altered, Schmitz said.
Strength training to increase muscle mass has been demonstrated to allow older persons to delay functional declines associated with aging, she said. “It also is a moderate program that is behaviorally feasible and has a measurable impact on body composition. Younger Americans may also benefit from increased lean muscle mass as well.”
Strength training can also increase muscle strength to allow aerobic activity in overweight people, she said. “Making women stronger and more confident behaviorally may serve as a gateway to getting overweight women to be more active.”
For her research, Schmitz will be awarded a Trudy Bush Fellowship for Cardiovascular Research in Women’s Health from the American Heart Association’s Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, in March 2006 in Arizona.
Co-authors are Peter J. Hannan, MStat, and Michael D. Jensen, M.D.
