Moderate exercise may beat intense workouts
 

Reuters Health News Service
6 August, 2007


Moderate exercise may beat intense workouts

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Moderate exercise like walking may be as good as or better than intense workouts when it comes to certain heart health measures, new research suggests.

In a study of 240 overweight, middle-aged adults, researchers found that moderate exercise, but not vigorous activity, improved participants' levels of blood fats called triglycerides.

Meanwhile, improvements in "good" HDL cholesterol seemed to depend on how much study participants exercised, and not how intensely. What's more, researchers found, both benefits were sustained when exercisers took a vacation from working out.

All of this is good news for sedentary people who would find it hard to leap from the couch to a daily run, according to the study authors.

On the other hand, there's bad news for sedentary people who would prefer to stay that way. In this study, participants who remained inactive saw their "bad" LDL cholesterol levels climb over just six months.

The negative effects don't stop there. Previous work with the same study group found that inactive participants continued to gain weight and inches around the waistline, lead study author Dr. Cris A. Slentz told Reuters Health.

"In overweight or mildly obese sedentary individuals, continuing to be inactive is worse than previously thought," said Slentz, an exercise physiologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.

He and his colleagues report the findings in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

The study included 240 overweight, sedentary men and women who were randomly assigned to one of four groups. In two groups, participants worked out intensely on treadmills or other gym equipment, but the amount of exercise varied; one group got the equivalent of 20 miles of jogging per week, while the other logged the equivalent of 12 miles.

A third group exercised at a moderate intensity for a moderate amount of time -- the equivalent of 12 miles of walking per week. The fourth group remained inactive.

The researchers then looked at the effects each regimen had on participants' cholesterol and triglyceride levels over six months -- and whether any improvements were sustained after the exercisers took two weeks off.

On average, they found, only the moderate exercisers showed lasting improvements in their triglycerides. Lasting improvements in HDL levels were seen only in exercisers who worked out intensely for a greater amount of time.

The same HDL advantage was not seen among people who exercised vigorously for a lesser amount of time per week. So, Slentz explained, he and his colleagues attribute the benefit to the amount of exercise, and not the intensity.

The bottom line, according to Slentz, is that "most all of the benefits" of exercise are related to the amount, rather than the intensity. An exception is that vigorous exercise, like jogging, is more effective at boosting cardiovascular fitness -- which, Slentz noted, may or may not be important in heart disease risk.

So a person's choice of exercise should depend on his or her goals, according to the researchers. For many people, that will mean moderate activity.

The "wonderful thing" about such exercise, Slentz said, is that people need only find a couple of 15-minute blocks of time each day to take a walk.

http://www.reuters.com/article/heal...06?pageNumber=2

I find these articles so misleading. I walk everywhere because I don't drive - to the store, from the train station to work, to the park, etc. Maybe it meant that I never got over 300 pounds, but it certainly does not do much for overall fitness. Now my Dad fast-walks and has been for the past 25 years, but to the tune of 7 to 10 miles a day. Now, that creates some fitness. Two 15-minute walks a day will make you fit? Ridiculous.

Janine

poppycock..

I agree with jschwab..walking is better than being a couch potatoe,but to change body composition from fat to muscle ,intense excercise is the way to go.

This just gives those who do not want to workout hard validation for their lack of effort.

The study focused on blood lipids, not body composition.


Cheers--
Terry-24

what's more, study participants who got the most exercise -- the equivalent of jogging 20 miles per week -- shed both visceral fat and the superficial layers of abdominal fat that make for love handles.

Continued inactivity resulted in significant increases in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particle number, small dense LDL, and LDL-cholesterol. A modest amount of exercise training prevented this deterioration. Moderate-intensity but not vigorous-intensity exercise resulted in a sustained reduction in very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)-triglycerides over 15 days of detraining (P < 0.05**). The high-amount group had significant improvements in high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, HDL particle size, and large HDL levels that were sustained for 15 days after exercise stopped. In conclusion, physical inactivity has profound negative effects on lipoprotein metabolism. Modest exercise prevented this. Moderate-intensity but not vigorous-intensity exercise resulted in sustained VLDL-triglyceride lowering. Thirty minutes per day of vigorous exercise, like jogging, has sustained beneficial effects on HDL metabolism.

P<0.05 as far as my understanding means that more than 5% if the MOD group saw reductions, it could 5.1%.

Plus, they advised AGAINST dietary changes, how can you workout hard and expect to live healthy on the same diet as the MOD group?

This study is kind of dumb, another waste of money on a study.

Terry, I understand it was on lipids,but as soon as some people see moderate in any study, it lends itself to validation of ones moderatley intense routine.

Kinda like my neighbor down the street - I keep telling her to join the gym with me so we can work out together and she keeps telling me that she "likes Curves - in and out in 1/2 hour and I'm done"

Yeah, and how's THAT WORKIN' FOR YA???

Let me just say.... IT AIN'T.

Shhhhhhh, you didn't hear it from me!

Julia

Julia, I don't know your friend, obviously, but Curves works well for a lot of women, if they're going at it with full intensity. A good workout can be accomplished in less than 30 minutes. :)

Yes, I know this, however, "full intensity" is not a word located in her grey matter.

She thinks she can just pussy-foot around the place for 1/2 hour and that it'll be "done".

Ah well, she likes it, good for her. Better than sittin' round eating bon-bons. I think. . . .

Julia

Searching for the truth
 

Hi Ghoulia,
I am new to the low carb diet, 2 weeks now and have read all your posts about exercise and reving up the strength training and doing less cardio. Like you, I am also a big cardio freak. I used to teach a circuit class years ago and it was intense. I have always worked out heavily. I run 3 times a week for 1 hour. I walk and run intervally. I usually burn around 600 calories. 2 days a week I do Urban rebounding. I do strength training 2 days a week and some floor exercises. I have not seen any progress for years. I am so frusrated but will not give up. please help!

It's easy to get into a mind-set of eating to fuel your workouts. I eat before the workout so I won't flag during the workout, then eat after the workout to refill my muscles with spent glycogen. With time I've become more efficient. Compared to twenty years ago, I don't think I'm burning nearly as many calories as I used to when working out. So for me the trick will be eating even less, not more, when working out.

Sometimes, this just has to be said!!!

Love it!

I'm curious, what's your calorie intake? What's your carb intake?

Ever thought about having a BodyGem test done so you know precisely what your BMR is?

Did you ever try more variety in your intensity? Sounds like all your days have longish high intensity; maybe I'm reading it wrong. Your basic overtraining. Do you by any chance have "exercise withdrawal" if you don't get an endorphin high every day?

Sisson's basic plan has a mix of high and low intensity.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/prim...ut-plan-basics/

Hi Seejay,
Thanks for responding. I never thought of the endorphin thing. I guess I have always thought that I had to bust my ass to consider a workout worthwhile. I will look at what you sent.
Thanks again!