Moderate-Intensity Exercise May Melt More Pounds

Editor's Note:  Do you ever wonder what's best - daily intense exercise or daily moderate exercise? In this article, Jon stresses the importance of moderate-intensity exercise for optimal results.

I’ve been preaching the benefits of moderate-intensity cardiovascular activity for burning more body fat for years. I’m not talking about yard work or cleaning your house — I’m talking about brisk walks (especially done fasting first thing in the morning) and other forms of long duration moderate exercise. The routines in Fit Over 40 that I personally give are perfect examples of blending low and high intensity exercise in a way to get the best out of both methods of training.

We now know that this form of exercise is all the heart requires to maintain optimum health from numerous studies. The rub is the frequency — this must be a daily or near-daily activity. Also, I certainly do not exclude intense exercise such as weight training and hard cardio done infrequently from one’s total health and fitness routine. Quite the contrary. If you ignore the power of intensity altogether, you will simply never get the body most of us want.

Here’s a new study on the subject from The International Journal of Sports Medicine. This should come as wonderful news for all of us over 40 who simply do not fair well with daily intense exercise.

(Reuters Health) - A brisk walk through the park might be better than a fast run when it comes to shedding pounds, a small study suggests.

Researchers found that among 14 women who embarked on a three-month exercise regimen, those who worked out at a moderate pace lost more weight than those who exercised more intensively.

But it’s not time for runners to start slowing down, according to the study authors. For one, women in the higher-intensity exercise group did retain more muscle mass than those who worked out more moderately. (Jon's Note: While this is true, muscle mass needs to be increased, not merely maintained. Running cannot accomplish this, but resistance training most certainly can.)

More importantly, though, there is no such thing as one “magic exercise,” said lead study author Dr. Vassilis Mougios of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece.

To get the greatest health and fitness benefits, he told Reuters Health, people should strive for a mix of moderate and vigorous cardiovascular exercise, as well as strength training.

To study the question, Mougios and his colleagues randomly assigned 14 normal-weight and overweight women to one of two groups: one that exercised on a treadmill at a moderate pace, four times a week; and one that worked out at a more vigorous clip, also four times per week.

The researchers set the duration of the workouts so that women in both groups would burn 370 calories each time. After three months, exercisers in both groups were slimmer, but the lower-intensity group lost more weight — about 7 pounds, on average, compared with 4 pounds in the high-intensity group.

Fat-free mass decreased slightly (less than half a pound) in the low-intensity exercisers and increased slightly (about 1 pound) in the high-intensity group.

It’s possible, according to Mougios, that women in the high-intensity group shed fewer pounds because they ended up eating more, or were so drained by their regimen that they relaxed more in their leisure time.

In turn, the women may have held on to more muscle simply because they lost less weight. On the other hand, the researchers note, high-intensity exercise may actually spur some growth in muscle fibers.

The bottom line, according to Mougios, is that people should stay active with various forms of exercise. But for those who want to know whether they’re working hard or moderately, he said a heart rate monitor or some simple pulse checks during the workout will provide that information.

If you don’t have a copy of Fit Over 40 yet, get yours today. In less than a few minutes you’ll have the number 2 fitness e-book of all time right on your desktop — 304 pages of inspiration, motivation and fitness strategy.

Fit Over 40 isn’t just for people over 40 — it’s an invaluable training and motivational e-book that can save you years, even decades of frustration when it comes to learning what works for your body and seeing the results you want. One of the reasons I wrote the book was to save others the years of trial and error I went through as I went from obese to fit. With over 50 role models profiled, Fit Over 40 will stand the test of time for anyone interested in health, strength, fat loss, muscle, and motivation — at any age.

Jon Benson