Fitness and Weight Loss

The elderly who are overweight should combine diet with exercise to lose weight and prevent loss of muscle mass that occurs when one is dieting.

It is the conclusion of an investigation conducted at the University of Pittsburgh, the study included 64 people aged between 60 and 75 years are overweight or obese, and found that those who lost weight through diet and exercise had a better physical fitness and retained more muscle mass than dieting alone. The exercise also helped to burn more fat for energy.

The results suggest that the best prescription for older adults would unite diet lose weight with exercise.

“The exercise would be key to maintaining muscle mass when older adults lose weight with a diet,” said one of the study investigators, Dr. Bret H. Goodpaster.

Also weight loss in the third age, said the expert, do not diet only provides other benefits of exercise, such as increasing physical fitness and the ability to burn fat.

In the study, the researchers randomly divided older adults who are overweight and sedentary into three groups: one received a low-calorie diet, another a supervised exercise program and the third, a reduced-calorie diet plus exercise.

At 16 weeks, the three groups had lost weight, but that benefited most were those who did diet alone or with exercise.

However, those who dieted lost muscle mass much more than those who did exercise. Moreover, the team found that the two groups who exercise improved their fitness and enhance ability to burn fat.

The research results were published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, suggest that preserve muscle mass is very important for older adults because the weakness increases the risk of disability and illness.

Although losing weight is good for people who are overweight or obese, also induces muscle loss, a problem that can be reversed with regular exercise.

Goodpaster recommended that older adults who want to start exercising, consult the doctor first and make a routine physical examination.