2024-01-19 03:30:00
A strong body of evidence shows that aerobic exercise can reduce risks, especially for people who are overweight or obese. But few studies have compared results with resistance exercise, also known as strength or weight training, or with training regimens that are half aerobic and half resistance. Researchers at Iowa State University conducted one of the largest and longest supervised exercise trials to help fill this gap.
Their results, published in the European Heart Journal, indicate that dividing the recommended amount of physical activity between aerobic and resistance exercise reduces the risks of cardiovascular disease as much as aerobic-only regimens. Resistance exercise alone for the same amount of time did not provide the same heart health benefits compared to the control group.
“If you’re bored with aerobic exercise and want variety or have joint pain that makes it difficult to run long distances, our study shows that you can replace half of your aerobic training with strength training to get the same cardiovascular benefits. Cross-training also offers other unique health benefits, such as improving muscle,” says Duck-chul Lee, lead author and professor of kinesiology at Iowa State University.
Performing a certain number of series and repetitions with weight machines, free weights, elastic bands or your own body weight through push-ups or lunges are part of resistance exercise.
«One of the most common reasons people don’t exercise is because they have limited time. The exercise combined with cardiovascular and strength training that we suggest does not require more time,” Lee emphasizes.
This is how the study was done
Four hundred and six participants between the ages of 35 and 70 were enrolled in the year-long randomized controlled exercise trial. All met the threshold for overweight or obesity with body mass indexes between 25 and 40 kg/m² and had high blood pressure.
The researchers randomly assigned participants to one of four groups: no exercise, aerobic only, resistance only, or aerobic plus resistance. Those in one of the three exercise groups worked under supervision for one hour, three times a week for a year.
At the beginning of the year-long clinical trial, six months later, and at the end, researchers measured each participant’s systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting glucose, and body fat percentage. All are well-established risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Body fat
At the end of the one-year trial, the percentage of body fat in all three exercise groups had decreased significantly compared to the non-exercise control group. The authors write in the article that “each -1% reduction in body fat is associated with -3%, -4% and -8% lower risks of developing cardiovascular disease risk factors of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and metabolic syndrome.”
However, taking into account all four cardiovascular disease risk factors, the aerobic and combined exercise groups had lower composite scores than the control group. The results were consistent between gender and age.
Secondary findings
Over the course of the 12-month study, those in the aerobic exercise-only group continued to improve with the VO2max test (maximum amount of oxygen (O2) the body can absorb, transport, and consume in a given time), which is the rate maximum oxygen consumption achievable during a maximum treadmill test. The resistance group remained relatively stable. The opposite was true for the maximal bench and leg press muscular strength tests; the resistance only group continued to improve while the aerobic only group did not. However, the combined exercise group improved both aerobic fitness and muscle strength.
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