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 Although resistance training alone seemed to have no effect on
so-called metabolic syndrome – a group of markers linked to
increased risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease – the exercise
is still important for maintaining bone and muscle in older people,
researchers say.
“The results are not really surprising as it is challenging to
improve the cardiometabolic profile with resistance training only,”
said lead author Eve Normandin of Wake Forest School of Medicine in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
“There are some studies in middle-aged adults that do see some
improvements following resistance training but not many in older
adults,” Normandin told Reuters Health by email.
Metabolic syndrome is the term for a cluster of symptoms, including
abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and triglycerides, high blood
pressure, inflammation and impaired processing of insulin.
Older people are at the greatest risk of having metabolic syndrome,
Normandin and her colleagues write in the journal Medicine and
Science in Sports and Exercise. Past studies have shown that weight
loss can help reverse metabolic syndrome, so can aerobic exercise
with or without dieting. But most of these studies have been in
middle aged people, the authors write.
In the five-month trial, 63 sedentary and overweight or obese adults
aged 65 to 79 years were assigned to a progressive resistance
training program three times per week while 63 similar adults were
assigned to the same program plus calorie restriction.
The resistance training program was individually tailored to
participants and generally included three sets of 10 repetitions for
eight exercises at each workout. The calorie restriction group was
also assigned a dietary program including meal replacements,
nutrition education and behavior modification advice delivered at
weekly meetings with a registered dietitian. Participants were
assigned a daily caloric goal and kept a diet log of all foods
consumed.
Overall, those doing only resistance training did not lose any
weight by the end of the trial, but participants also restricting
their calories lost an average 6 percent of their body weight as
well as specifically reducing fat around the abdomen.
The calorie restricted group also lowered their blood pressure,
triglycerides and one of the “bad” forms of cholesterol, very low
density lipoprotein. There were no changes in metabolic syndrome
markers in the group doing only resistance training.
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“Many studies have shown that reducing calories is the key to
changing the health factors this study focused on – cholesterol,
triglycerides, obesity, and insulin resistance,” said Dr. Anne
McTiernan of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle,
Washington.
“Other studies have shown some benefit on these when comparing
exercise to no exercise (whether aerobic or resistance exercise),
but reducing calories consistently overpowers exercise effects,”
said McTiernan, who wasn't involved with the new study.
“I wouldn’t say that caloric restriction is the only way to manage
metabolic syndrome,” Normandin said. “Resistance training is one
type of exercise, we might have observed improvement in metabolic
syndrome following an aerobic exercise.”
Resistance training has beneficial effects on muscle and physical
function which can improve body composition, muscle strength and
physical function in older adults who were overweight or obese, she
said.
“Individuals who are 65 years and older, have the metabolic syndrome
and are overweight or obese should progressively try to lose weight
by caloric restriction,” Normandin said. “I would recommend adding
strength training in older individuals with metabolic syndrome to
preserve musculoskeletal health and function as well.”
“People can undertake a caloric restriction without consulting a
doctor but I would recommend they consult a registered dietitian,”
she said. “This is especially true for people who have one or more
chronic diseases.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2em7QkQ Medicine and Science in Sports and
Exercise, online October 13, 2016.
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