I think one of the current trends on 3FC (as well as in other diet communities), is to focus on lifting heavy. Often times I've read people write about endurance sports, such as jogging, as often somewhat useless because it doesn't build muscle as effectively as weight training. Well, as suspected, long cardio sessions offer their own unique benefits.

I just read an interesting German article about a study done at Duke University (if you have interest in the german link, just message me). Maybe if you google Duke and belly fat, you could find an English article. Here is my little translation summary:

"Belly fat is particularly harmful. One can most effectively fight against it with endurance sport. At Duke an 8 month study was done to see which type of sport (weight training or endurance sports, such as jogging) was the best suited to minimize belly fat.

From 196 participants, one group ran 20km a week, the second did weight training 3 x's a week, and the third group did both. The results showed that those doing endurance sport had a considerable loss of belly fat, thus minimizing their risk for diabetes. This group, by far, had the best results in terms of belly fat. Weight training alone produced no significant effects on belly fat and did not lower the risk to develop diabetes."

So, weight training is important for maintaining muscle mass, but its not everything. Long cardio sessions are super important for keeping your belly fat at bay, thus lowering your risk for diabetes!

Found it: Aerobic Exercise Bests Resistance Training at Burning Belly Fat

Thank you CyndiM!

Kara: I just wanted to chime in that both have their own advantages- that one does not do the job of the other and that doing both in moderation will probably be the most helpful.

Women (and probably men too) are currently overwhelmingly writing about the advantages of weight training, often times commenting that cardio doesn't make a difference.

I believe that it does.

Anyway, I've been jogging for the past couple of years and have even developed those interesting muscle-dimples above my butt... It has changed my figure for the better. I can wear smaller clothing now, even at a higher weight. My body fat percentile has definitely decreased and my muscle mass has increased.

I am mainly a jogger, although since September, I have added in more yoga and regular weight training sessions.

Anyway - I just wanted to say: Don't forget to include both forms of exercise into your daily life!

So I saw that link. There's a big difference between heavy lifting and just lifting in general. There's a very big difference between doing bicep curls with 5lb weights (so basically isolating one muscle with weights that are too light) vs. dumbbell presses at the max of your lifting ability. The dumbell presses work multiple muscles at once and help to create new muscles, the 5lb weights just build up the endurance of that muscle.

I didn't see anywhere in that study how heavy the participants were lifting and what types of lifting that they did. That in and of itself would make a big difference.

FWIW, I do do a lot of cardio. I would LOVE to run long distance but can't due to my knees. At the moment I swim (and hate it) but I feel that it's good for my lungs, stretches out my body etc. I think the best combination is heavy lifting 2-3x a week + cardio 2-3x a week. However, I'm no expert that's just what I'd like to do ideally. I'd even argue that movement in general is important. I try to clean/cook/move more than I used to. However, I'd be really wary of results that dimiss the benefits of weight lifting without looking at the differences in methods to weight lifting.

runningfromfat: I agree. Whoever wrote the report really skimped on the details of the lifting part of the experiment.

Kara: Good point! The study is definitely nothing to write home about.

Although to that, the only thing I would un-scientifically add, and this would really only apply to walking fastly/jogging/swimming quickly, that those exercises mimic the act of fleeing, thus minimizing stress or the amount of cortisol in your body (proven to be one of main contributors to visceral fat storage in many studies). In addition, endurance sports also regulate sleep, which also reduces stress.

Yep to Unna.

Kara- you reminded me of another important point. Are the weight lifters increasing their protein accordingly? Because if not it could be that they're not eating enough protein and then they end up being hungrier than normal and are overeating.

I think it's an interesting idea but you'd have to do what Kara said in terms of studying the difference (80% max heart rate running vs. 80% of max lifting ability+full body workout). I would actually like to see the following groups:

A. Control group
B. Weight lifting+calorie at maintenance level but higher in protein
C. Weight lifting+lower calorie but higher in protein
D. Weight lifting+no calorie restrictions
E. Cardio+calories at maintenance but higher in protein
F. Cardio+lower calorie but higher in protein
G. Cardio+no calorie restrctions
H. Weight lifting+cardio+calorie at maintenance level but higher in protein
I. Weight lifting+cardio+lower calorie but higher in protein
J. Weight lifting+cardio+no calorie restrictions

Now I would LOVE to see the results of that study!!!!

runningfromfat: You thought of that in like, 3 minutes. I think you have found your true calling!

On a side note, I would LOVE to be a participant in a weight loss study.... its like an odd dream of mine.

Well, I'm a scientist in real life, albeit nothing to do with health/weight loss.

Oh, and me too! But I think I would annoy them too much with questions and suggestions!!!

It is interestiing to see an article like this .... although you can find articles that say weight training, heavy weight traning, interval training and cardio all lead to the best results .... I actully think exercise is more confusing than food when it comes to getting it right ... as there doesn't seem to be a consensus ...

Kara... thanks for the links to the other studies ...
Runningfromfat ... a great plan for a study ...

I also think that most studies are usually very few people so cannot always give us a good picture ...