Weight Training Helps Control Belly Fat, Study Finds

Holiday cookies. Adult beverages. Grandma’s fudge.

This time of year leaves a lot of people wondering how to get rid of the dreaded belly fat.

If you ask the researchers at Harvard School of Public Health for advice, they’re likely going to tell you to head to the nearest weight room and work on your weight training.

In a new study of healthy men who had varying ranges of body mass index, researchers found that weight training appears key to controlling belly fat.

Men who performed 20 minutes of daily weight training had less age-related belly fat compared with men who spent the same amount of time doing aerobic activities.

To achieve optimal results, researchers suggest combining weight training and aerobic activity. The study appears in the Dec. 22, 2014 issue of the journal Obesity.

“Because aging is associated with sarcopenia, the loss of skeletal muscle mass, relying on body weight alone is insufficient for the study of healthy aging,” said lead author Rania Mekary, a researcher in the HSPH’s Department of Nutrition. “Measuring waist circumference is a better indicator of healthy body composition among older adults. Engaging in resistance training or ideally, combining it with aerobic exercise could help older adults lessen abdominal fat while increasing or preserving muscle mass.”

Unlike previous studies – which have been short-term and focused on strictly overweight individuals or those with type 2 diabetes – this study was long-term with a large sample of more than 10,000 healthy men.

After following the men for 12 years, researchers found that those who increased the amount of time spent in weight training by 20 minutes a day had smaller waistlines compared to men who increased the amount of time they spent doing moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise.

To no surprise, those who spent more time watching TV had a larger gain their waistline.

“This study underscores the importance of weight training in reducing abdominal obesity, especially among the elderly,” said Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at HSPH and senior author of the study. “To maintain a healthy weight and waistline, it is critical to incorporate weight training and aerobic exercise.”

Source: HSPH news release

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