Move More, Not Harder

by Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger

04 Aug 2007 05:43 PM

Two new research studies that I read this week suggest that moving longer, but not harder is the magic key to exercising for weight loss.

48 Minutes to a Slimmer You

When it comes to taking off weight, researchers are saying that it is better to move moderately for longer than it is to move more intensely. A University of Pittsburgh study recently published reports that women who exercised for 48 mintues per day at a moderate intensity lost 500% more weight than did women who exercised at a high intensity for only 20 minutes per day.

To put that into perspective, let's say you and a friend of the exact same weight and height both start an exercise regimen and you do 48 minutes of walking and they go on a 20 minute jog every day. If your friend loses 10 pounds, you would lose 50 pounds. This is NOT a real example so please no one comment and tell me my math is all off or there are other factors to consider! It is just an example to point out how much more powerful moderate exercise over a sustained time period for weight loss.

Take a break in your workout!

If you're looking to burn fat through your exercise plan, you may be better off scheduling a break into long workouts, Japanese researchers say.

Researchers had men come to the lab for a stationary bike workout and measured their fat metabolism, and hormone levels before, after and during a workout. Some of the men worked out for an hour straight and the other group worked out for 30 minutes, took a break for 20 minutes and then completed another 30 minute workout. For comparison, the men also came and sat at the laboratory for an hour without working out to have a measurement of their base level fat metabolism when they do nothing.

Surprisingly, the men who had taken a break in the middle of their workout were found to have higher fat metabolism during and after exercise.

So what does this mean for those of us who don't have time to exercise this much? Keep moving. If you can afford a longer workout, shoot to do it in one of the ways described above. If you can't, just keep moving!

Need inspiration and support to get moving? Go check out the Mission Possible forum!

Not familiar with Mission Possible? Check it out!

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Learn more about Valorie Delp

Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line.

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Christina2009 (78) 07 Aug 2007 07:55 PM

I completely agree with both of the study findings. I was a JV rower for the University of Tennessee in 1996. Even then, trainers were employing this kind of thinking. I was deemed heavy for my boat (even though I could out-row all but 16 people on the crew - Varsity included). I was assigned extra workouts which consisted of 1.5 hours three to six times per week on the stationary bikes. I was instructed to keep my heart rate very low, about 135 beats per minute (I was much younger and in much better shape). I was told that if my BPMs went over 140, then I had crossed the line from fat burning to aerobic (calorie burning). Going over 140 BPMs completely defeated the purpose of the workout and just bringing the BPMs back down was not enough to break the aerobic cycle. To make a long comment short.... longer workout, lower beats per minute, equals more fat burned.