A new study confirms that doing something as simple as brisk walking can boost weight loss while trimming dangerous belly fat and overall body fat.
Scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle followed 102 men and 100 women for a year.
At the beginning, the participants, ages 40 to 75, were sedentary and unfit. They were divided into two groups: One was encouraged to do 60 minutes of physical activity a day, six days a week; the other was given no specific exercise advice. There was no diet plan.
Among the findings:
- Women who increased their activity level by an additional 3,500 steps a day lost 5 pounds during the year.
- Men who added that many steps lost 8½ pounds in a year.
- The exercisers who did the most — 60 minutes, six days a week — decreased their belly fat by 10% to 20%.
- Those same exercisers trimmed 10% to 15% of their overall body fat without losing muscle mass.
“Both men and women can lose weight and body fat with exercise, which is a good start to reversing the weight-gain course that most Americans are on,” says lead researcher Anne McTiernan, an internist and director of the Prevention Center at Fred Hutchinson.
Read more at USA Today
