Study shows weight-training cuts belly fat

-By Caela Fenton

A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health has shown that healthy men who participated in 20 minutes of daily weight-training exercise had less of an increase in abdominal fat (belly fat) as they aged than men who spent the same amount of time doing aerobic activities. The study showed that aerobic exercise had an increased association with less weight gain than compared to weight training. Optimal results were achieved by those who partook in both cardio and weight-training exercise.

The study, which compared activity over at 12 year period, focused on waist circumference and body weight as measurements. Between 1996 and 2008, 10,500 healthy American men aged 40 and over participated in the study. Unsurprisingly, the largest waist line gain was demonstrated in participants that engaged in sedentary behavior, rather than the cardio or weight-training.

The study, published in Obesity, underlines the importance of incorporating time for both weight-training and aerobic exercise into one’s schedule, for total body health.

For triathletes, weight-training is also a crucial element for injury prevention. Including weekly weights sessions into your training program will enhance your power and lower your risk of injury setbacks.