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Resistance Training vs. Endurance Training?

Resistance Training vs. Endurance Training?


First, if you don’t recognize the women in the above photo, it’s Jillian Michaels from the popular reality show, “The Biggest Loser. ” Apparently, she’s being sued by someone who was dissatisfied with the lack of weight loss results from the dietary supplement endorsed by Jillian Michaels.  If Scott Welch is correct, then wouldn’t a refund suffice?

Back on topic… A recent study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and health compared the effects of three different types of training (for 8 weeks) on body composition and blood lipid profiles in untrained men.

Three Study Groups:

  1. Strength training
  2. Endurance training
  3. Concurrent training (in the same overall regime)

Study Results:

What this study found was that the group that did strength training alone for 8 weeks improved their fat-free mass as well as their triglyceride and cholesterol levels.  However, resistance training alone did not benefit HDL, LDL profiles or body fat percentage.

In contrast, the group that only did endurance training benefited from a decrease in fat mass, improved HDL, LDL, and triglyceride profiles, but did not improve their fat-free mass.

Finally, the concurrent group simultaneous improved their lipid profile (HDL, LDL, triglycerides) and body composition (decrease fat mass, increased fat-free mass).

Bottom line: it’s more effective to do both strength and endurance training to lose weight and improve your health rather than either type of training alone. In terms of diet pills, to think that you can realistically lose weight while taking supplements and sitting on the couch eating hot fudge Sundays is completely unrealistic–even if the product is endorsed by Jillian Michaels.

Reference:

  1. Ghahramanloo E, Midgley AW, Bentley DJ.  The effect of concurrent training on blood lipid profile and anthropometrical characteristics of previously untrained men.  J Phys Act Health. 2009 Nov;6(6):760-6.

7 Comments

  • Sam R

    So jogging rather than driving to the gym to weight train would be the best of both worlds :-)

  • Keiran

    Resistance training is more essential than the endurance training. Staying healthy and fit is always the need of the hour for everybody. Nice article have bookmarked this as well.

    • Jarret Morrow, M.D.

      Keiran, Thanks for your feedback. Like many either or debates, in this case, the right answer is simply "both." Both combined are better than either forms of training alone.

  • Jarret Morrow, M.D.

    Joie, thanks for your feedback on this site. I've changed the theme a number of times to try to continue to make improvements.

  • VitaSort

    Both is definitely the way to go. I have found this to be true both in readings and personal experience. It is difficult for me put on weight so i thought it would be a good idea to cut out endurance/cardio work. Bad idea. I found that my weight training suffered greatly. Threw cardio back into the mix and got things back on track. It was that simple! Good info. Thanks for sharing.

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