Keep Hitting the Gym, Even if You Don't Lose Weight

Difficulty losing weight is no excuse to stop working out, according to a report by researchers at the Duke University Medical Center. Even if you don't lose a pound, exercise can reduce your cholesterol, body fat and heart attack risk, the researchers say. The study's results should encourage overweight people to keep exercising even if they don't shed pounds.

"We now have the data for physicians who can tell their patients that they shouldn't focus so much on the scale," said Duke Cardiologist Dr. William Kraus, who led the study. "These patients should not become discouraged and give up exercising because our study shows that these patients are getting healthier even if they don't lose any weight."

The study focused on seven mildly obese men and women. Patients worked out for about an hour four times a week, using a combination of treadmill, stationary bicycle, stair exercises and other exercise equipment. None of the patients lost weight, but their levels of "bad" cholesterol fell by 15 per cent and the "good" cholesterol climbed after three months. Body fat also declined an average of 4.3 percent.

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"><html><head><title>ThirdAge - Daily News Newsletter - FEBRUARY 21, 2000 - Weight Loss Aside, Exercise</title><meta content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"><meta name="keywords" content="fitness, exercise, weight loss cholesterol body fat heart attack risk health research"><meta name="description" content="Even if you don't lose a pound, exercise can reduce your cholesterol, body fat and heart attack risk, a preliminary study says."><meta name="language" content="en"><meta http-equiv="content-language" content="en"> <meta name="robots" content="index,follow"><script type="text/javascript" src="/includes/javascript/base2.js"></script><link rel=stylesheet href="/includes/css/seo02.css" TYPE="text/css"></head><div align="center"><table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="760" class="bgtablemainborder"><tr><td><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="758" class="bgtablemain"><tr><td colspan="6" align="center"><div style="padding-top: 5px;"></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="6" height="10"><spacer type=block width=1 height=10></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td></td><td rowspan="2"></td><td rowspan="2" class="body"><div style="padding-top:1px;"></div><p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="right"><tr><td width="5"><spacer type=block width=5 height=1></td><td></td></tr><tr><td height="10"><spacer type=block width=1 height=10></td></tr></table><font color="#333333" class="hed">Weight Loss Aside, Exercise</font><br><font color="#333333"><br> Exercise can reduce your cholesterol, body fat and heart attack risk even if you don't lose weight, a preliminary study says. <a target=window href="http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/Med/stride.htm">Duke University Medical Center</a> researchers say the study's results should encourage overweight people to keep exercising even if they don't shed pounds.<BR><BR> "We now have the data for physicians who can tell their patients that they shouldn't focus so much on the scale," said Duke Cardiologist Dr. William Kraus, who led the study. "These patients should not become discouraged and give up exercising because our study shows that these patients are getting healthier even if they don't lose any weight."<BR><BR> The study, reported in the February issue of the journal Clinical Exercise Physiology, focuses on seven mildly obese men and women. Results of the small-scale study have provided the impetus for a $4.3 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for a much larger trial, now enrolling patients.<BR><BR> In the preliminary trial, researchers say, patients worked out for about an hour four times a week, using a combination of treadmill, stationary bicycle, stair exercises and other exercise equipment. None of the patients lost weight. But their levels of "bad" cholesterol fell by 15 per cent and the "good" cholesterol climbed after three months. Body fat also declined an average of 4.3 percent.</font><br clear="all"><div style="margin-top: 15px;" align="center"></div><p><p><p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="424" class="bgpullquotes"><tr><td height="2" colspan="4" class="bgpullquoteline"><spacer type=block width=1 height=2></td></tr><tr><td height="3" colspan="4"><spacer type=block width=1 height=3></td></tr><tr><td><spacer type=block width=1 height=1></td><td colspan="3" class="pullquotehed"></td></tr><tr><td height="5" colspan="4"><spacer type=block width=1 height=5></td></tr><tr><td width="7" height="10"><spacer type=block width=7 height=10></td><td width="14" height="1"><spacer type=block width=14 height=1></td><td width="383"><spacer type=block width=383 height=1></td><td width="20"><spacer type=block width=20 height=1></td></tr></table></td><td rowspan="2"></td><td rowspan="2"><div class="uli"></div><p><br></td><td rowspan="2"> </td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="bgleftcol"><div style="padding-top: 10px;"></div><p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="6" align="center"><div style="padding-top: 10px;"></div></td></tr><tr><td width="134" height="10"><spacer type="block" width="134" height="10"></td><td width="15"><spacer type="block" width="15" height="1"></td><td width="424"><spacer type="block" width="424" height="1"></td><td width="15"><spacer type="block" width="15" height="1"></td><td width="160"><spacer type="block" width="160" height="1"></td><td width="10"><spacer type="block" width="10" height="1"></td></tr></table></td></tr></table><p><br><br></div></body></html>

Keep Hitting the Gym, Even if You Don't Lose Weight - Health