Imagine you’re an older adult who has been wrestling with weight issues for years, perhaps even decades. Now in your 50s or 60s, nearing retirement, you’re facing a critical juncture where, with each passing year, you’re witnessing the unwelcome transformation of muscle into fat. This increase in body fat raises the stakes for conditions like high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes.
So, what’s the best strategy to reverse this trend? Over the years, you’ve heard three seemingly conflicting narratives on how to shed those extra pounds. The first preaches the mantra “eat less, move more,” emphasising the dual importance of calorie restriction and aerobic exercise. The second focuses on the kitchen, claiming that the path to a leaner body primarily involves strict dieting and a high-protein intake. The third story promotes “lifting weights to lose weight,” arguing that intense resistance training can rev up your metabolism and sculpt your physique.
In this journey towards optimal body composition in your late middle age, which of these stories holds the key?
A recent research review provides some clarity.
How the Study Worked
This review draws insights from 66 studies involving nearly 5,000 individuals aged between 55 and 70, all with a BMI ranging from 25 to 40. The interventions in these studies varied, lasting around 12 weeks on average, and were categorised into three groups: diet, exercise, and a combination of both.
What the Study Revealed
- Body-Fat Percentage Results:
The most effective strategy? Calorie restriction with high protein plus any form of exercise, which reduced body-fat percentage by about four points on average.
- Fat Mass Results:
For total fat loss, calorie restriction plus high protein led the way, cutting an average of 5.86 kg (13 pounds). Interestingly, calorie restriction plus resistance training achieved similar results.
- Lean Body Mass (LBM):
The surprise here was that combined resistance and aerobic training resulted in the most significant gains in LBM, followed by aerobic training alone. Calorie restriction, on its own, led to small reductions in lean mass.
- All Outcomes – The Overall Winner:
For overall improvements in body composition, the winning combination was calorie restriction plus resistance training.
Key Takeaways
Clearly, the magic lies in the combination of diet and exercise. Let’s revisit the three stories:
- “Eat less, move more”: Calorie restriction paired with any exercise proved most effective for reducing body-fat percentage, especially with a high-protein diet.
- “Abs are made in the kitchen”: Calorie restriction plus high protein excelled in pure fat loss and reducing body-fat percentage, waist circumference, and BMI. However, cutting calories without exercise resulted in a small muscle loss.
- “Lift weights to lose weight”: As a standalone for fat loss, resistance training was modestly effective for older adults. But, when combined with a reduced-calorie diet, it emerged as a winner, showing excellent outcomes in fat mass reduction, body-fat percentage, BMI, and waist circumference.
In your journey to a healthier you, the evidence points towards a holistic approach—a balanced mix of dietary changes and exercise, with a special nod to the combination of calorie restriction and resistance training. It’s not just about losing fat; it’s about optimising your body composition for a healthier, more resilient future.
References:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2023.04.001
psychiatrist.com/jcp/mean-difference-standardized-mean-difference-smd-and-their-use-in-meta-analysis
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/obr.13428
