Restricting calories plus resistance training in the form of weight-machine workouts resulted in less muscle loss, but significant fat loss.

‘Preserving muscle while losing fat is particularly important for older adults in order to maximize functional benefit.’

"A lot of older adults will walk as their exercise of choice," said Kristen Beavers, assistant professor of health and exercise science at Wake Forest and lead author of the study. "But this research shows that if you're worried about losing muscle, weight training can be the better option." 




In this 18-month study of 249 adults in their 60s who were overweight or obese, restricting calories plus resistance training in the form of weight-machine workouts resulted in less muscle loss, but significant fat loss, when compared to weight loss plus walking or weight loss alone.
Losing weight is generally recommended for those with obesity, but preserving muscle - while losing fat - is particularly important for older adults in order to maximize functional benefit, Beavers said.
"Surprisingly, we found that cardio workouts may actually cause older adults with obesity to lose more lean mass than dieting alone."
This is the latest study from the Cooperative Lifestyle Intervention Program (CLIP-II), a single-blind, randomized controlled trial. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a weight-loss-only group, who followed a calorie-restricted diet with no exercise regimen; a weight loss plus cardio (i.e., walking) group; and a weight loss plus weight-training group.
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- Total fat loss was much greater when participants combined diet plus walking (about 16 pounds) and diet plus weight training (about 17 pounds). Diet alone resulted in about 10 pounds of fat lost over 18 months.
- Muscle mass loss was greatest with diet plus walking (about 4 pounds) compared with diet alone or diet plus weight training (each about 2 pounds). Put another way, the percentage of weight loss coming from muscle mass was 20% in the weight loss plus walking group, 16% in the weight loss alone group, and 10% in the weight loss plus weight training group.
- Loss of fat was associated with faster walking speed, while the loss of muscle was associated with reduced knee strength.