Weight loss and muscle

slim4health56

I try to add to my understanding of weight loss every week, and ran across an old study from the early 90s that helped me see the importance of muscle in the overall scheme of things. It motivated me to add resistance to my daily routine and wanted to share this with others who might not know how relevant muscle is to weight loss. Cheers!

"Wayne Westcott, Ph.D. conducted a study in which 72 over weight individuals participated in an eight week exercise program. The participants were placed in two groups. The first group performed 30 minutes of endurance exercise on a stationary cycle. The second group performed only 15 minutes of exercise on the stationary cycle plus an additional 15 minutes on weight resistant exercises. At the conclusion of the study, the "endurance only" group lost a total of 3.5 lbs.; 3 lbs. of which was fat and a half pound was muscle loss. On the other hand, the "endurance and weight resistive" group lost 8 lbs. with an actual fat loss of 10 lbs. and an increase of 2 lbs. of lean body weight:


(8 week program, 72 over weight individuals)

Endurance Training (30 min) Endurance (15 min) & Weight Training (15 min)
Weight Change (lbs) -3.5 -8
Fat Change (lbs) -3 -10
Lean mass Change (lbs) -0.5 +2


Westcott, W., Fitness Management. Nov., 1991. http://exrx.net/FatLoss/WT&End.html