Vol. 3, No. 4
April 10, 2006

SPECIAL FAT-BURNING ISSUE

Resistance Training Effectively Trims Ab Flab in Women

There's no doubt about it – resistance training is a great way for both men and women to increase strength, reduce overall body fat and, especially in the case of older adults, improve their ability to perform everyday tasks.

But women over 60 may have a slight advantage when it comes to trimming their waistlines.

A new study suggests that women who follow a basic resistance-training program can expect to lose more fat from their midsections than their male workout partners. Dr. Gary R. Hunter of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and colleagues placed 26 men and women, aged 61 to 77 years, on a three-times-per-week resistance-training program.

After 25 weeks, both men and women improved their strength by an average of 15 percent and 16 percent, respectively, and lost about 4.4 pounds of total body fat.

But while the men didn't appear to lose any fat from their midsections, the women lost about 15 cubic centimeters of abdominal fat, even though both groups lost equal amounts of overall body fat. Hunter and colleagues are quick to caution older men from being discouraged by these findings, and suggest adding aerobic exercise to a resistance-training program to spur abdominal fat loss.

Source: Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2002; 24, 1023-1028  

Mulching for Muscles

National Gardening Day isn't until June 6, but if you like digging in the dirt, it's not too early to start. And, by making a few small changes, tending your lawn or garden will no longer be a "chore" but a great way to achieve physical fitness.

So says Jeffrey Restuccio, author of "Fitness the Dynamic Gardening Way." His website, www.aerobicgardening.com, offers creative ways to use gardening as a way to burn calories and get in shape. The following are suggestions from his site:

At the very least, using these techniques will help reduce back strain and muscle soreness so often associated with gardening.

Garden using a variety of motions at a steady pace. Plan out your gardening exercise session to include a variety of movements such as raking, mowing, weeding, pruning and digging and alternate between them often, every fifteen minutes, for example.

Here are six different motions or techniques to rake, hoe and weed:

• Bend one leg, knee down to the ground, keep the other foot flat. Use a hand tool.

• Bend both legs and kneel on a soft pad. Use a hand tool.

• Squat with both feet flat on the ground. Don't do this if you have bad knees.

• Lunge and Weed (my personal favorite). Using a hand weeder, lunge with one leg bent at the knee in front of you and one leg bent straight back.

• Sit and Weed. If you're knees, feet or legs won't permit much bending then sit and garden. Exercise your arms and waist. Use long handled tools.

• Stand with knees bent and your back straight and rake in a broad, sweeping motion using your legs. While raking or hoeing, use long handled tools so you won't have to bend over to use them.

Don't bend from the back as you rake or hoe. If you make just one change, this should be it. Bend from the knees and use your legs, shoulders and arms in a rocking motion. Also alternate your stance between right-handed and left-handed. Alternating stance balances the muscles used. These techniques require time and practice but after a period of seasons, years and decades it will become a natural part of your gardening routine.

Bogus Fat Trapper

If it sounds too good to be true...guess what? This report from the American Council on Exercise once again demonstrates that you can't believe everything (or anything) you hear...

The Enforma System, which hit the marketplace early last year, promised users effortless weight loss from the use of its Fat Trapper and Exercise in a Bottle pills.

Thirty-minute infomercials featuring former baseball player Steve Garvey enticed viewers by insisting it was possible to eat whatever you want and still lose weight with the Enforma System.

We didn't buy it — and neither did the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). So now the makers of the Enforma System have been ordered to repay $10 million to customers as penalty for engaging in deceptive advertisement.

The FTC's primary objection was the use of false claims about scientific testing. The company claimed the Fat Trapper product, which contains a byproduct of shellfish exoskeletons called chitosan, could effectively block up to 120 grams of dietary fat every day.

And Exercise in a Bottle, which contains the supplement pyruvate, was purported to increase the body’s capacity to burn fat. Neither of these claims is supported by any existing scientific research.

Under the settlement, Enforma is prohibited from making deceptive claims about its products or any scientific research.

The company has also been ordered to include a disclosure on all its weight-loss advertising that eating less or exercising more is necessary to lose weight. The Enforma System will, however, continue to be sold through television ads, the Internet and at GNC and Sav-on stores.

Source: ACE Fitness Matters

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