Scientists from the University of LaMancha in Castilla, Spain, and the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Portugal, collaborated to study the effects of different fitness programs and a diet on various parameters such as health and fitness, but also on training goals such as weight loss. The results of the study "Benefits of 8-week fitness programs in health and fitness parameters" were published in the journal Retos, issue 35, pages 224 - 228.
The participants of the study were divided into 5 different groups:
The first group only maintained a diet with no supporting exercise program, the second group maintained a diet and supported with Weight training, group 3 supported the diet plan with High Intensity Power Training (HIPT), group 4 supported the diet with training with the Indoor bike and group 5 supported the diet plan with boxing. We have summarized the results of the study for you.
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Methods
From a total of 340 volunteers, 50 suitable subjects were selected and divided among the 5 groups. To determine the results, height, weight, body fat percentage in % and fat-free mass in kg were measured regularly. In terms of athletic parameters, explosive strength of the legs was measured by Counter Movement Jump and maximum dynamic strength of the upper body was measured by bench press. Each participant was familiar with the athletic exercises used to measure improvements in athletic parameters and was allowed to practice performing them correctly before the exercises were measured and used for the study. Measurements were taken once before the 8-week exercise program began and once after it ended. All participants ate according to a diet plan specifically designed for them. Training was done in three weekly sessions of 60 minutes each with at least 48 hours of recovery between two training sessions, resulting in a total of 24 training sessions over the 8 weeks.
Results
All groups achieved a significant weight loss over the period of 8 weeks, the highest weight loss of an average of 8.53 kg was achieved by group 3 with diet and HIPT , followed by group 5 (diet and boxing) with 7.09 kg weight loss, group 4 (indoor bike) and group 2 (dumbbell training). The worst performance was achieved by group 1 by following a healthy, balanced diet without exercise, here only an average weight loss of 1.74kg was recorded. The body fat percentage decreased in line with the weight lost, again groups 3 and 5 led, followed by groups 2 and 1, with group 4 bringing up the rear. In contrast, fat-free mass increased the most in group 2, closely followed by group 5. Groups 3 and 4 also recorded a relatively high increase in fat-free mass, while group 1 also achieved a significant but very small result.
Explosive strength of the legs increased significantly in all groups, but group 2 (dumbbells) achieved by far the strongest effect here, followed by groups 3, 5, 4 and 1. In the area of dynamic maximum strength of the upper body, group 2 led again, while group 3 also achieved high improvements. Boxing achieved a moderate improvement in the dynamic maximum strength of the upper body, while both training with the indoor bike and a pure diet led to a deterioration in the results.
Conclusion
Maintaining a healthy, balanced diet can achieve significant results in weight loss, decreasing body fat percentage, and increasing lean mass in the body, but supporting the diet with an exercise program achieves significantly better results regardless of which sport is played. HIPT and boxing support weight loss as well as body fat percentage parameters and lean body mass best. However, training with free weights achieves the best effects on explosive power and dynamic maximum strength of the upper body, closely followed by High Intensity Power Training, boxing shows moderate effects on both parameters. Training with an indoor bike, as well as following a diet, has very little effect on the explosive strength of the legs and even negative effects on the dynamic maximum strength of the upper body.
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Editorial fitnessmarkt.de (DG)
Photo credit: #64179331- Zsolnai Gergely-adobeStock
Published on: 5 September 2019