The 30-Minute Sweet Spot: Those who embark upon an exercise program to lose weight may want to take under consideration a new study that finds there may be a sweet spot when it comes to exercise and belt-tightening.
A new study by researchers at the University of Copenhagenfound that people, or at least men, lose the most weight when the amount of exercise they get is neither too little -- nor too much.
The researchers tested a group of Danish men in their 20s and 30s who were mostly sedentary and needed to lose weight. One-third of the group were told to continue their lifestyles and not exercise, a third began 13 weeks of almost daily 30-minute workouts and a third were put on more rigorous daily 60-minute workouts.
At the end of the 13 weeks, men in the group that did not exercise did not lose any weight. The men who worked out for 60 minutes a day dropped some pounds -- but only an average of five per man. While those who had worked out for 30 minutes a day lost the most weight -- an average of seven pounds each.
What gives? The researchers aren't sure but it may have something to do with whether or not the exercise energized or fatigued the men.
It turns out the men who did the more rigorous routines ended up eating more and being more sedentary the rest of the day, while those who were on the 30-minute-a-day workouts upped their activity levels during the remainder of their days while also not signicantly increasing their calorie intakes.
Mads Rosenkilde, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Copenhagen who led the study, concludes that the shorter exercise routines seemed to allow the men "to burn calories without wanting to replace them so much."
via New York Times
