You can dramatically improve your health while also reducing your risk of diabetes, disability and disease with one simple plan. The key to it all, as revealed by a new study is proper exercise. Just a few hours each week can lead to big health gains.
“People who trained aerobically(cardio) lost abdominal fat, maintained muscle and became over 30 percent more insulin sensitive,” said Dr. Robert Ross, co-author of the study, which appeared in the January 26, 2009 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. In their “Effects of Exercise Modality on Insulin Resistance and Functional Limitation in Older Adults,” Dr. Ross and co-author Dr. Lance Davidson studied 136 participants over a five-year span to monitor the effects of resistance exercise, aerobic exercise and combined exercise on the body’s ability to reduce insulin resistance and functional limitation in previously sedentary, abdominally obese older adults.
According to the study, those who are abdominally obese can do two things to improve their overall health: exercise aerobically (cardio) and lift weights. Aerobic exercise reduces that metabolically toxic abdominal fat, helping the body become less insulin resistant. Weight lifting builds up body muscle, creating more mobility.
Doing both types of exercise is what helps your body the most.
