Hit the gym to maintain health gains after weight loss

Putting on the pounds after weight loss? Well, you need to hit the gym, suggests a new study.

Although obesity is a major risk factor for disease, much of the threat may be associated with the metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors related to diabetes and heart disease.

Losing weight can improve health and reduce many of these risk factors. But many people struggle to keep the weight off long-term.

Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that people who perform resistance training while regaining weight can help maintain strides in reducing their risks for chronic disease.

"Long-term weight loss maintenance is uncommon without regular exercise," said Shana Warner, a doctoral student in the university's department of nutrition and exercise physiology.

"It is very important to address other things that can be done to maintain health as opposed to focusing solely on body weight," Warner said. "Our research indicates that following a consistent exercise programme can help maintain certain aspects of metabolic health even in those who experience weight regain."

Researchers found that resistance training during weight regain had a positive effect on health, which could reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease and other diseases.

The study consisted of two phases, meant to simulate real-life weight loss and regain. In the first phase, overweight and obese participants lost 4 to 6% of their initial body weight by following an 8- to 12-week regimen of diet and aerobic exercise.

In the second phase, participants regained 50% of the weight they had lost. During the regain phase, participants performed 45 minutes of supervised resistance training three times a week.

Participants maintained improvements acquired through weight loss in cardio-respiratory fitness, body fat percentage, systolic blood pressure and other factors.

In addition, participants significantly increased strength and lean body mass. But they did not maintain reductions in visceral abdominal fat, the fat deposited around internal organs.

The study was published this year in The Journal of Clinical Hypertension.