The Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health, of Hong Kong warns against programs which don't involve exercise. They point out that weight loss programs should always consist of exercise as a component to help burn off calories for greater and sustained success. The American College of Sports Medicine also recommends burning off a weekly total of 1000 to 2000 calories in physical activities to help achieve and maintain long-term weight loss objectives. Believe it or not, daily chores including laundry, window cleaning and car-washing, are adequate to burn off hundreds of calories. Walking stairs helps to consume calories nearly as effectively as swimming and playing badminton.
The Study: Diet and Exercise Versus Diet Alone
The Centre for Health Protection published their survey involving 2100 Hong Kong residents in December 2008. They found that 17.4 percent of their respondents had attempted to lose weight over the preceding year. Most of these subjects fell into the 35 to 44 age group. Of these subjects, 80 percent tried dieting and exercise, 16.2 percent took pills and health products. The centre quoted a research study on walking stairs, conducted in Geneva, Switzerland. Sixty nine subjects had to go on a diet and walk the stairs consistently (and not take the elevator) for 12 consecutive weeks, against an equal number of control subjects who went on a diet but took the elevator as usual.
Outcome of the Study
The average number of floors walked by the sixty nine subjects was 23 floors. On completion of the study, the subjects who walked, when compared with their control group, achieved an 8.4 percent increase in their cardio-respiratory function, a 1.8 percent drop in their waist line, a 0.7 percent drop in their body weight and a 1.7 percent drop in their body fat mass. The researchers calculated a health benefit amounting to a drop of 15 percent in the risk of premature death.
Useful Fat Burning Exercises
For those who are keen to engage in more vigorous exercise to burn fat, the Centre reminds them that the exercise would have to be maintained for 20 minutes or longer before substantial fat burning will occur. Hence, these vigorous activities should go on for 30 minutes or longer. The five great fat burner exercise suggested are (for a subject weighing 70 kg): skipping (burns 351 calories in 30 minutes), jogging or running (burns 347 calories in 30 minutes), badminton (burns 328 calories in 30 minutes), walking stairs (burns 314 calories in 30 minutes) and swimming (burns 309 calories in 30 minutes).
Sources:
Non-Communicable Disease Watch, The Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health of Hong Kong, December 2008.
ACSM Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 7th Edition, Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins: 2006.
Benson Yeung - General Surgeon born in the sixties, grew up in Hong Kong, won numerous writing awards in primary and secondary schools, educated in ...
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