Previous research shows that weekly aerobic exercise can help you lose weight. Does more weekly aerobic exercise result in more weight loss? How much cardio do we need to power through to really drop those pounds? I always figured that sweating more frequently for longer durations amplified weight loss. Recently, researchers reviewed 116 clinical trials to reveal how much aerobic exercise resulted in more significant reductions in body weight, body fat, and waist size. Let’s delve into the new research.
The study
In a recent review published in Jama Network Open, researchers wanted to explore how physical exercise affected weight loss, waist size, and body fat. The clinical trials included in the review reported data for 6,880 overweight or obese adults with a body mass index or BMI over 25. The review studies involved clinical trials with durations of at least eight weeks.
The results
Researchers reported clinically significant improvements in participants who performed moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for at least 150 minutes weekly.
For each 30-minute weekly increment of aerobic exercise, researchers saw an associated reduction of:
- -0.52 kg in mean body weight
- -0.56 cm reduction in mean waist circumference
- -0.37% associated reduction of body fat percentage
An exercise duration of 150 minutes every week was strongly linked to clinically significant reductions of -2.79 kg in body weight, -3.26 cm in waist circumference, and -2.08% in body fat percentage.
What about 300 minutes per week?
300 minutes per week is five hours. The researchers reported even greater reductions when participants performed aerobic exercise for 300 minutes every week, with a -4.19 kg drop in body weight, a -4.12 cm reduction in waist circumference, and a -1.78% drop in body fat.
The takeaway
We can take away from this research that 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or greater aerobic exercise per week might be necessary if you want to see more meaningful weight loss. Exercising for 300 minutes every week yields even better results. This study indicates that exercising for less than the typically recommended guidelines of 150 minutes per week might only result in more minor reductions. In this study, participants who finished shorter exercise durations of less than 30 minutes a day for five days a week only saw minor decreases in waist size, weight, and body fat. Aerobic exercise is a good idea if you’re trying to lose weight, and this study gives us another reason to push through those extra minutes and shed those pounds.
