Study says Weight-loss Programs and Gym Memberships Work Well Together
By Hugh C. McBride
Quick quiz: What is the best way to lose weight and reduce body fat? (A) Enroll in Weight Watchers or (B) Join a Gym?
According to researchers with the University of Missouri, the ideal answer may be (C) All of The Above.
In what the ScienceDaily news service identified as a first-of-its-kind study, UM researchers used sophisticated body-composition measurement devices - including computer tomography (CT) scans - to evaluate the effectiveness of Weight Watchers programs and gym memberships over a 12-week period.
Steve Ball, the assistant professor of exercise physiology with MU's College of Human Environmental Sciences who led the study, told ScienceDaily that study participants who followed the Weight Watchers program lost a higher average percentage of body weight, but gym-goers experienced a greater reduction in body fat percentage.
"[Weight Watcher] participants' body fat percentage did not improve at all because they lost a much higher percentage than expected of lean tissue," Ball said, noting that the loss of lean tissue can be problematic because of an associated slowing of the body's metabolism. "What your body is made of is more important than what you weigh."
Members of the study's fitness center group lost less weight than did their WW counterparts, but Bell said his team believed they got a better health benefit from their workouts because their losses were primarily intra-abdominal fat (which accumulates around - and can negatively impact - vital organs).
Though Weight Watchers participants were less successful at reducing body fat percentage, the study found that they were more likely to stick with their efforts. ScienceDaily reported that most of the WW enrollees remained throughout the duration of the study, while many fitness center participants abandoned their workout plans before the 12 weeks were up.
"I think the outcome of the study speaks volumes about the necessity for a multi-pronged approach in order to lose weight [and] body fat and gain health benefits," Bell said.
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