Resistance training during a 12 week protein supplemented VLCD treatment enhances weight loss outcomes in obese patients.
BACKGROUND This investigation evaluated the efficacy by which resistance training enhances body composition, metabolic, and functional outcomes for obese patients undergoing a 12 week medically supervised hypocaloric treatment. METHODS This was a single blind, randomized, parallel group prospective trial. Morbidly obese patients were prescribed a 12 week proprietary very low calorie diet (VLCD) treatment (Optifast(r) with supplemental protein (1120 kcals/day) and were placed in one of two groups for 14 weeks: 1) Standard Treatment Control (CON) (n 5) or 2) Resistance Training (RT) (n 6) Both groups underwent a pedometer based walking program; however only RT performed resistance training 3 days/week for 12 weeks. Body composition, resting energy expenditure (REE) neuromuscular function, and serum biomarkers were measured at weeks 0, 6, and 13. RESULTS Both groups exhibited a significant loss of total body mass (TBM) (CON: 19.4 2.3 kg, p 0.0009 vs. RT: 15.8 1.5 kg, p 0.0002) and fat mass (FM) (CON: 14.7 1.8 kg, p 0.0002 vs. RT: 15.1 2.1 kg, p 0.0002) with no group differences. CON lost 4.6 0.8 kg (p 0.004) of lean mass (LM) while RT demonstrated no changes. Group differences were found for the relative proportion of total weight loss due to FM loss (CON: 75.6 3.4% vs. RT: 96.0 6.0% p 0.03) and LM loss (CON: 24.4 3.2% vs. RT: 4.0 6.5% p 0.03) CON demonstrated a 328.6 72.7 kcal/day 14.3 2.4% (p 0.02) decrease in REE while RT exhibited a non significant decrease of 4.6 1.6% (p 0.78) RT demonstrated greater improvements in all measures of contractile function and strength when compared to CON (p 0.05) At post treatment, RT exhibited greater serum free fatty acids (p 0.01) glycerol (p 0.003) and b hydroxybutyrate (p 0.005) than CON. CONCLUSION Resistance training was advantageous for weight loss composition by preservation of LM without compromising overall weight or fat loss in morbidly obese men and women undergoing a protein supplemented VLCD. These changes accompanied positive adaptations for resting metabolism and muscular function.
Clinical nutrition