New Exercise Guidelines Should be One Hour per Day, Not a Half-hour

Overweight women need not only to eat less but also to exercise almost an hour a day in order to lose weight permanently, according to a new study from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. John Jakicc assigned 200 overweight women to one of four groups. Groups 1 and 2 performed moderate or vigorous exercise in order to burn off 1,000 calories a week. Groups 2 and 3 were assigned either moderate or vigorous exercise to burn off 2,000 calories per week. All 200 participants went on 1,200 to 1,500 calorie diets. Within six months, they lost an average of 8 to 10 percent of their body weights.

However, within two years, the majority had gained back half their losses.

However, about 50 participants managed to maintain their losses by exercising an average of 275 minutes per week to burn off 2,000 calories. It did not matter if their exercise was vigorous or moderate.

Dr. Jakicc says his study, which appears in Science Daily, indicates that the United States government should increase its exercise recommendation of 30 minutes a day to 55 minutes.