Calorie-restricted low-fat diet and exercise in obese women.

The effects of caloric restriction and exercise on body composition, resting metabolic rate (RMR), and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) were studied for 16 wk in 26 premenopausal obese women. Exercise (X) vs nonexercise (NX) was crossed with a low-fat, ad libitum-carbohydrate (AL) diet vs a restricted (R) (800 kcal) low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet in a 2 x 2 factorial design. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the four treatment groups. Body-weight and percent-fat losses were significant (p less than 0.05) in all groups but greater in subjects assigned to the R diet (p less than 0.05) and/or X (p less than 0.10) groups. Exercise increased (p less than 0.01) VO2 max but neither exercise nor diet influenced fat-free mass or RMR (kcal.m-2.h-1), both of which remained unchanged over time. A program similar to that followed by the ALX group is recommended for long-term weight control and overall health.

Caloric cost of walking and running.

Twenty-four young adult male subjects were used to study the relationship between total caloric costs (exercise and recovery costs) incurred and speed of movement over a distance of 1 mile. Caloric costs were determined at walking speeds of 3, 4, and 5 mph and at running speeds of 5, 7, and 9 mph. Energy costs were assessed every 20 sec during the activity and during the recovery until the caloric cost returned to pre-established resting levels. The fitness level of the subjects was considered as a moderating variable. 3regression equations to predict caloric cost from body weight, speed of movement, and VO2 max were also developed. Conclusions for the given speeds were: (1) running is more costly than walking, (2) the cost of walking a mile increases with speed of movement, and (3) for running speeds, total caloric cost and VO2 max are inversely related. The independent variables for the regression equation for walking included body weight and speed squared times body weight (R2 = .86). The independent variables for the running equation were identical to the ones used in the walking equation with the addition of speed times VO2 max (R2 = .62).

Effect of anabolic steroid treatment on endurance.

The effect of anabolic steriod treatment on maximum oxygen intake, mile run time, skin fold thickness, body weight, and elbow flexion and knee extension strength was studied. Twenty-one male college students, ages 19-33, engaged in an interval running program six days a week over a three week period. Each subject supplemented their diets with one half gram/kilogram of body weight of 90% protein powder. A double blind design was used for the administration of the steriod treatment with each of the subjects in the treatment group receiving six mg of stanozolol per day. Pre and post treatment tests were administered for each of the dependent variables. There was improvement at the .05 level in the oxygen uptake of both treatment and control groups. For the other dependent variables, the differences between pre-treatment and post-treatment values were not statistically significant. Differences between the steroid and the control groups were not statistically significant for any of the dependent variables. When young male adults are engaged in an endurance training program, steroid treatment does not appear to have any effect on the development of endurance or strength, or on the percent of body fat,