Do cardio and effective strength training for fat loss....Today's post:  Thursday, 8-30-2018

Researchers tested a form of cardio that was challenging to do but doable.  This released a metabolic hormone, FGF21, which helps in fat loss and health protection.

There is a second metabolic hormone, FGF19, which helps with fat loss and works even better for health protection AND it builds muscle.

But the researchers were not knowledgable about how to create and test effective strength training so while there is evidence effective strength training boosts that second hormone, the strength training that was just activity while using weight did not boost it in this research.

This article has the information on the two metabolic hormones and their benefits:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322906.php

How exercise affects metabolic hormones

A new study reveals that endurance training, such as cycling, impacts 'metabolic signaling molecules' differently to resistance training with weights.

“The results showed that blood levels of FGF21 rose significantly during the cardio or endurance sessions, but not in the strength training sessions.

FGF21 is produced in several organs and is active in weight loss, glucose control, and reducing inflammation.

In fact, researchers have proposed that FGF21 has potential as a drug for treating "metabolic complications such as diabetes and fatty liver disease."

“FGF21 is produced in several organs and is active in weight loss, glucose control, and reducing inflammation.

In fact, researchers have proposed that FGF21 has potential as a drug for treating "metabolic complications such as diabetes and fatty liver disease."

1.  This means that both brisk walking and some form of more intense variable cardio such as interval cardio with brief rests or variable cardio with periodic easier sections do help with fat loss and have valuable health benefits.

““The results showed that blood levels of FGF21 rose significantly during the cardio or endurance sessions.”

2.  They also tested some people who did a few sets of strength training exercises but where they did not make sure these were mostly done with relatively heavy weights by the largest muscle groups.  Nor did they teach the people who exercised how to do the exercises to ensure they could gradually use heavier weights. Nor did they indicate these people added weight in the exercises over the test period.

So, while effective and progressive strength training IS known to add muscle and strength and likely releases the second desirable hormone, in their research the far less effective strength training they tested did not do so:

“The results also showed that levels of FGF19 fell slightly after strength training. This was a surprise to the researchers who were expecting it to rise, since animal studies suggest that the metabolic hormone helps with muscle growth.”

“FGF19, which is produced in the gut, is described as an "atypical" member of the FGF family. As a hormone, it helps regulate bile acid production and metabolism of glucose and lipids.

Animal studies have shown that, as well as helping with muscle growth, FGF19 can aid weight loss, reduce fats and glucose levels in the liver, and improve use of insulin.”

This hormone too looks likely to help turn off diabetes directly and reduce fatty liver. In fact, the more severe kinds of diabetes look to partly be caused by a pancreas that contains too much fat to allow the beta cells that make insulin to work at all well. And this hormone may help reduce fat enough in the pancreas to fix that.

Having experienced both the kind of ineffective strength training they likely tested and the kind that increases strength and builds muscle in the large muscles of the body, I believe that if people doing that kind of effective strength training were tested, they would show release of FGF19.

The fact that people who do this do build muscle and lose fat and show improved blood sugar levels suggests strongly that this is the case.

Since these metabolic hormones have such desirable effects, I recommend doing both kinds of exercise.

And, I hope that other ways to boost these hormones that are safe to do are found.