Introduction
Endurance exercise (also known as aerobic exercise) is characterised by repeated isotonic contractions of large skeletal muscle groups, typically performed at submaximal intensity. It relies primarily on the aerobic system, which uses both lactic and a lactic varieties, to produce constant energy for relatively long periods.[1]
Regular aerobic exercise is good for health, even when performed at a low intensity or frequency.
Just a few examples of endurance training include running, swimming, biking and tennis, all of which increase breathing and heart rate.
Endurance exercise is one form of exercise that can be used in the battle against obesity, for more background information on ways to tackle obesity, visit our background information page.
The benefits of endurance exercise on obesity:
The benefits of endurance exercise have been extensively researched as treatment towards obesity. It has both long term and short-term effects on the body.
It has been shown that aerobic endurance training in particular leads to numerous health benefits, and there is great evidence for its favourable influence on weight, glucose control and endothelial function, as well as for an overall improvement in quality of life.
Aerobic endurance training is the most recommended type of exercise in the treatment of obesity. [2]
The Benefits of Endurance exercise on obesity have shown that Low-to-moderate-intensity endurance training has been the most common type of exercise recommended to improve body composition, physical capacity and overall health-related parameters (e.g., blood pressure, insulin resistance, lipid profile) in healthy and obese people.[3]
Results from a trial by Skrypnik D. et al on the effects of endurance and endurance strength training on body composition in women with abdominal obesity, reveal that endurance and endurance strength training favourably affects body composition by decreasing the total body fat. This effect of the exercise is crucial to the treatment of obesity. Theseresults indicated that exercise beneficially influence physical capacity as shown by a significant increase in VO2peak, WRmax, TTE, and WRVT.[4]
One meta-analysis included studies on the effects of running in sedentary healthy adults. Which confirmed that BMI and body fat decreased when regular training was prolonged over time. Endurance running was effective in providing substantial; beneficial effects on body mass and body fat in physically inactive adults. The longer the length of training the larger the achieved benefits.[5]
Endurance exercise has been found to reduce skeletal muscle-specific and systemic oxidative damage while improving IR and cytokine profile associated with obesity, independent of weight loss.[6]
In another recent trial between lean and obese men, who both took up endurance exercise were found that before training, obese men had significantly higher body weight, BMI, waist circumference and fat mass. Endurance training significantly increased aerobic capacity by 18% in lean men and by 15% in obese men. Endurance training reduced waist circumference by 4% in lean men and by 3% in obese men.[7]This indicates the effect endurance exercise has on the body, and how it improves both healthy and obese participants.
Endurance training also has several long-term effects on the body, including the cardiovascular system. Cardiac hypertrophy leads to increased stroke volume and increased maximum cardiac output. It leads to an Increase in number of red blood cells and capillarisation (the process of new capillaries forming) which takes place in the alveoli in the lungs and in the skeletal muscle, therefore increasing the amount of oxygen transferred to working muscles and CO2 removed. This can help obese people in their day to day lives by giving them a more efficient transport system.
Also transformations to the respiratory system, leading to increased vital capacity, increased number of functioning alveoli and the strength of respiratory muscles (internal and external intercostal and diaphragm) increased lung capacity and volume.[8]
Endurance exercise is often combined in training programmes with other exercises, such as HIITand resistance training, to achieve more successful results.
A trial that used a combination of both endurance and HIIT training on groups of obese participants using either HIIT, Endurance or combined training found that while there was no significant differences observed between the groups, improvement in V̇o2peak was observed only in the combined training group.[9]indicating that endurance exercise can be successfully combined with other training methods to achieve more widespread results.
Conclusion:
Endurance exercise has a lot to offer in the battle against obesity, with both long term and short term benefits to the body. With effects such as lowering BMI and total body fat composition, decreasing body mass and increasing lung capacity, endurance training can improve the lifestyles of many obese people. Prescribing endurance exercise to obese patients is step in the right direction for medical health professionals, in combating the obesity epidemic currently being faced.
Endurance activity keeps the heart, lungs and circulatory system healthy and improves overall fitness. As a result, people who get the recommended regular physical activity can reduce the risk of many diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and obesity.[10] Endurance exercise also has great effects on mental health, wh9ich can lead to growth in confidence and also encourage participants to keep going with exercise programmes.
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References:
[1]Thomas Gale, 2007, https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/sports-fitness-recreation-and-leisure-magazines/endurance-exercise
[2]Skrypnik D. et al, 2015,Effects of Endurance and Endurance Strength Training on Body Composition and Physical Capacity in Women with Abdominal Obesity https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/431002#ref11
[3]Joeseph E Donnelly. et al, 2009, https://insights.ovid.com/pubmed?pmid=19127177
[4]Skrypnij D, et al 2015, https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/431002#ref11
[5] Meta-Analyses of the Effects of Habitual Running on Indices of Health in Physically Inactive Adults, 2015 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4579257/
[6]I A Samjoo. et al 2013, The effect of endurance exercise on both skeletal muscle and systemic oxidative stress in previously sedentary obese men https://www.nature.com/articles/nutd201330
[7]Devries et al, Effect of endurance exercise on hepatic lipid content, enzymes, and adiposity in men and women. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18719669?dopt=Abstract&holding=npg
[8]BBC, https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/z367tyc/revision/2
[9]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308748149_Short-Term_High-Intensity_Interval_Training_on_Body_Composition_and_Blood_Glucose_in_Overweight_and_Obese_Young_Women, 2016
[10]American heart association, http://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/endurance-exercise-aerobic
