Sunday, March 9, 2008

Lifting Weights: More Than Just Picking Heavy Objects


From BBC News:

Weight training could be as effective as endurance exercises like running when it comes to burning fat and warding off diabetes, a study suggests. American scientists created mice which carried a gene that, when switched on, gave them muscles similar to those produced by weight training. When the gene was off, the mice - which were fed a fast food diet - became obese and developed liver problems. But when on, the same mice burned up fat, the Cell Metabolism study said. In addition, the fatty liver disease it had developed while the gene was off disappeared, and it stopped being resistant to insulin, a condition which can lead to type II diabetes.

The team from the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) genetically engineered the mouse to grow a certain type of muscle - known as Type II - which develops as a result of resistance training. This is different to the muscle which forms as a result of endurance training such as running, known as Type I.

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