It has been a while since I have done a research review for you, here are some interesting studies I have stumbled upon recently:
Types of Exercise vs Body Composition Change – Clients are always asking what is the best form of exercise to lose fat. This meta study looked at aerobic training, resistance training and combining both types (concurrent training). The results showed exactly that optimal results in muscle mass and fat loss comes from doing both aerobic and resistance. There was no difference in whether you do them on the same day or separate days. Read it here / here>>
There is a counter movement this day and age to say exercise does not help fat loss at all, I can cover this another time but the idea you wouldn’t do the biggest health drug you have available to you at all is ludicrous. There may be some merit about certain a percentage of people doing better if they limit the amount of aerobic exercise they do, this refers to exercise responders vs non responders which I covered in my book. However, doing no exercise at all, is a pathway to lower energy, less happiness and poor function.
Collagen Supplementation on Skin Hydration / Aging – I found this study to be very interesting because it showed a big discrepancy in results between research funded by companies that sell collagen supplements vs those that don’t. The positive research showed that collagen supplements improved skin hydration, elasticity, and reduced wrinkle depth when taken consistently at doses between 2.5 g to 10 g per day over 8 to 12 weeks. The non supportive research showed that collagen had no significant effects on skin measures, especially when relying on self-reported outcomes or shorter duration trials.
The main difference between the studies outside of the funding methods, the ones were backed by collagen providers used higher doses and objective measurement data. So is the research biased, or is it they just know what you need to do to get results. Either way, it shows an insight into the world of evaluating research data. Read it here>>
Speed of Weight Loss vs What it Does To Your Metabolism – For reasons of bias as above I prefer meta studies, which are studies that review the other studies. This one looks at how the speed of losing body fat affected the persons metabolism. It compared people with rapid fat loss vs more gradual losses. The results showed what you would expect, the faster the fat loss, the more the metabolic rate reduced in the person. The study showed that gradual fat loss could leave a person with 100 calories per day higher resting metabolism than someone who lost the same amount of weight but did it rapidly. Read it here>>
For a very long time I have been preaching the more slow and steady approach, or the step wise decrease in body weight. You may go fast with your fat loss but you then need to be ok with stabilising for a while, before moving downwards again. I felt this myself back in my bodybuilding days where I lost 5kg in 7 weeks, took a month off to maintain, and then repeated the process again. The 10kg in 18 weeks was so much easier compared to trying to run it 14 weeks straight.
The best way to evaluate fat loss speed, is to multiply your weekly fat loss by 52 to get you annual speed of change. Anything over 52kg a year pace I would consider very fast, my most successful clients have gone at around 25-30kg a year.
Creatine & Mental Function – It has been all the rage recently to talk about creatine and its effect on mental abilities. If you are not aware, Creatine is a compound found in muscles that is primarily active in the first 3 seconds of exercise. Athletes have been taking it for years and it is one of the most researched sports supplements with piles of evidence to support its usage. In recent years, there has been more research done on how it may help mental ability. In one study, it showed taking a super dose of 30g of creatine after a hit in the head can reduce concussion symptoms.
This study looked at various elements of mental function such as memory, attention time and processing speed. It found that supplementation with creatine monohydrate improved memory, reduced attention time, and sped up processing speed, particularly in those under stress, sleep deprivation or cognitive fatigue. The protocol in many of the trials was roughly 20 g/day during an initial loading phase (about 5 days) or around 5–6 g/day for several weeks. Brain creatine stores increased by 5–15%, more so in those with lower baseline levels (e.g. vegetarians or older individuals) and benefits were most clear in stressed or older populations. Read it here>>
What Does This Mean For You?
I think it is always good to drop one or two newsletters a year on the research that is out there. The main issue is there is just too much info and so many contradictory results to draw conclusions. With this in mind, the most important element of research is how to apply it to yourself and then interpret your own results from using any of the methods discussed.
Photos – The research studies & the results of my 10kg loss in 18 weeks back in the day:
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