Iron beats electricity: Resistance training but not whole-body electromyostimulation improves cardiometabolic health in obese metabolic syndrome patients during caloric restriction—a randomized-controlled study

Reljic D, Herrmann HJ, Neurath M, Zopf Y (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Nutrients MDPI

Book Volume: 13

Article Number: 1640

Journal Issue: 5

DOI: 10.3390/nu13051640

Abstract

Caloric restriction (CR) and exercise are cornerstones in the treatment of obesity and cardiometabolic disorders. Recently, whole body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) has emerged as a more time-efficient alternative to traditional resistance training (RT). However, the effects of WB-EMS compared to RT on cardiometabolic health in obese metabolic syndrome (MetS) patients performed during CR are still unclear. In total, 118 obese MetS patients (52.7 ± 11.8 years, BMI: 38.1 ± 6.9 kg/m² ) undergoing CR over 12 weeks (aim: −500 kcal deficit/day) were randomly allocated to either WB-EMS, single-set RT (1-RT), 3-set RT (3-RT) or an inactive control group (CON). Primary outcome was MetS severity (MetS z-score). Secondary outcomes were body composition, muscle strength and quality of life (QoL). All groups significantly reduced body weight (~3%) and fat mass (~2.6 kg) but only 1-RT and 3-RT preserved skeletal muscle mass (SMM). All exercise groups increased muscle strength in major muscle groups (20–103%). However, only the two RT-groups improved MetS z-score (1-RT: −1.34, p = 0.003; 3-RT: −2.06, p < 0.001) and QoL (1-RT: +6%, p = 0.027; 3-RT: +12%, p < 0.001), while WB-EMS and CON had no impact on these outcomes. We conclude that traditional RT has superior effects on cardiometabolic health, SMM and QoL in obese MetS patients undergoing CR than WB-EMS.

Authors with CRIS profile

Dejan Reljic Medizinische Fakultät Markus Neurath Lehrstuhl für Innere Medizin I Yurdagül Zopf Professur für Integrative Medizin mit dem Schwerpunkt Ernährungsmedizin (Stiftungsprofessur der Hector Stiftung II gGmbH)

How to cite

APA:

Reljic, D., Herrmann, H.J., Neurath, M., & Zopf, Y. (2021). Iron beats electricity: Resistance training but not whole-body electromyostimulation improves cardiometabolic health in obese metabolic syndrome patients during caloric restriction—a randomized-controlled study. Nutrients, 13(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13051640

MLA:

Reljic, Dejan, et al. "Iron beats electricity: Resistance training but not whole-body electromyostimulation improves cardiometabolic health in obese metabolic syndrome patients during caloric restriction—a randomized-controlled study." Nutrients 13.5 (2021).

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