RESPONSE OF TOTAL AND REGIONAL LEAN TISSUE AND SKELETAL-MUSCLE TO A PROGRAM OF ENERGY RESTRICTION AND RESISTANCE EXERCISE

We evaluated the effects of energy restriction and resistance exercise on lean tissue (LT), skeletal muscle (SM) and adipose tissue (AT) in fourteen obese women. The prescribed diet created a daily 1000 kilocal orie (4.18 MJ) deficit. LT, SM and AT were measured using a magnetic r esonance imaging (MRI) model whereby 41 transverse images were acquire d over the entire body. Although significant (P < 0.01) losses were ob served for bodyweight (-10.4 +/- 2.7 kg), and total AT volume (-9.8 +/ - 2.5 I), no significant changes were observed for whole body LT (P > 0.05). For MRI-LT this observation remained true for upper and lower b ody regions, Measurement of MRI-SM in the appendicular region revealed that SM was preserved in both the arm and leg regions (P > 0.05). The se findings provide evidence that lean tissues, in particular skeletal muscle, are preserved and adiposity is substantially reduced in respo nse to weight loss induced by the combination of resistance exercise a nd moderate energy restriction.