Exercise assists diet in losing weight.  

The United States and the rest of the world continue to struggle with a significant public health problem that is nearly entirely associated with obesity and inactivity.  This epidemic has far-ranging consequences that could cripple the world economy by reducing the available workforce.  It even greatly impacts our children.  Unfortunately, the obesity rate shows no signs of decreasing in the near future.  People have long suggested that exercise is the key to weight loss.  May recent studies have suggested that this is not completely true.  One recent study strongly suggests that a thin waistline is actually made in the kitchen, but this does not mean that exercise does not have a role in weight loss.  

So, what is the effect of exercise in the treatment of obesity?   A significant amount of research has been performed on the effects of exercise on the reduction of body weight.  A recent journal publication in the Annals of Physical and Rehabilitative Medicine looked at this very question​​[1]​.  The researchers used a literature review to attack the question.  The literature review looked at the effects of aerobic exercise, strength training, and high-intensity interval training on obesity and weight loss.  Most studies indicated that exercise alone has a small effect on body weight reduction independent of caloric restriction.  This does nto mean that exercise does nto have an effect on weight loss.  In fact, when exercise is combined with dietary restriction, exercise has a synergistic (additive) effect.  The means that exercise enhances weight loss beyond what diet alone would do by itself.  High-intensity interval training has been shown to have the highest effect and it is a safe, effective, and well-tolerated mode of exercise in the obese population.