Very low calorie diet with concurrent versus delayed and sequential exercise.

Obese females undergoing very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) were studied for 12 weeks to determine the effects of concurrent vs delayed and sequential exercise. Subjects were assigned to one of six groups: control (C) n = 28; endurance exercise (EE) n = 18; weight training (WT) n = 26; endurance exercise plus weight training (EEWT) n = 21; control for 4 weeks with subsequent EE (C4EE) n = 10; WT for 4 weeks with sequential EE (WT4EE) n = 12. EE was performed 3 days a week using five weight lifting exercises. Loss in body weight did not differ between groups. Expressed as a ratio of fat-free mass (FFM) to weight loss WT4EE showed a 8.1%, 9.7%, and 11.4% difference compared to EE, C4EE, and C, respectively (P < 0.05). WT4EE also showed significant increases from baseline of 8.2% in aerobic capacity (L/min) and 12.5% in the strength index (SI/kg FFM). WT4EE showed the smallest decrease of all groups in resting metabolic rate of 6.1% of the baseline value; however, this decrease was significant. Although WT4EE showed some favorable changes from baseline, the magnitude of the changes between groups was small. There were no significant differences found between C4EE and the other study groups. Thus, the delay or sequential use of exercise during VLCD provided only small differences for WT4EE compared to the other groups and any clinical significance for the individual is presently unknown.