Post-pregnancy benefits of aerobics

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Feb, 1996

Women trying to lose weight and cut body fat after a pregnancy will enjoy more success if they choose aerobic exercise over other types of physical activity. Ohio State University researchers found that new mothers who did high-intensity aerobic workouts lost two to 10 pounds after 15 weeks of exercise. Those who did warm-up and toning exercises such as sit-ups and stretches lost zero to eight pounds. More significantly, the total body fat of the aerobic exercisers decreased as much as seven percent, compared with a loss of about two percent in the others.

"It's not known how many women have a problem with retention of weight and body fat after pregnancy," explains Mary Kay Mitchell, associate professor of nutrition. "Estimates range from 12 to 25%. But women who do have trouble shedding those extra pounds perceive it as an enormous problem."

The study involved 27 women who had given birth from three to 11 weeks before the program began. None were "heavy-duty" exercisers before pregnancy, and most had gained the typical 25 to 30 pounds during pregnancy.

The women were split into two groups: 15 joined a "high-intensity" workout group and participated in hour-long aerobic dance classes at a local fitness center twice a week. They walked and jogged another half-hour each week. The remaining 12 exercised at home and were given a videotape of the warm-up and toning exercises that the first group did before aerobics classes. They were told to perform those exercises with the videotape for at least 20 minutes three times a week. None of the women were put on diets, but they were asked to record what they ate on six days during the 15-week study.

The researchers noted something they didn't expect to find as well. The camaraderie that developed among the women in the aerobics class seemed to motivate them to exercise more regularly than those who exercised at home. "You'd be amazed at the networking that went on," notes doctoral student Diane Habash, who worked on the study. "The class atmosphere really seemed to make a difference. They could really commiserate about no sleep or crying babies or sick kids, and they enjoyed getting together, so they made it a point to be there. I think this is something that needs more study - it might also have an effect on postpartum depression."