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February 9, 2007

Trying to get in shape the hard way

Sandy Szwarc makes sense while expressing skepticism about the FDA's decision to approve an over-the-counter version of Xenical (orlistat) for sale, the first prescription weight loss drug to be available without a prescription:

Even the FTC’s scientific expert panel reviewing the evidence for weight loss advertisements, . . . determined that any claims that a weight loss product will cause weight loss by blocking the absorption of fat or calories were false and fraudulent advertising. . . . [E]ven with the prescription strength Xenical, people can’t malabsorb enough fat a day to lose a pound a week and there are limits beyond which significant gastrointestinal problems occur. The panel’s scientific analysis stated: “The biological facts do not support the possibility that sufficient malabsorption of fat or calories can occur to cause substantial weight loss.”

Meanwhile, this NY Times article reports that one of the formerly most popular ways to attempt to lose weight has fallen out of favor:

[I]f current trends continue, aerobics will be as rare as, . . . those vibrating belts that were supposed to jiggle away fatty hips and gravity boots that were supposed to — what was it they were supposed to do? For now, the popularity of aerobics is sharply down from when it was “the mainstay of fitness in America,” said Mike May, a spokesman for the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.

It’s why you may have noticed — if you have shown up at your gym attired in your best leg warmers with a sweatshirt off one shoulder — the lack of aerobics classes on the menu. Fewer than half of the 300 gyms and health clubs recently surveyed by IDEA offered aerobics classes, a number that is “continuing to decline,” according to the summation of the report.

At its peak in the mid-’80s, an estimated 17 million to 20 million did aerobics, Mr. May said. But only five million did in 2005, according to a report by the sporting goods association. “We expect the 2006 numbers to be significantly lower,” Mr. May said. “Aerobics are increasingly out of favor.”

The legacy of injuries is one reason. Many of the original instructors like Mr. Blahnik won’t teach aerobics — because they can’t. “Those hardest hit by all those aerobics were often the teachers, because they were pushing harder than anyone else and doing the classes a dozen times a week,” Dr. Metzl said. “Our bodies just weren’t meant to withstand all that pounding.”

By the way, Art DeVany has compiled this category of blog posts that explores the damaging physical effects of distance running and endurance training. More exercise does not always equate with better health.

Posted by Tom at February 9, 2007 4:31 AM |

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