A Harvard study found that men who did 20 minutes of daily weight training showed less of an increase in age-related abdominal fat than men who spent 20 minutes doing aerobic activities.
Most of this time should be spent doing aerobic activities, while the rest of the time should be spent doing muscle-toning activities.
"It's great news for people who may not be able to do aerobic activity," says Dr. Eric Rimm, one of the authors of the study and an associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.
While aerobic activity is useful and can be promoted for a variety of reasons while stopping smoking, it is not always possible for smokers to do aerobic activity when urges strike.
You can also cut the time you do aerobic activity on a given day and replace it with strength training.
Ideally, that involves doing an aerobic activity at 60percentto85percentcent of one's cardiovascular capacity for at least 20 minutes at a time, three or four times a week.
But for people who are out of shape, fitness experts say significant benefits can also accrue from doing an aerobic activity like brisk walking for 10 minutes, three or more times a day.
After warming up your joints, spend at least 5 minutes doing an aerobic activity that will raise your heart rate, like jumping rope or jogging.
In short, they're doing aerobics.
