VIDEO: Increased aerobic capacity may help support long-term weight loss

In this video, Erin O’Keefe, a medical student at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, discusses results of a study that investigated a potential association between aerobic capacity — measured by VO2 max — and long-term weight loss.

The study included 115 individuals who participated in the University of Michigan’s Weight Management Program. O’Keefe and colleagues assessed whether patients who had a higher baseline VO2 max were more successful in achieving long-term weight loss, and whether patients who improved their VO2 max category were able to maintain more weight loss.

As previously reported, O’Keefe and colleagues found that after completing the 2-year program, 39% of the 59 men improved their VO2 max level by one or more categories. Almost half of the men stayed in the same VO2 max category. Among the 56 women in the study, 34% improved their VO2 max level while 55% stayed at the same level.

“Both a better baseline VO2 max and a step up — or an increase in VO2 max categories — resulted in a greater percent weight loss at 2 years in several subgroups,” O’Keefe told Healio Primary Care.

Specifically, the increase in VO2 max categories relative to percent weight loss was statistically significantly higher in women aged 40 to 49 years and in men aged 50 to 59 years. Higher VO2 max at baseline was statistically significant in men and women aged 50 to 59 years.

“The net improvement in VO2 max and thus a possible increase in the ease of exercise in patients may increase their willingness to engage in physical activity, which then would promote long-term weight loss maintenance,” O’Keefe said. “It should be noted that although... weight loss and VO2 max seem to be correlated, we can’t prove causality with this study.”

The study was scheduled to be presented at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting, which was canceled because of COVID-19. It is among the winners of ACP’s 2020 National Abstract Competition.