Having protein regularly throughout the day (protein-pacing) combined with a multi-dimensional exercise regimen improves fitness among the fittest, say exercise scientists from Skidmore College, USA. The exercise regimen has to include resistance exercise, interval sprint exercise, stretching and endurance exercise. The researchers, in search of the most effective lifestyle strategies to improve health and physical performance, have found that this routine, when followed for 12 weeks or more, shows improved fitness, decreased total and abdominal fat, increased lean body mass, and optimal metabolic and heart health in people.
To make the diet and exercise regimen easy for the public to remember, exercise scientist Paul Arciero has coined the acronym, ‘PRISE’: P stands for protein-pacing, R stands for resistance, I stands for interval, the S stands for stretching, and the E stands for endurance.
“Whether your goal is to improve fitness or heart health, the quality of your diet and a multi-dimensional exercise training regimen (PRISE) can make all the difference, says Arciero. “It’s not about simply eating less calories and doing more exercise. It’s about eating the right foods at the right time and incorporating a combination of exercises that most effectively promotes health and fitness.”
The researchers enlisted 30 women and 20 men between the ages of 30 and 65 who could clearly be described as being physically fit.
Dividing the subjects randomly into two groups, the scientists conducted a 12-week trial in which all subjects consumed the same amount of calories and performed the identical exercise routine, but their diet quality differed. One group consumed commonly-recommended protein and fitness/sport nutrition products and the second group consumed a slightly increased protein intake and antioxidant-rich supplements.
When the trial ended, the researchers found that although both groups improved on nearly every measure, those who had followed the protein-pacing and antioxidant-rich diet showed the greatest improvements in fitness, including upper body muscular endurance and power, core strength, and blood vessel health (reduced artery stiffness) among female participants; and upper and lower body muscular strength and power, aerobic power, and lower back flexibility among male participants. They observed that the PRISE protocol of protein-pacing with either whole food sources or whey protein supplementation, were equally effective at improving physical fitness, as well as decreasing total, abdominal and visceral fat, increasing the proportion of lean muscle mass and significantly reducing blood glucose, insulin and cholesterol levels.
Overall, the study encourages rethinking of current assumptions about diet and exercise, which place too much focus on the quantity of calories eaten and amount of exercise people do, rather than the quality of the food eaten and the exercise.
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