A recent studty completed by Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical
Research Center examining the above question divided study particiapnts into 3 groups:
- One group did resistance training three days a week,
working out on eight different weight machines to target upper and lower body muscles.
- A second group did two hours of aerobic training per week on gym machines, the equivalent of about 12 miles of walking or jogging over the course of the week. 
- The third group was assigned to do both the weight-training and aerobic-exercise programs.

Those in the aerobic group lost an average of 3 pounds and half an inch from their waists.

Study participants who did both weight and aerobic training dropped about 4 pounds and 1 waistline inch. That group also saw a decrease in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom blood pressure reading) and in a "metabolic syndrome" score that reflects combined heart and diabetes risk factors.

However, statistical analyses showed that participants doing both aerobics and weight training didn't necessarily have better outcomes than those who just did aerobic training.

Because aerobic exercise alone seemed to be almost as good, if not as good, as aerobic and resistance training combined, one of the study authors commented that "when you're weighing the time commitment that you're going to spend, if your overall goal is to...improve your diabetes and heart disease risks, our study would suggest that  aerobic exercise is the best way to better those outcomes."

At Fitness Plus we certainly advocate and prioritise aerobic training over resistance training particularly for those that are 'time poor'.

We certainly regard resistance training as useful but 'weights won't get you fit', which, when combined with the above study results makes aerobic exercise a more time and 'benefits' effective option.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/07/26/whats-best-exercise-for-heart-health/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fhealth+%28Internal+-+Health+-+Text%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Scientists today revealed the mathematical formula for a perfect slice of toast, showing that it is best cooked for exactly 216 seconds; the exact amount of time needed to toast the outside to the desired level before a golden 12:1 exterior/interior crispiness ratio was lost.

A team of researchers carried out a study which found the optimum thickness is 14mm and the ideal amount of butter is 0.44 grams per square inch.

One of life's great questions answered!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2017338/The-perfect-piece-toast-Scientists-test-2-000-slices-216-seconds-optimum-time.html?ITO=1490

Not fitness related but scarilly funny.
http://thechive.com/2011/07/21/why-you-shouldt-get-too-wasted-at-a-wedding-video/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+feedburner%2FZdSV+%28theCHIVE%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

From Stuff
"Bill Taylor advocates exercise for those wanting to live to the ripe age of 100.

The Whangarei great-grandfather just celebrated his 100th birthday with friends and family.

Despite being hard of hearing, Mr Taylor is still lively and enjoys going for walks.

"I have no secret but I've always believed that exercise is essential for everybody.

"No food fads – eat everything – but exercise every day," he advises."

A smart man indeed - happy birthday Bill!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/northland/whangarei-leader/5301984/Birthday-wishes-for-Bill

'Yes' according to Steven Blair, Professor of exercise science, epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of South Carolina.

According to Professor Blair's research:

- It’s better than being thin and unfit. Overweight people who exercise just 150 minutes a week have half the risk of mortality of normal-weight people who don’t exercise at all. That’s not true once you move from overweight (meaning a body mass index, or BMI, of 25 to 29.9) to obese (a BMI of 30 or more). But being fit and a little fat seems to be fine.
Weight alone doesn’t raise disease risk—lack of fitness does.

- In one study, half of overweight adults and one-third of obese people who were active had normal blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar, putting them at normal risk for heart disease and diabetes, which are both supposedly caused by weight.

- Getting fit is more realistic than getting slim.
For most people, diets don’t work in the long term. We ought to be thinking about different strategies. It’s far easier for a fat person to get fit than thin.

The last point is very interesting and mirrors the approach that we take here at Fitness Plus.

For the majority of people it is hard enough emabarking on an exercise regime let alone striving to make change in the more challenging, complex, and emotional area of nutrition.

If our members are striving for a relativly more realistic and acheivable target of improving their fitness this success generally means that their eating patterns and choices improves and also serves as a 'springboard' for change in other areas.

Food for thought indeed.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/07/18/can-be-fit-and-fat/#ixzz1ShQhgTqI

While the Ministry of Health agrees with guidelines introduced by the UK government last week suggesting children under five should exercise for three hours per day to prevent obesity Lisette Burrows, the associate professor in health and physical education at Otago University, has said that introducing exercise guidelines with a specific time-frame was "problematic".

"I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with suggesting that it's a nice thing for children to be active, but putting minutes and time around it and linking it explicitly to obesity or weight loss, I think, is not a good idea for the wellbeing of young people," Burrows said.

Burrows also said that such guidelines add to the stress parents feel around raising their young ones.

"There's all these health imperatives around that already make parents stressed about what their children are eating and whether they're eating five fruit a day, and their education and that sort of stuff," she said.

"With these sorts of recommendations it's just another thing for parents to worry about and do. They're not only being parents and nutritionists, now they've become play specialists or fitness facilitators."

I agree with Professor Burrows perspective; yes encourage and enable our kids to play and be active but don't create added stress, and potential feelings of failure for not acheiving, with ' activity targets'.

Researchers in Israel have found that not only do sports help children's physical health, sports participation also improves their emotional, behavioral and cognitive wellbeing. I would have thought this was somewhat of a given but great to see some research confirming this.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/230662.php