Milk consumption after resistance exercise increases fat loss and increases muscle mass and strength gains in young women

Post‐resistance exercise consumption of fat free milk in men promoted greater lean mass accretion and fat mass loss than soy or carbohydrate. It is unknown if similar body compositional changes and strength gains occur in women. Twenty young women were randomized to drink 500ml of fat‐free milk (MILK: n=10; BMI=26.2±2.0kg/m 2 ; mean±SE) or carbohydrate (CON: n=10; BMI=25.6±1kg/m 2 ) on 2 occasions; immediately post and 1h post‐exercise. Subjects underwent resistance training 5d/wk for 12‐wk. Body compositional changes were measured by DXA, and subjects' strength was measured by 1RM pre‐ and post‐training. Baseline body mass did not differ between groups and only CON gained weight after training (CON: 68.3±4.1kg to 69.1±4.0kg, P=0.05; MILK: 72.0±4.1kg to 72.5±3.8kg, P=0.24). Lean mass increased with training in both groups (P< 0.01), with a greater net change in MILK vs CON (1.9±0.2kg vs 1.1±0.2kg, respectively; P<0.01). Fat mass decreased with training in MILK only (‐1.64±0.4kg, P<0.01) with no change in CON (‐0.27±0.3kg, P=0.47). Bench press and tricep push‐down strength increased more in MILK than CON (P<0.05). Thus, post‐exercise consumption of milk vs isoenergetic carbohydrate resulted in greater muscle mass accretion, fat mass loss and strength gains in women after 12‐wk of resistance training. Our results parallel those shown previously in men. Sponsored by NSERC, CIHR and The Dairy Farmers of Canada Grant Funding Source CIHR