Want to shed the flab? Make sure that there are no women around when you workout at the gym, a new study has claimed.
Researchers at Leeds Metropolitan University have carried out the study and found that men who attend slimming classes could manage to shed twice as much weight when there are no women around, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
In fact, in their study, the researchers found that men who followed an all-male course lost almost a stone on average, taking in those who missed some of the 12 weekly meetings while those who attended slimming club meetings dominated by women lost on average just over half a stone.
Counting only those who completed the all-male course, weight loss rose to nearly one and a half stone and waistlines were reduced by almost two inches on average.
According to the researchers, it's likely that some of the men are bashful about discussing their "chubby" bodies in front of women. However, they feel more secure in an all-male environment and their competitive spirit came to the fore.
For the study, 62 overweight men from the West Midlands attended weekly Weight Watchers meetings without any women. Around two-thirds of the men completed the course and 77 per cent of these lost at least 5 per cent of their body weight. Many shed more than 10 per cent.
Lead researcher Prof Steven Robertson attributed the results to a sense of camaraderie, blokey banter and the feeling of being part of a team.
Zoe Hellman, head of public health at Weight Watchers, which funded the research, added: "A lot of the men did say that they felt a very female-dominated meeting might put them off contributing or talking about things that were important to them."
