Is more exercise better for fat loss?

Exercise is a necessity if you want to stay healthy, but how effective is it for losing weight if that is the only thing you change, and for how long do you have to exercise? The reviewed research was an attempt to clarify that, and you may find the results surprising. The researchers investigated the effect of aerobic exercise dosed two different ways (Rosenkilde M, et al. 2012). One group exercised for 30 minutes daily corresponding to 300 kcal/day, and another group exercised for 60 minutes daily corresponding to 600 kcal/day for 13 weeks. These 2 groups were compared to a control group which did not exercise. The participants were healthy, sedentary, moderately overweight young men. Body composition, accumulated energy balance, and the degree of compensation (lower metabolic rate, increased appetite) were measured. The results showed that even if the exercise induced energy expenditure was twice as high in one group, the fat loss in the group that exercised for 30 minutes was 4 kg and the fat loss for the group that exercised for 60 minutes was 3.8 kg. No statistically significant changes were found in energy intake or none exercise physical activity that could explain the different compensatory responses associated with 30 vs. 60 min of daily aerobic exercise. Unless you really enjoy exercising, spending hours doing it seems to be a waste of time, the body will just compensate by lowering the metabolic rate. The smart way of losing weight would however be to also change the way you eat, that way you would see much better results. A very effective way to lose weight is to follow the program you find at Learn to Eat. There you will find an even more effective way of exercising and a way of eating that produce results both when it comes to weight loss and health.

Rosenkilde M, Auerbach P, Reichkendler MH, Ploug T, Stallknecht BM, Sjödin A. Body fat loss and compensatory mechanisms in response to different doses of aerobic exercise–a randomized controlled trial in overweight sedentary males. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2012 Sep;303(6):R571-9. Epub 2012 Aug 1.