No wonder exercise is one of the first things we turn to when we decide it’s time to lose weight. We join the gym and commit to taking more walks with the dog, believing that if we get enough exercise the scale will give us some joy.
Unsurprisingly, many of us get discouraged when we follow this routine for months and see no change on the scale. That’s why I’m often asked: does exercise help you lose weight, or is it just diet? The answer, I warn you, is not simple.
To lose weight without dieting you have to sweat a lot
Over the past 70 years there have been many studies devoted to examining the role exercise plays in weight control. Recent research on the subject has concluded that exercise alone has minimal impact on weight loss.
These include a meta-study which, after examining all relevant studies in the area, found that those who used exercise alone lost minimal weight compared to those who exercised while reducing their energy intake.
Other 2018 research found that substantial weight loss was unlikely to occur when participants followed the minimum guidelines governing physical activity. That is, 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity each week.
To achieve significant weight loss without dieting, the total volume of exercise had to be significantly higher than the minimum recommended levels. Specifically, it takes about 60 minutes of moderate physical activity a day to achieve significant weight loss.
But beware, before you delete yourself from the gym, keep in mind that a significant number of investigations confirm that it is vital to focus on exercise as part of any weight loss program.
Exercise helps maintain weight in the long term
Exercise improves our body composition and prevents muscle deterioration. Our metabolic rate – the amount of energy we burn at rest – is determined by how much muscle and fat we have, and muscle is metabolically more active than fat, meaning it burns more kilojoules.
Relying solely on diet to lose weight will reduce muscle along with body fat, slowing down your metabolism. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that sufficient and appropriate exercise has been incorporated into your weight loss plan to maintain your muscle mass stores.
It is also important to incorporate resistance exercises to increase strength. This does not mean going to the gym every day: two days a week is enough, even in the comfort of our own home.
Specifically, moderate-volume resistance training (three sets of ten repetitions of eight exercises) is just as effective as high-volume resistance training (five sets of ten repetitions of eight exercises) in maintaining lean mass and muscle when a diet incorporating moderate caloric restriction is followed.
Studies also show that physical activity and exercise have a substantial effect in preventing weight regain after weight loss. A longer-term study found that those who maintained high levels of exercise (expending more than 10,500 kilojoules or 2,500 calories each week, for example walking 75 minutes a day) sustained significantly more weight loss than participants who exercised less .
Exercise has general health benefits
Before we start seeing the results of exercising on the scale, we experience the many physical and mental health benefits that exercise brings.
Even low levels of exercise reduce the chances of developing diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Even if we don’t lose weight, exercising is already doing us good because it improves most obesity-associated diabetes and heart disease risk markers .
A physically active person with obesity can be considered metabolically healthy if they maintain good blood pressure, cholesterol, and insulin levels. There is evidence to show that the risk of premature death associated with obesity is greatly reduced or eliminated with moderate to high levels of fitness.
In addition to improving health, regular exercise has other physical benefits, such as increased strength and mobility. It also reduces stress levels, and even low levels of exercise combat depressive symptoms, improve mood, and promote better sleep. And by the way, improving our mood helps us to better manage our diet, by allowing us to choose healthier foods and avoiding impulsive food intake.
The conclusion?
Exercise helps lose weight and prevents us from gaining weight again. It is one of the fundamental pillars of long-term weight control. But be careful, because we will not achieve our weight loss goals only with physical activity. Diet and sleep are equally important
To encourage yourself to exercise more, choose something you enjoy. Be sure to include variety, as doing the same daily routine over and over is a sure way to get bored and quit.
This article translated thanks to the collaboration with Fundación Lilly has been published in ‘The conversation‘.
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