Cut your Energy Surplus with Exercise

Does your energy surplus exceed your expenditure? An article published in the New York Times this week explored the results of a recent study conducted to investigate just how detrimental even just a few days of inactivity and overeating can be to your health and wellness. The timing of this article is pertinent to this time of year, being that the holiday season usually results in increased frequencies of inactivity and overeating. The study results showed that a daily bout of exercise during typical inactive and overeating periods, such as the holidays, can have positive effects in reducing negative changes in the body that result from these periods of inactivity and over consumption.

The message here is clear; make sure you get some activity in during this holiday season. All you need to find is thirty minutes in your day; this is not a tall order.

The study that was referenced also suggested that these stints of inactivity and overconsumption can even adversely affect those who are otherwise healthy and active throughout the year. Further, it emphasized that negative effects on health can result no matter how short these periods last.

The study was conducted by a team of scientists at the University of Bath in England. They gathered twenty-six young healthy men as their study subjects. All subjects exercised regularly, none were obese and each had normal metabolisms and blood sugar control. The subjects were divided into two groups. One group was instructed not to exercise at all, reduce their normal daily steps from ten thousand to four thousand, as measured by a pedometer, and to increase their calorie intake by 50%. The second group was instructed to increase their calorie intake by 75% and told to run on the treadmill for forty-five minutes per day at a moderate intense pace. The extra 25% calorie intake in the second group replaced the energy that was burned during training. The experiment lasted seven days with both groups exhibiting equal daily energy surpluses.

Once the experiment was concluded, batteries of sophisticated tests were run on subjects from both groups. The tests measured insulin activity and biopsied fat tissue. After only a week, the group that did not exercise at all showed significant negative effects on health. They showed decreased blood sugar control, and their fat cells appeared to be expressing various genes that could lead to unhealthy metabolic changes. However, the group that exercised did not show similar adverse health effects. Instead, their blood sugar control remained normal, and their fat cells showed fewer malicious genes leading to negative metabolic changes.

The results concluded that exercise seemed to completely cancel out negative changes produced by overeating and inactivity. Therefore, it is important that you make sure to exercise at least three or four times per week during this holiday season.

Now it’s time for you to take action: What’s your plan for fitting in activity to cut your energy surplus?