Behavioral Compensatory Adjustments to Exercise Training in Overweight Women

A diet-induced negative energy balance triggers compensatory mechanisms, e.g., lower metabolic rate and increased appetite. However, knowledge about potential compensatory mechanisms triggered by increased aerobic exercise is limited. A randomized controlled trial was performed in healthy, sedentary, moderately overweight young men to examine the effects of increasing doses of aerobic exercise on body composition, accumulated energy balance, and the degree of compensation. Eighteen participants were randomized to a continuous sedentary control group, 21 to a moderate-exercise (MOD; 300 kcal/day), and 22 to a high-exercise (HIGH; 600 kcal/day) group for 13 wk, corresponding to ϳ30 and 60 min of daily aerobic exercise, respectively. Body weight (MOD: Ϫ3.6 kg, P Ͻ 0.001; HIGH: Ϫ2.7 kg, P ϭ 0.01) and fat mass (MOD: Ϫ4.0 kg, P Ͻ 0.001 and HIGH: Ϫ3.8 kg, P Ͻ 0.001) decreased similarly in both exercise groups. Although the exercise-induced energy expenditure in HIGH was twice that of MOD, the resulting accumulated energy balance, calculated from changes in body composition, was not different (MOD: Ϫ39.6 Mcal, HIGH: Ϫ34.3 Mcal, not significant). Energy balance was 83% more negative than expected in MOD, while it was 20% less negative than expected in HIGH. No statistically significant changes were found in energy intake or nonexercise physical activity that could explain the different compensatory responses associated with 30 vs. 60 min of daily aerobic exercise. In conclusion, a similar body fat loss was obtained regardless of exercise dose. A moderate dose of exercise induced a markedly greater than expected negative energy balance, while a higher dose induced a small but quantifiable degree of compensation.exercise; body weight regulation; compensatory mechanisms; energy balance ALTHOUGH A MODERN SEDENTARY lifestyle along with overeating has been put forward as "Big Two" factors in the etiology of obesity (3,10,29), the outcomes of structured exercise programs designed to promote weight loss are often modest (42,58). This has led to the general (mis)conception that exercise, in itself, is a poor weight management strategy (20,42,49). Apart from a potential lack of compliance, the discrepancy between predicted and observed weight loss is likely due to a combination of physiological and behavioral compensatory changes affecting energy balance. These compensatory changes cause the accumulated energy balance during an exercise intervention to be less negative than would be theoretically predicted from the exercise-induced energy expenditure (ExEE), i.e., the total amount of energy expenditure that is caused by the exercise intervention (12,32,34).Body energy stores are protected against long-term negative energy balance resulting from caloric restriction by a greater than predicted reduction in resting energy expenditure (REE) (28), a decrease in nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) (40,45), an increase in the metabolic efficiency of physical activity (16,35), and an increase in hedonic (21) and hormonal mediators o...

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“…Residuals between observed and predicted REE were calculated to estimate adaptations in REE that could not be attributed to changes in FFM (39).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body fat loss and compensatory mechanisms in response to different doses of aerobic exercise—a randomized controlled trial in overweight sedentary males

Rosenkilde

Auerbach

Reichkendler

et al. 2012

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comp

106

185

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“…There were no differences in RMR between groups. While EI did increase significantly from baseline in both groups, there were no significant between group differences in the number of kcals consumed or macronutrient composition (Manthou et al, 2010).…”

Section: Mechanisms Of Compensationmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Stubbs et al, 2002;Woo & Pi-Sunyer, 1985). However, Manthou et al found that compensators, and not non-compensators, had a significant decrease in NEAT during an eight week study, and that this decrease in NEAT was a significant predictor of fat mass changes during the exercise intervention (Manthou et al, 2010). Additionally, Church et al found that exercising and control groups had no significant step count differences at baseline, but that the control group had a significantly higher step count as compared to all exercise groups during the first four weeks of an exercise intervention.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Multiple studies have examined the relationship between behavioral and physiological mechanisms and compensation (Church et. Al, 2009;Hollowell et al, 2009;King et al, 2007b;Manthou, Gill, Wright, & Malkova, 2010;McLaughlin, Malkova, &Nimmo, 2006;R. Stubbs et al, 2002;Westerterp, Meijer, Janssen, Saris, & Ten Hoor 1992;Woo, Garrow, and Pi-Sunyer, 1982;Woo and Pi-Sunyer, 1985), and doses of exercise which may cause induce a greater magnitude and prevalence of compensation (Church et al 2009;Hollowell et al, 2009;R.…”

Section: Chapter 2 Review Of Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…34 female subjects classified as overweight or obese who had been previously sedentary served as the subjects for this research. The study was an 8-week pretest posttest supervised exercise intervention in which subjects performed 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week at approximately 72-77% age predicted HR max (Manthou et al, 2010).…”

Section: Mechanisms Of Compensationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Body Composition And Physical Activity Maintenance One Year After A 12-week Exercise Intervention In Women

Jarrett

Sawyer

Cabbage

et al. 2016

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise

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i ABSTRACT Purpose: Exercise interventions often result in less than predicted weight loss or even weight gain in some individuals, with over half of the weight lost usually regained within one year. The current study hypothesized that one year following a 12-week supervised exercise intervention, women who continued to exercise regularly but initially gained weight would lose the weight gained reverting back to baseline, or continue to lose weight if weight was initially lost. Conversely, those who discontinued purposeful exercise at the conclusion of the study were expected to continue to gain or regain weight.Methods: 24 women who completed the initial 12-week exercise intervention (90min/week of supervised treadmill walking at 70% VO 2peak ) participated in a follow-up study one year after the conclusion of the exercise intervention. Subjects underwent Dual-energy X-Ray Absorptiometry at baseline, 12-weeks, and 15 months, and filled out physical activity questionnaires at 15 months.Results: A considerable amount of heterogeneity was observed in body weight and fat mass changes among subjects, but there was no significant overall change in weight or fat mass from baseline to follow-up. 15 women were categorized as compensators and as a group gained weight (+0.94±3.26kg) and fat mass (+0.22±3.25kg) compared to the nine non-compensators who lost body weight (-0.26±3.59kg) and had essentially no change in fat mass (+0.01±2.61kg) from 12-weeks to follow-up. There was a significant between group difference (p=.003) in change in fat mass from 12-weeks to follow-up between subjects who continued regular vigorous exercise (-2.205±3.070kg), and those who did not (+1.320 ±2.156kg). Additionally, energy compensation from ii baseline to 12-weeks and early body weight and composition changes during the intervention were moderate predictors of body weight and composition changes from baseline to follow-up. Conclusion:The main finding of this study is that following a 12-week supervised exercise intervention, women displayed a net loss of fat mass during the follow-up period if regular vigorous exercise was continued, regardless of whether they were classified as compensators or non-compensators during the initial intervention.iii

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