The Effect of Exercise Training on Total Daily Energy Expenditure and Body Composition in Weight-Stable Adults: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background: The present study examined, among weight-stable overweight or obese adults, the effect of increasing doses of exercise energy expenditure (EEex) on changes in total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), total body energy stores, and body composition. Methods: Healthy, sedentary overweight/obese young adults were randomized to one of 3 groups for a period of 26 weeks: moderate-exercise (EEex goal of 17.5 kcal/kg/wk), high-exercise (EEex goal of 35 kcal/kg/wk), or observation group. Individuals maintained body weight within 3% of baseline. Pre/postphysical activity between-group measurements included body composition, calculated energy intake, TDEE, energy stores, and resting metabolic rate. Results: Sixty weight-stable individuals completed the protocols. Exercise groups increased EEex in a stepwise manner compared with the observation group (P < .001). There was no group effect on changes in TDEE, energy intake, fat-free mass, or resting metabolic rate. Fat mass and energy stores decreased among the females in the high-exercise group (P = .007). Conclusions: The increase in EEex did not result in an equivalent increase in TDEE. There was a sex difference in the relationship among energy balance components. These results suggest a weight-independent compensatory response to exercise training with potentially a sex-specific adjustment in body composition.

The Mystery of Energy Compensation

“…The findings of intervention studies concur with these observations. Human participants exhibit a smaller increase in DEE than expected when prescribed daily exercise levels are increased (Dhurandhar et al 2015;Garland et al 2011;Goran and Poehlman 1992;Hand et al 2020;Herrmann et al 2015;Keytel et al 2005;Willis et al 2020;Wing 1999). Moreover, the longer and greater the exercise intervention, the greater the estimated energy compensation exhibited (for a summary see Pontzer 2018; his Figure 2).…”

“…Many, perhaps most, studies and reviews of energy compensation have assumed that energy-saving changes in NEAT is the process at play (e.g. Goran and Poehlman 1992;Hand et al 2020;Meijer et al 1999;Morio et al 1998), and some work seems to provide indirect evidence for this. For example, an across-school study of children reported that the amount of intense physical activity they undertook at school did not relate to their total levels of activity over the entire day, i.e.…”

“…I find very limited evidence in the human literature of BMR decreasing in response to a chronic period of increased activity energy expenditure per se. In most studies where participants exhibited no change or only a marginal decrease in body mass in response to an increase in daily activity levels they also exhibited no change in BMR (often calculated independent of body condition) (Colley 2008;Colley et al 2010;Flack et al 2020;Goran and Poehlman 1992;Hand et al 2020;Herrmann et al 2015;Meijer et al 1999;Riou et al 2019;Van Etten et al 1997;Willis et al 2014). In a few studies where participants experienced no change in body mass they exhibited a small increase in BMR (Hunter et al 2000;Morio et al 1998;Withers et al 1998).…”

Energy compensation and adiposity in humans

“…The compensation model assumes that energy budgets are somewhat constrained, which forces trade-offs between energy invested into AEE and BEE, thus predicting a negative relationship between AEE and BEE and therefore b < 1 for the relationship between TEE and BEE. It is currently unknown whether energy compensation in humans occurs only under extreme conditions, or at least only during periods of prescribed exercise, where measured or inferred energy compensation has been documented on several occasions, [16][17][18] or instead whether it is the default model of energy expenditure in humans living typical lives, where activity and energy intake are naturally adjusted over time.…”

Smart Application for Smart Learning: How the Influence of the Factors on Student Swimming Learning Outcomes in Sports Education

“…This is influenced by the level of energy needed and the metabolic used based on the activity and intensity of each teenager. More intense activity stimulates the body's metabolic system into energy and vice versa [37]. Moreover, an exercise program that involve much physical activity for 33 weeks significantly improve students' health and skills in swimming learning [38].…”