Apolzan JW, Bray GA, Smith SR, de Jonge L, Rood J, Han H, Redman LM, Martin CK. Effects of weight gain induced by controlled overfeeding on physical activity. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 307: E1030 -E1037, 2014. First published October 7, 2014 doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00386.2014.-It is unclear whether physical activity changes following long-term overfeeding and in response to different dietary protein intakes. Twenty-five (16 males, 9 females) healthy adults (18 -35 yr) with BMI ranging from 19 to 30 kg/m 2 enrolled in this inpatient study. In a parallel group design, participants were fed 140% of energy needs, with 5, 15, or 25% of energy from protein, for 56 days. Participants wore an RT3 accelerometer for at least 59 days throughout baseline and during overfeeding and completed 24-h whole room metabolic chamber assessments at baseline and on days 1, 14, and 56 of overfeeding and on day 57, when the baseline energy intake was consumed, to measure percent of time active and spontaneous physical activity (SPA; kcal/day). Changes in activity were also assessed by doubly labeled water (DLW). From accelerometry, vector magnitude (VM), a weight-independent measure of activity, and activity energy expenditure (AEE) increased with weight gain during overfeeding. AEE remained increased after adjusting for changes in body composition. Activity-related energy expenditure (AREE) from DLW and percent activity and SPA in the metabolic chamber increased with overfeeding, but SPA was no longer significant after adjusting for change in body composition. Change in VM and AEE were positively correlated with weight gain; however, change in activity was not affected by protein intake. Overfeeding produces an increase in physical activity and in energy expended in physical activity after adjusting for changes in body composition, suggesting that increased activity in response to weight gain might be one mechanism to support adaptive thermogenesis. obesity; spontaneous physical activity; energy expenditure; doubly labeled water; metabolic chamber ENERGY IMBALANCE OCCURS WHEN ENERGY INTAKE does not equate to energy expenditure. Much is known about the effects of weight loss on energy expenditure, but little is known about the effects of overfeeding on activity-related energy expenditure (AREE). It is thought that when body weight increases, energy expenditure is increased as a potential mechanism to dissipate a portion of the excess energy consumed. This hypothesized increase in energy expenditure above what is expected on the basis of weight gain is described as adaptive thermogenesis (34). Several mechanisms, including increased spontaneous physical activity (SPA) and increased sympathetic outflow of the nervous system, are believed to support adaptive thermogenesis in response to overfeeding. In our recent overfeeding study, Bray et al. (5) observed adaptive thermogenesis in individuals consuming the high-and normal-protein diets (25 and 15% of energy from protein, respectively) but not individuals consuming a low-protein diet (5% ...