Don’t Be So Quick To Adjust Your Diet Because of Post-Exercise Calorie Burn
It’s a common thought in the health and fitness world that those who are engaging in regular physical exercise have significantly higher BMR’s because of it. For this reason, many people who are exercising feel they can eat a higher calorie diet because ‘they workout’.
If you find yourself in this mindset and eating more food because you believe you’re experiencing an increase in metabolic rate from working out, you may want to rethink that.
Recently a study was conducted by the clinical Epidemiology Program that assessed the effect of exercise training on resting metabolic rate in individuals with type 2 diabetes.
The study was designed to so that 103 participants (both male and female from 39-70 years of age) were divided up into four different groups. Group one participated in aerobic training, group two was assigned to a resistance training protocol, group three was to perform combined aerobic training with resistance training, and group four was the control group who did not perform any exercise at all.
The subjects followed their specific exercise protocol for a period of 22 weeks during which RMR was measured by indirect calorimetry, 30 minutes after an overnight fast and body composition was assessed by bioelectrical impedance.
These measurements were taken when the study first started, at the 3 month mark, and then again after 6 months time had passed. The results of the study demonstrated that the RMR did not change significantly over any of the groups even though there was improvements seen in peak oxygen consumption and muscular strength in those individuals who were doing the exercise program.
This study then demonstrates that while you may see good physical gains after participating in an exercise program, this does not necessarily mean your BMR (basal metabolic rate – the number of calories you burn during the day at rest) has increased by a significant amount.
Individuals who perform regular physical activities will have larger daily calorie needs and expenditures but this is mostly due to the calorie expenditure of the actual exercise session – not because of the exercise session.
So just don’t go adding a bunch more calories to your diet because you believe you’re boosting your metabolic rate or you could eventually find your body fat levels starting to go up.
Reference:
Alberga, A. et al. (2009). The Effect of Exercise Training on Resting Metabolic Rate in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Med Sci Sports Exerc. Jun 30.
