Does Exercise Help With Weight Loss?

If I asked 100 people, “What is the biggest benefit of exercising?” how many of those people would say something along the lines of, “It helps you lose weight?”

I bet that it would be the most common answer.

Think about it for a minute. Imagine a man holding a clipboard walking on a crowded street and from a distance you see him stopping what appears to be random people asking a quick couple questions to each. As you continue to walk towards the man, being the curious character you are, you decide to see what all the commotion is about. Eventually, you stop next to him and he asks a variety of questions for a survey he’s doing, and one of the questions is, “What is the biggest benefit of exercising?” What would be your answer?

In my opinion, I would guess some of the most common responses would include:

• Helps to lose weight
• Helps to stay fit
• Builds muscle
• Better sex life (Check out my articles to see how exercise and sex interact – Male Article or Female Article)

But for me and my money, the benefits of exercise are far greater than just weight loss, but because of the current obesity predicament we’re in as a country, exercise is and has been strongly associated with weight loss for many years now.

Does Exercise Help With Weight Loss?

Check out this research.

A 3-month randomized, controlled study [4] recruited 43 overweight or obese adolescent boys (12-18 years old) who were physically inactive which was quantified as no participation in structured physical activity over the previous 3 months except school physical education classes. All subjects were asked to follow a weight maintenance diet during the 3-month intervention period to determine the effects of exercise without caloric restriction. Subjects were split into three groups: aerobic exercise, resistance training, or control. The aerobic exercise program consisted of treadmill, elliptical, or stationary bike sessions three times per week for 60 minutes per session at approximately 50% of VO2peak and increased to 60 minutes at 60-75% of VO2peak by week two. The resistance training program consisted of ten exercises such as leg press, chest press, latissimus pull downs, seated row, among others. The week 1-4 protocol was to perform 1-2 sets of 8-12 repetitions at 60% of baseline. During weeks 4-12, subjects performed two sets of 8-12 repetitions to fatigue.

While these are not the most challenging training protocols known to mankind, keep in mind that these are adolescent boys who have puberty to thank for the plethora of androgenic hormones pumping through their veins for the first time and they are also novice exercisers which will allow them to make faster progress than any other population. These two factors, adolescent in age and novice exercisers, should create a perfect cocktail where exercise could make a huge impact on body composition.

However, the data showed that after three months, exercise had very little impact on weight loss. (Remember, 1 lb.= 2.2 kgs.)

• Control group gained 2.6 + 1.0 kg body weight
• Aerobic exercise group lost 0.04 + 0.8 kg body weight
• Resistance training group lost 0.6 + 0.8 kg body weight

This is not just a one off study.

Another study [5] recruited 65 adults who completed an exercise protocol in which they were randomly assigned to one of two exercise groups: aerobic exercise or combined aerobic and resistance exercise. Aerobic exercise progressed from 15 minutes three times per week to 30-45 minutes five days per week over the course of 12 weeks. The combined aerobic and resistance exercise protocol consisted of the same aerobic exercise in addition to a twice per week strength training regimen which consisted of six compound strength training exercises designed to work large muscle groups for up to 3-6 sets and 10 repetitions beginning at 50% 1RM the first four weeks and transitioning to 2-3 sets and 10 repetitions at 75-80% 1RM. At the conclusion of 12 weeks, the aerobic group lost 3.7 kgs body weight and the aerobic + resistance lost 3.8 kgs body weight, which although statistically significant, it is less than 9 lbs. and not the most dramatic change magazines and online gurus might make you believe.

And to hammer home the point…

A 16-month study [6] with 74 participants aged 17-35 years were assigned to either a control group or exercise group. All participants were previously sedentary and did not expend more than 500 calories on physical activity per week. The exercise was primarily done on a treadmill, progressing from 20 minutes at baseline to 45 minutes at 6 months. The exercise intensity progressed from 60% heart rate reserve at baseline to 75% at 6 months. Participants were required to expend 400 calories per exercise session and approximately 2000 calories per week, which was achieved throughout the course of the study. Energy intake was ad libitum and was measured at baseline and 5 other time points over the 16 months. At the conclusion of the study, the men in the exercise group had only lost 5.2 kg body weight while the women lost only 0.4 kg body weight.

And finally, a meta-analysis found the mean weight loss of men who completed 30 weeks of exercise was a measly 2.6 kg. Women compared similarly, on average losing 3.0 kg over the course of 14 weeks. [7]

So what’s going on here? Exercise is and has been promoted as an effective weight loss tool but the research clearly shows otherwise? Why might exercise not benefit weight loss as much as the general public might tend to believe? Let’s take a look at some potential reasons why exercise might not be the ‘be all, end all’ for weight loss.

Summary

Let me be clear about the intention of this article: Exercise has many benefits, however, it is not a magical weight loss cure. Weight loss is complex and starting an exercise program doesn’t necessarily lead to weight loss, especially in the short term.

If your preferred method of weight loss is only exercise without any nutritional restrictions, you will reduce your chances of seeing significant body composition changes. Research shows that a weight loss strategy that combines exercise and diet will produce better results than exercise alone. [22]

In addition, exercise comes with compensatory changes to your body such as down regulation of the components of TDEE and for many, an increase in energy intake. There are many individual variables to consider when attempting to lose weight and each person will have some variation. Take precautionary steps such as a planned, structured exercise routines and a diet with a specific caloric intake in mind to ensure that you see the changes you are hoping to make. If the desired changes aren’t happening or aren’t happening as quickly as you like, because you have been tracking your exercise and nutrition you now have something to manipulate and experiment with to get different results.

While exercise in the long term clearly shows a positive relationship to sustained weight loss, it appears it is difficult for most people to keep up with the healthy habit, which is the point of exercise needing to be rebranded. If the message around exercise was more about the amazing health benefits exercise provides, rather than exercise being a way to lose weight, I believe more people would stick with an exercise program in the long run.

Be patient. Slow and steady, consistent exercise done intelligently and with purpose, week after week will lead to results.

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