Exercise Does Not Make You Lose Weight

Say it with me, “Exercise will NOT help you lose Weight!”

Sorry to be the messenger of bad news, but scientific studies agree that for most people, there is no correlation between exercise and weight loss.

Now, this pertains to the average person performing an average amount of exercise, the intensity and duration that is typical in research studies, and individual responses to exercise may vary considerably.

Don’t get me wrong. Exercise is still incredibly important and I always recommend it because it:

·      Improves sleep

·      Improves cognition (thinking)

·      Improves Mood

·      May help with cancer prevention

·      Helps with many chronic conditions

·      May improve body composition

How much exercise does someone need for health and function?

150 minutes a week of moderate intensity exercise shows significant improvements in cardiometabolic health in addition to 2 nonconsecutive days of resistance exercise (weight lifting, resistance band work, etc.

Likely much more important than exercise time is reducing sedentary time. It is very difficult to out-exercise a whole workday of sitting. Low intensity, constant movement throughout the day usually accumulates a much higher caloric deficit than does a sedentary day with 30-60 minutes of dedicated exercise time.