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So I think the theory is that when we take up exercise, we move less during non-exercise time. They explored this in mice by tracking their movements with infra

So I think the theory is that when we take up exercise, we move less during non-exercise time. They explored this in mice by tracking their movements with infrared devices. But surely we have oodles of data from devices like Fitbits and Apple Watches to know whether this behaviour is true for humans or not.

garrettdc 9y ago
One problem with those is that they are easy to capture fake/inaccurate data. Couple that with non-running exercise activities and you have an even more difficult equation to solve for.
WillPostForFood 9y ago
We may move less during non-exercise time, but also eat more, because we are extra hungry from exercising. exercisers, whatever their species, tend to become hungrier and consume more calories after physical activity. They also may grow more sedentary outside of exercise sessions. Together or separately, these changes could compensate for the extra energy used during exercise, meaning that, over all, energy expenditure doesn’t change and a person’s or rodent’s weight remains stubbornly the same.
- at-fates-hands 9y ago
  I remember when I got out of college and had stopped playing sports. My roommate at the time convinced me to start weight lifting and training hard at the gym. I was taking all kinds of supplements (creatine, various amino acids, whey protein, etc), working out 1.5 to 2 hours at a time, and it was working, albeit slowly. Looking back a few years later, I realized maybe I didn't see the big changes I was expecting since my roommate and I would hit the Burger King on the way home since we were always so hungry after working out. It dawned on me we were completely erasing all the work we just did in the matter of twenty minutes eating cheeseburgers and onion rings with several cups of pop to boot.
  - azemetre 9y ago
    If you're talking about gaining strength you need to continually lift more weight before you reach your natural limit every session. It shouldn't be too hard for the average man to reach a 180/bench 200/deadlift 240/squat after a years worth of training. It's also hard to gain muscular physiques in general. You have to cut an enormous amount of body fat to obtain things like an Adonis belt but if your goal is strength it shouldn't be too hard to hit novice benchmarks. I also doubt you were seriously burning the amount of calories you think you were working out. Unless you're a professional or Olympic athlete, someone who is training for over 6 hours a day, you will likely never burn more than 400 calories from a "moderate" gym session. People dramatically over estimate how much they burn working out. There's a reason why people say "You can't outrun a bad diet."
    - stevesimmons 9y ago
      > People dramatically over estimate how much they burn working out. Not to mention many people spend just a fraction of their time in the gym actually lifting weights. Mostly sitting at machines, resting between sets and playing with their phone. My gym routine is "super-sets" pairs of exercises working complementary groups of muscles. So I'll do say 4 sets of lat pulldowns alternating with shoulder presses, with zero breaks. Then switch immediately to the next pair of exercises.... Net result is far higher average intensity in a shorter time.
IAmEveryone 9y ago
I remember reading about the same phenomenon being observed in humans. This was about gaining weight, and the idea was that feeding people extra calories causes them to increase the sort of movements commonly associated with nervousness, i. e. bouncing their legs, shifting around in a chair etc.

garrettdc 9y ago

One problem with those is that they are easy to capture fake/inaccurate data. Couple that with non-running exercise activities and you have an even more difficult equation to solve for.

WillPostForFood 9y ago

We may move less during non-exercise time, but also eat more, because we are extra hungry from exercising. exercisers, whatever their species, tend to become hungrier and consume more calories after physical activity. They also may grow more sedentary outside of exercise sessions. Together or separately, these changes could compensate for the extra energy used during exercise, meaning that, over all, energy expenditure doesn’t change and a person’s or rodent’s weight remains stubbornly the same.

at-fates-hands 9y ago
I remember when I got out of college and had stopped playing sports. My roommate at the time convinced me to start weight lifting and training hard at the gym. I was taking all kinds of supplements (creatine, various amino acids, whey protein, etc), working out 1.5 to 2 hours at a time, and it was working, albeit slowly. Looking back a few years later, I realized maybe I didn't see the big changes I was expecting since my roommate and I would hit the Burger King on the way home since we were always so hungry after working out. It dawned on me we were completely erasing all the work we just did in the matter of twenty minutes eating cheeseburgers and onion rings with several cups of pop to boot.
- azemetre 9y ago
  If you're talking about gaining strength you need to continually lift more weight before you reach your natural limit every session. It shouldn't be too hard for the average man to reach a 180/bench 200/deadlift 240/squat after a years worth of training. It's also hard to gain muscular physiques in general. You have to cut an enormous amount of body fat to obtain things like an Adonis belt but if your goal is strength it shouldn't be too hard to hit novice benchmarks. I also doubt you were seriously burning the amount of calories you think you were working out. Unless you're a professional or Olympic athlete, someone who is training for over 6 hours a day, you will likely never burn more than 400 calories from a "moderate" gym session. People dramatically over estimate how much they burn working out. There's a reason why people say "You can't outrun a bad diet."
  - stevesimmons 9y ago
    > People dramatically over estimate how much they burn working out. Not to mention many people spend just a fraction of their time in the gym actually lifting weights. Mostly sitting at machines, resting between sets and playing with their phone. My gym routine is "super-sets" pairs of exercises working complementary groups of muscles. So I'll do say 4 sets of lat pulldowns alternating with shoulder presses, with zero breaks. Then switch immediately to the next pair of exercises.... Net result is far higher average intensity in a shorter time.

IAmEveryone 9y ago

I remember reading about the same phenomenon being observed in humans. This was about gaining weight, and the idea was that feeding people extra calories causes them to increase the sort of movements commonly associated with nervousness, i. e. bouncing their legs, shifting around in a chair etc.