Another Nail In The Coffin for the "Calories In = Calories Out" Theory

Dr. Briffa:

…

In this study, sedentary overweight and obese adults were randomised to one of three exercise groups for a period of 8 months.

1. aerobic exercise (treadmill, cross trainer machine, stationary bicycle) for a total of 12 miles a week at 65-80 per cent maximal intensity.
2. resistance training on 3 days per week designed to burn the same number of calories as the aerobic exercise of group 1.
3. both aerobic exercise and resistance training combined (group 1 exercise plus group 2 exercise)

The results revealed that both groups 1 and 3 lost weight and fat, and group 3 lost no more weight and fat than group 3 (despite doing twice as much exercise). Group 2 did not lose weight. All this led the authors to conclude that aerobic exercise is superior for weight loss. But what I (and perhaps other people) really want to know is just how effective the aerobic exercise was in terms of weight loss.

It turns out that individuals in group 1 lost a total of 1.66 kg (about 3.5 lbs) of fat. Remember, though, this is over an 8-month period, so the pounds were not exactly dropping off. Now, let’s factor in the amount of exercise the amount of exercise required to achieve this weight loss result…

Individuals exercised for a total of about 2 hours a week which means that the total amount of exercise over the study period came to about 70 hours. For each hour of exercise individuals lost about 1 ounce (or about 30 grams) in weight.

…