The exercise paradox, also known as the workout paradox, refers to the finding that

physical activity Physical activity is defined as any voluntary movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure.Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health, 2009. World Health Organization. Geneva, Switzerland. Accessed 13/07/2018 ...

, while essential for maintaining overall health, does not necessarily lead to significant

weight loss Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness, refers to a reduction of the total body mass, by a mean loss of fluid, body fat (adipose tissue), or lean mass (namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon, and other conn ...

or increased calorie expenditure. This paradox challenges the common belief that more

exercise Exercise or workout is physical activity that enhances or maintains fitness and overall health. It is performed for various reasons, including weight loss or maintenance, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardio ...

equates to more calories burned and consequently, more weight loss.

Hadza tribe case study

The exercise paradox emerged from studies comparing calorie expenditure between different populations.

Fieldwork Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct f ...

on the

Hadza people The Hadza, or Hadzabe (''Wahadzabe'', in Swahili), are a protected hunter-gatherer Tanzanian indigenous ethnic group, primarily based in Baray, an administrative ward within Karatu District in southwest Arusha Region. They live around the L ...

, a hunter-gatherer tribe in Tanzania, revealed that despite their high levels of physical activity, the tribe burned a similar number of calories per day as sedentary individuals in industrialized societies. This finding, led by

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

professor Herman Pontzer, contradicted the expectation that more active lifestyles would result in higher energy expenditures. In 2012, Pontzer and his team of researchers analyzed energy expenditure in 30 Hadza adults using the doubly labeled water method. Participants consumed water enriched with two distinct isotopes of

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

and

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

. The team later assessed the concentration of these isotopes in urine samples, which correlates with the body's daily carbon dioxide production and, consequently, daily energy expenditure. Results indicated that Hadza women burned an average of 1,877 calories per day, which was nearly the same as the 1,864 calories burned daily by women in industrialized nations. Hadza men expended about 2,649 calories per day, which was within the standard error distribution for average calories burned by men per day in industrialized nations. The studies suggest that controlling caloric intake may be more necessary for managing weight than exercise alone.

Studies on other population groups

A 2011

meta-analysis Meta-analysis is a method of synthesis of quantitative data from multiple independent studies addressing a common research question. An important part of this method involves computing a combined effect size across all of the studies. As such, th ...

of 98 studies found that individuals in low to middle- HDI countries (specifically, Bolivia, Cameroon, China, Gambia, Guatemala, India, Jamaica, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, and

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

) showed no significant differences in energy expenditure compared to individuals in middle to high-HDI countries (specifically, the countries of Europe, United States, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Chile, Brazil, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand), despite large differences in each country's obesity rate.

References

{{Reflist Physical exercise Exercise physiology

Hadza tribe case study

Studies on other population groups

See also

References