metabolism increase from exercise? myth or fact?

Monster2

New member
One of the things I've heard a lot is that besides losing X amount of calories during your workout, you also get the side benefit of losing a lot more calories during the rest of the day because of an increased metabolism.
I definitely have more energy throughout the day when I'm exercising (a HUGE side benefit, but off topic.....) but I don't know if this realistically translates to additional calories lost.
Is the truth out there?
 
the "a lot more" part is a myth, it is basically not a huge increase by any means. The main loss of calories is easiest to get from food, or lack of. Exercise will increase your metabolic rate but not in any supremely powerful way. Nor will increased muscle mass MASSIVELY BOOST your BMR. It all adds up ofcourse, and more energy = a higher NEAT so.. ofcourse it is good, but it isn't magic :)
 
I think I saw something that indicates a half hour at high intensity might be worth an extra 17 calories burned throughout the day.

The higher energy will have a lot more impact than the "metabolism boost" from exercise. Also, exercise has a tendency to help control eating. Although there's no guarantee on that front. Some people have better reactions to it than other.
 
I think I saw something that indicates a half hour at high intensity might be worth an extra 17 calories burned throughout the day.

The higher energy will have a lot more impact than the "metabolism boost" from exercise. Also, exercise has a tendency to help control eating. Although there's no guarantee on that front. Some people have better reactions to it than other.

Hah, that is awesome, so for working my ass off I get 17 more calories burned throughout the day... damn you body.. DAMN YOU!!! I was expecting at least like... an additional potato at dinner.
 
Hehe. Well, you still get the calories burned during the exercise! They were just looking at the post exercise increase (EPOC?) in calories burned that's touted as the big benefit of the high intensity workouts.

Lyle did a writeup on it at some point, I believe they were comparing a lower intensity steady state to high intensity, for the same calories burned during exercise. And the high intensity got you an extra 17 calories for the day ;)
 
After vigorous exercise, caloric expenditure increase for up to 48 hours. The longer and harder you work out, the greater the post-workout metabolism increase and the longer it lasts. During one hour of running at about 80 percent of the maximum heart rate 600-700 calories are burnt. About 75 percent of the post-workout metabolism increase occurs in the first 1 2 hours after exercise.Probably because of the rest between sets,after a 45-minute weight-training session -- three sets of 10 reps per exercise -- resting metabolic rate is increased for 60-90 minutes, burning an extra 20-50 calories.
 
well, I think I'll stick to my thinking that the gym part is mainly to avoid loosing any muscle that might be hiding in there, and to increase cardiovascular health.
 
Metabolism

Let me clear first what metabolism is and how it works?
Metabolism is the process of converting food into calories, which our bodies then burn for fuel. Our metabolic rate is the number of calories our bodies burn in an average day.

If we burn more calories through activity than we take in, we lose weight over time. If we take in more calories than we burn, we gain weight over time. This is known as managing the difference between "calories-in" and "calories-out."
 
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One of the things I've heard a lot is that besides losing X amount of calories during your workout, you also get the side benefit of losing a lot more calories during the rest of the day because of an increased metabolism.
I definitely have more energy throughout the day when I'm exercising (a HUGE side benefit, but off topic.....) but I don't know if this realistically translates to additional calories lost.
Is the truth out there?

My old baseball coach had a pretty awesome (and really 'helpful') response when one of my former teammates asked him this exact question...

"You know what boosts your metabolism? More metabolism. Now stop asking me stupid questions and go metabolise me a mile!!!"

Ahh, coaching at it's finest.
 
Well... I guess I was envisioning a more active engagement with the cheesecake. But when you put it that way...

I'm gonna metabolize ur ... no, that's not any better!
 
you guys forget to mention what 'exercise'. See something like an hour walk is entirely different to doing say Tabata/HIIT.
Walking burns calories whilst you're doing it, but doesn't generally raise the MBR a huge amount for the rest of the day vs the Tabata/HIIT
has a nice if basic study case. I used to do 4 mins Tabata, and boy it used to leave me hungry for the rest of the day! ( )
 
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