Move or Your Fat Cells Will!
I've got bad news....You can't ever stop exercising....Well, you can but you'll get fat.
What am I talking about? A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology made rats run for about a month and a half increasing their distance such that the last week they were running 9km/d. The rats were then forced to be sedentary from anywhere between 5hours-7days on either a controlled diet or eating as much as they wanted.
The rats on a controlled diet had an increase in abdominal fat independent of food intake. The rats that ate as much as they wanted had an increase in fat cell number. Usually our fat cells just fill up - this is the better option because once a fat cell is produced it never goes away.
This study is interesting. Because it was done in animals it should be taken with a grain of salt. However, what are the implications of these findings?
*It could possibly mean that running is an even worse form of exercise than I previously expected. It would be interesting to have seen a group that did weight training but have you ever seen a rat trying to deadlift...not pretty.
*These findings could also caution us against overeating during periods of being sedentary as it could possibly result in fat cell hyperplasia (increase in numbers).
If anything this is a glowing recommendation for life long exercise and not a quick fix approach followed by being sedentary and overeating.
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