OBESITY AND PHYSICAL EXERCISE: Does regular physical exercise make any difference?

Obesity refers to a condition that’s characterized by excess accumulation of fats in the body. In more specific terms, an individual is considered Obese if the body fat percentage is over 25% for males, and 30% for females.

Another commonly used parameter to define Obesity is called the Body Mass Index(BMI): an expression of the relationship between the weight and height of the body. Here is the formula:

Body Mass Index=Weight/Height squared

A person with a BMI of over 35 is considered Obese. However, there is a catch to this. BMI does not really provide an accurate account of body fat percentage. For instance, a seasoned weight lifter with high muscle mass may turn out to be Obese because the formula does not account for other factors that contribute to the overall body weight.

Types of Obesity

There are two main types of Obesity based on age of onset. Let’s have a quick overview.

Juvenile-Onset
As the name suggests, this tends to start in the late childhood and teenage years. A key distinctive feature is that it is characterized by increased number of fat-producing cells known as Adipocytes. In other words, there is high production and resultant accumulation of fats due to a high number of Adipocytes.

Adult-Onset
Again, as the name suggests, this tends to start in the early adulthood stage. In contrast to Juvenile-Onset Obesity, it is characterized by increased size of Adipocytes. This is known as hypertrophy in medical terms.

Causes of Obesity

Obesity is a result of a mismatch between energy intake and expenditure whereby the body’s energy intake exceeds its expenditure. In most cases, there is a wide range of factors which interact to upset the normal balance. These include diet, genetic predisposition, Psychological factors.

Overeating has long been widely accepted as the primary cause of Obesity. However, recent research has revealed that there is more to Obesity than just your daily eating habits. In fact, investigations have shown that it’s possible for an individual to develop Obesity in the absence of excessive eating habits.

However, the role of diet cannot be overlooked. Diet composition has been directly linked with the development of the condition. For example, it’s now established that diets with a high fat and refined sugar content promote Obesity while as those rich in complex carbohydrates and fibers may play a significant role in countering the condition. This demonstrates one crucial point: diet composition may be more relevant to the development of the condition than just calorie intake.

Note

There seems to be a lot of dieting programs based on calorie intake. Caution should be exercised before any commitments are made. The body has an amazing capacity to adjust to extreme conditions, and this has implications to severe restriction of calorie intake through dieting programs.

According to current research evidence, the body lowers its metabolic rate in the presence of severe calorie restriction. In other words, starving yourself makes the body switch to some sort of an “Eco-mode”, where it slows down the rate at which it uses the available energy sources, including fats.

This is essential as it ensures efficiency during the starvation period. However, this reaction tends to persist even after the dieting period is over. This means that you will eventually return to the high-energy-intake, low-energy-expenditure situation. The bad news is that repeated cycles make it even harder to lose weight as the body simply adapts to the cycle.

Complications
Obesity is a well-known risk factor for leading causes of death at a global scale. In fact, it is an established risk factor for the development of the world’s biggest killer: Heart Disease. Excessive accumulation of fat can upset the concentration of fatty substances in the blood, which in turn raises the risk of Cardiovascular disease (CVDs). Here are some of the key conditions with a direct link to Obesity.

– High Blood Pressure

– Heart Disease

– Diabetes

Exercise and Obesity

Since Obesity is a product of a mismatch between energy expenditure and usage, it’s highly logical to think that successful treatment should target reversal of this energy imbalance. Cutting down on calorie intake and increasing overall energy expenditure should restore the balance. This is why a combination of diet modifications and adopting a physically active lifestyle which incorporates consistent physical exercise makes sense.

Scientific research has so far looked into the value of exercise such as aerobics in reversing Obesity. The results have been largely mixed, mostly due to the difficulty that comes with conducting investigations on such a multi-faceted condition. It can be tricky to come up with well-founded generalizations on Obesity and exercise because it’s development involves a wide range of factors in addition to diet issues. These include genetics, gender, and coexisting medical conditions.

However, studies have so far shown some appreciable evidence on the efficacy of exercise in the Obese population. For instance, early studies done by Blair ad Pavlou in the 90s showed that maintenance of weight loss is a key challenge for those who manage to shed off some significant pounds. However, continuation of the exercise regime proved effective in sustaining the realized gains.

Other benefits

The value of regular exercise in the Obese population goes beyond weight loss. Regular exercise keeps affected populations more productive, in addition to reducing the likelihood of developing life threatening complications. Let’s go through a quick wrap up.

– Improved glucose utilization, which is key in reducing the risk of Diabetes.

– Improved blood lipid concentration, which is a key factor in preventing Heart Disease, Stroke and other conditions related to the Cardiovascular System.

– Improved Physical capacity: The Heart, Lungs and muscular system become more efficient at performing essential physical tasks.

Recommendations

In cases of severe Obesity and coexisting medical problems; It’s always prudent to consult your Physician or Physiotherapist before jumping into any exercise program. This allows you to stay as safe as possible. Inappropriate exercise can be ineffective and detrimental.

Key facts for beginners
Aerobic exercises are the gold standard when it comes to weight management. Remember, you are trying to increase general body energy/calorie expenditure, and this should be reflected in the exercise program.

Aerobic exercises allow you to achieve this by recruiting large muscle groups at moderate intensity levels. These include moderate rhythmical exercises such as jogging, cycling, swimming, and rowing. In case you are new to anything to do with exercise, aerobic classes offer a great opportunity for beginners. However, be sure to have your personal goals clear and make sure the instructors are legitimate.

– Choose an enjoyable and practical exercise. This takes you a long way as far as staying consistent is concerned.

– Target a calorie expenditure of 1750-2000 calories per week. This is roughly equivalent to 45-60-minute workout sessions, 3-5 times in a week. You don’t have start off with a 45-minute continuous workout. You can start small and build on that. A great way is to split the session into bouts of 10-minute workouts.

– Consider exercises which do not involve a lot of weight bearing. The reason is that excessive weight can expose the primarily involved joints during the exercise to injuries, especially for starters. Good options include cycling and swimming.

– The gym shouldn’t be the only place for physical activity. Staying active should be gradually incorporated into your lifestyle. It’s always great to challenge yourself and take those 5-minute-walk breaks at work, use those stairs, take those walks to the mall, and being part of home chores. This allows you to accumulate more minutes of physical activity, and thus more calorie expenditure.

Don’t be discouraged by those seemingly small losses in terms of weight. Current research says that losing as little as 5%-10% of your weight can trigger the expected health related benefits.