Exercise and Its Effects on American Obesity

To the avid runner, sports fanatic, and gym-crazed college student who just took a second, incredulous look at the title, I give two words of advice: keep reading. It’s true, physical activity has been proven to reduce the risk of certain cancers, improve heart health, enhance cardiovascular performance, and cause the production of endorphins, the body’s natural anti-depressant. However, in light of this generation’s exercise obsession (which has suspiciously spiked right alongside the country’s obesity rate) we have to ask: Are there negative side-effects being overlooked? Exercise has shown to increase appetite, discourage day-to-day activity, and cause permanent wear-and-tear on the body’s joints, tendons, and muscles.
The basic recommendation from the American College of Sports Medicine and American Heart Association for an individual’s physical activity is a moderately intense cardio workout for thirty minutes a day, five days a week. But what about afterwards? Researchers from the Surrey University and Imperial College London found that, “although hormones released during exercise helped suppress the appetite some people still ate more after exercise than those who did not participate in physical activity.” The fact is, exercise just can’t facilitate weight loss if the calories burned during physical activity are replaced, and in most cases, superseded by post-workout over-eating. Not only does exercise stimulate hunger, but now a study done by researchers at the University of Illinois suggests that “the very thought of exercise may cause people to eat more.” Test subjects who participated in the study ate as much as they wanted on two occasions: once after viewing exercise print messaging and once after coming in contact with non-exercise-related messaging. The subjects consumed more, on average, after their thoughts had been exposed to exercise-related topics. The researchers concluded, “These inadvertent effects may explain the limited efficacy of exercise-promotion programs for weight loss, particularly when systematic dietary guidelines are absent.”
Isn’t it also true that exercise has shown to curb appetite? Yes, but John Cloud explains why that doesn’t always mean a lower caloric intake in his Time article, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin.” He says that, “because exercise depletes not just the body's muscles but the brain's self-control ‘muscle’ as well, many of us will feel greater entitlement to eat a bag of chips during that lazy time after we get back from the gym.” Almost anyone who has planned and carried out an exercise routine can relate to feeling worthy of a reward after an especially challenging training session and, without fail, that irresistible craving will undo all the hard work done for that day. This, Cloud explains, is why exercise could be making you heavier.