
22 April 2019


How does sport help you lose weight?

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT?

Weight loss is a simple concept, it is first and foremost the fact of spending more energy daily than the energy that is consumed via food. This corresponds to your energy balance, ie the difference between the outgoing energy and the incoming energy. With a negative energy balance over several days and weeks, you will get more or less weight loss. Your body will have the reflex to use your reserves as a source of energy and thus help you lighten up.

An effective way to have a negative energy balance is to practice physical activity on a regular basis. This helps to increase your energy expenditure in different ways, here are in details, the effects of sport for weight loss.



IMMEDIATE ENERGY EXPENSE

Physical activity is primarily an immediate energy expenditure. You burn calories during sports at a rate well above the calories you burn when you are at rest. The chosen sport, intensity and duration will determine the number of calories burned during the session. For example, a small walk of 30 minutes at an average pace will allow you for example to spend about 200 calories. An hour's tennis game about 600 calories.

The higher the intensity (eg fast running, swimming), the more calories you spend per minute. Conversely, on a low-intensity activity (for example: walking) energy expenditure is relatively low and it is necessary to compensate for a longer duration for example.



METABOLIC INCREASE

But the contribution of sport is not limited to the time of the session alone, it also has an effect in the medium term and long term.

Increase during the hours following physical activity You do your sports session on Monday morning, you will observe an increase in metabolism during the hours that follow and sometimes until 24 hours after this session. It will again depend on the nature of physical activity and intensity. After the sport, your body is in a recovery phase that raises slightly the energy expended.

Increase in sustainable metabolism

Sport and in particular the practice of bodybuilding (in the various possible forms) allows the creation of muscle mass. The muscle requires a lot of energy to be maintained and the basal metabolism is thus higher. Generally muscular people have a greater energy expenditure than people of the same build but having less muscle mass. Thus sport has a positive impact on your musculature, on the increase of the metabolism and therefore the possibility of spending more energy sustainably.

By increasing your energy expenditure through sport, you contribute to having a negative energy balance and you allow weight loss. Of course the physical practice must be sufficient to lead to this energy deficit. If your diet remains too high, playing sports will not guarantee your weight loss.



WEIGHT BUT ALSO THE BODY COMPOSITION

The weight is not the unique reference to take into account. Sometimes it is even a deceptive element, people of the same weight can have very different physiques. I often mention it in my articles, but two factors that seem to me to be more precise are the body fat content and the muscular tissue mass rate. To have a beautiful physique, it is to limit the fat mass and to promote the muscular mass, for an athletic and refined physique. Sport can go in this direction. The different institutions estimate that a healthy fat content is between 10 and 20%.



WEIGHT BUT ALSO HEALTH

Beyond the weight, it is also your health which is at stake. A frequent sport practice makes it possible to preserve a good health for a long time. Scientific studies have very largely demonstrated the positive effects of sport in the fight against obesity, cardiovascular diseases or the fight against aging.



NUTRITION MUST BE CONTROLLED ALSO

Your sports efforts will not be rewarded if they do not follow. It's just as important as sports. Weight loss can be allowed by increasing physical expenditure through sport but also by controlling one's dietary intake. Avoiding high-fat, high-calorie products, eating healthy, micronutrient-rich products are small, simple and effective rules


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