Tool #34
Physical activity is essential
for weight control
A healthy diet or physical activity?
To lose weight, you must absolutely reach a
negative caloric balance. It can be obtained by
reducing your dietary intake with or without an
increase in physical activity expenditure. You get
better results when you combine the two methods.
Consumed calories < Expended calories
The effect on the basal metabolic rate is very important,
because the latter represents more than 65 % of all burned
calories in one day. Actually, it is the energy needed
for our body to function. Besides, exercise represents
between 15 to 30 % of the daily consumption of calories
depending if you are very active or not. Moreover, physical
activity is the only way to voluntarily increase the energy
expenditure.
WHERE DO YOU SPEND YOUR CALORIES?
65%
15-30% 10%
basal metabolic rate (essential functions)
exercise
digestion
To lose 1 lb...
If I receive this document, it is because:
• I need to lose weight
• I want to put into effect the physical activity recommendations
to help me lose weight
For overweight people especially, it is normally suggested
to aim at reducing weight from 5 to 10 % of the initial
weight at a 1lb per week pace. Losing 1 lb of fat requires
an additional 3,500 kcal expenditure. It is however very
difficult to expend such energy only by doing physical
activities. For instance, a person weighing 200 lb who
wants to lose 1 lb per week will have to do as much as 12
hours of moderate walking (5 km/h) each week!
1 lb of fat = 3,500 kcal = 12 hours of walking at 5 km/h
Physical activity is essential for weight control
A diet generally produces a loss of muscle mass while
exercise allows you to avoid this negative impact. By
maintaining the muscle mass, physical activity contributes
to maintaining the basal metabolic rate at a high level,
allowing more energy to be burned at rest, as well as
during exercise!
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Recommendations to lose weight:
Cardiovascular exercises
(walking, swimming, bicycling, skating...)
• 60-90 minutes at each session
• 5-7 times a week
• Moderate to high intensity
Strength training
• 2-3 times a week
• To maintain muscle mass
150 lbs
175 lbs
200 lbs
225 lbs
250 lbs
Walking 5 km/h
225 kcal/h
263 kcal/h
300 kcal/h
338 kcal/h
375 kcal/h
Golf
273 kcal/h
318 kcal/h
364 kcal/h
409 kcal/h
455 kcal/h
Downhill skiing
341 kcal/h
398 kcal/
455 kcal/h
511 kcal/h
568 kcal/h
Cycling 15 km/h
409 kcal/h
477 kcal/h
545 kcal/h
614 kcal/h
682 kcal/h
Cross-country skiing
5 km/h
477 kcal/h
557 kcal/h
636 kcal/h
716 kcal/h
795 kcal/h
Swimming (laps)
477 kcal/h
557 kcal/h
636 kcal/h
716 kcal/h
795 kcal/h
Some false beliefs related to exercise:
TO “LOSE YOUR PAUNCH”, YOU JUST HAVE TO DO SIT-UPS...
FALSE! It is impossible to reduce fat from a specific region by working specific muscles. There are no blood
vessels that directly link the belly’s fat cells to the muscle cells of the stomach. In other words, when muscles
burn some fat, they use the fat that circulates in the arteries and that comes from different parts of the body
at the same time, no matter what the exercise is.
LOW INTENSITY IS WHAT WORKS BEST TO LOSE SOME FAT...
FALSE! The important message about losing weight is that if you increase intensity, the greater will be the
amount of energy expended. Moreover, when you undertake intense physical activity, your body continues
to burn some fat even after training. Thus, you should count on higher intensity and longer-lasting exercises,
according to your physical condition. Be progressive while training to allow your body to adapt itself and to
avoid injuries.
Total of 2,500 kcal per week
expended in physical activity
© Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal
Writing: Christine L’Abbé, MSc, Étienne Dumais-Roy, MSc, kinesiologists
Graphic Design: Hélène Lambin, PhD
Photography: Laura - fotolia.com
Physical activity is essential for weight control
Physical activity is essential for weight control
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PHowever, if you make some dietary changes
combined with your physical activities, it
becomes much easier to lose weight without
having to exercise as much. Generally, to
lose weight, a regular schedule of an aerobic
activity lasting 1 to 1.5 hour that involves major
muscular groups almost every day is enough.
The higher the intensity, the greater will be the
energy expenditure. Moreover, 2-3 sessions
of strength training per week are useful to
prevent muscle loss associated with diets and
ageing. This maintains the basal metabolic
rate. In terms of energy expenditure, physical
activity should amount to 2,500 kcal per week.
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