Compensatory effect of exercise on daily physical activity and energy intake in young adults with overweight: a randomised controlled trial

The compensatory effect of physical exercise on spontaneous physical activity and food intake has been pointed out as a possible explanation for the negative or lower than expected results in body weight variation. Also, the effect of exercise intensity on the compensatory effect has not been well studied. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effect of different intensities of physical exercise on the total volume of physical activity in men with overweight. Subjects (n = 72; mean ± SD, age 21.4 ± 1.68 years, BMI 27.9 ± 2.13 kg / m2) were randomized into three experimental groups: moderate exercise group (GEM); vigorous exercise group (GEV); and control group (CG). For 2 weeks, the GEM and GEV groups performed 3 exercise sessions per week, lasting 60 minutes per session, at moderate (40 to 59% VO2R) or vigorous (60 to 89% VO2R) intensity. The volume of physical activity was assessed by triaxial accelerometers (ActiGraph GT3x-BT) for 13 days. Food intake was assessed through 24-hour food recall for 4 days and hunger/satiety through the Visual Analog Scale. Intent-to-treat analyses were performed using linear mixed-effects models in SAS. After 13 days of follow-up, GEM and GEV showed compensation in the volume of physical activity when compared to CG (GEM vs. GC and GEV vs. GC; p = 0.01). There was no difference in the rate of change between GEM and GEV (p = 0.97). Regarding food consumption, the variation rate was not different between groups (p = 0.18), however, GEM presented higher energy consumption during this period when compared to the control group (β = 491 kcal; p = 0.01) and to vigorous group (β = 319 kcal; p = 0.07). The rates of change in hunger and satiety were not different between groups during the intervention period (p = 0.92 and p = 0.52, respectively). Based on these results, GEV showed greater reduction in body weight when compared to GEM (p = 0.03) and CG (p = 0.07). 60-minute sessions of aerobic exercise performed three times a week promoted a compensatory effect on the total volume of physical activity over the two weeks of intervention, regardless of the intensity of the exercise performed. Despite the compensatory effect in both exercise groups, GEV showed the greatest reduction in body weight.