Energy balance
The degree of energy compensation increases with body fat mass (FM), with individuals at the 90th percentile of BMI compensating ~49% of activity calories compared to ~28% for those at the 10th percentile.
If you have higher body fat, your body will likely compensate more strongly for exercise by lowering your resting metabolism. This means exercise alone will be less effective for weight loss in higher-fat individuals. To lose weight, you likely need to combine exercise with dietary changes to create a deficit that overcomes this higher compensation rate.
People that are at the 10th percentile of the BMI distribution compensate 27.7% of activity calories, whereas people at the 90th percentile compensate 49.2% of activity calories
Why this rating
Large dataset with robust statistical interaction terms for FM, though causality (whether fat causes compensation or vice versa) is not definitively resolved.
Source
Energy compensation and adiposity in humans
Vincent Careau et al. · Current Biology · 2021
DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2021.08.016
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- In free-living humans, increased physical activity triggers energy compensation, where basal metabolic rate (BEE) decreases such that only ~72% of the calories burned through activity translate into increased total energy expenditure (TEE).Good
- Energy compensation occurs primarily at the within-individual level (reversible trade-offs over time) rather than the between-individual level (genetic/permanent differences), meaning active periods lead to lower basal rates for the same person.Moderate
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