Myth:
Exercise makes one lose weight.

     MYTH: Exercise makes one lose weight.

     TRUTH: Guyton, in Textbook of Medical Physiology, gives the Calorie expenditures of various levels of activity as:

Activity Calories per hour
   
Sleeping 65
Awake lying still 77
Sitting at rest 100
Standing relaxed 105
Dressing/undressing 118
Typing rapidly 140
"Light" exercise 170
Walking slowly (2.6 miles per hour) 200
Carpentry, industrial painting 240
"Active" exercise 290
"Severe" exercise 450
Sawing wood 480
Swimming 500
Running (5.3 miles per hour) 570
"Very severe" exercise 600
Walking very fast (5.3 miles per hour) 650
Walking up stairs 1100

     If we take our normal daily activity as equivalent to typing, the increase in energy expenditure for running is 570 - 140 = 430 Calories per hour.
     Since animal "fat" has about 3500 Calories per pound, one would have to run for 3500/430 = 8.1 hours to "burn off" a pound of fat; therefore, one would have to RUN 5.3 miles/hr x 8.1 hr = 43 MILES!!
     Conclusion: exercise is not a useful method for losing excess weight, for WHO is going to RUN 43 miles to lose each pound of "fat"?.  Who CAN run 43 miles?
     That is why we see overweight aerobics instructors.

     Exercise does NOT help one to lose weight.  It is useful for increasing the circulation temporarily to help with the detox process, it can build strength and endurance, but it is useless for reducing excess weight.

Guyton, Textbook of Medical Physiology, WBSaunders, 1976

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