Male and female soldiers experience the same degree of energy deficit during intense military training, even though their total food intake and energy use differ, suggesting that the body's...
Mechanism
Synthesis from 1 study
When soldiers go through intense training, their bodies slow down how much energy they use and start burning fat more efficiently — this happens the same way in men and women, even though men eat and burn more calories overall, so both end up with the same size energy deficit, as shown in the study...
Most probable mechanism
When soldiers face extreme physical demands, both men and women adjust how their bodies use energy — slowing down metabolism and using stored fat more efficiently — so that even though men eat and burn more calories overall, the size of their energy deficit ends up being the same as women’s, as seen in the study of US Army Ranger Training (10.1249/mss.0000000000004013).
Energy expenditure increases due to physical training stress, with males exhibiting higher absolute caloric burn than females, but both sexes experience a net energy deficit.
Metabolic rate adapts downward in response to sustained energy deficit, reducing resting energy expenditure and increasing fat oxidation efficiency in both sexes to conserve energy.
Energy intake increases proportionally with body size and activity in males, but the resulting deficit is matched in magnitude to that of females due to similar metabolic adjustments.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
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Limited Sex Differences in Energy Balance and Body Composition during 61+D of US Army Ranger Training
Contradicting (0)
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