In postmenopausal women, those who do not reduce their overall energy expenditure in response to exercise tend to improve their aerobic fitness more and lose more body fat than predicted by the...
Mechanism
Synthesis from 1 study
When these women get fitter, their muscles get better at burning fat for fuel during exercise, so they don’t need to eat more to make up for the calories burned. That’s why they lose more fat than expected — their bodies just use fat more efficiently.
Most probable mechanism
When postmenopausal women get more fit from exercise, their muscle cells become better at using oxygen to burn fat for energy, so they don’t need to eat more to make up for the calories burned — they just use stored fat more efficiently.
Increased mitochondrial density and oxidative enzyme activity in skeletal muscle fibers enhances the capacity to oxidize fatty acids during aerobic activity.
Greater fat oxidation reduces the need for compensatory increases in energy intake or reductions in non-exercise activity, allowing greater net fat loss relative to exercise energy expenditure.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
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Dose–response effects of aerobic exercise on energy compensation in postmenopausal women: combined results from two randomized controlled trials
Contradicting (0)
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Gold Standard Evidence Needed
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