The Study
Fat Oxidation, But Not Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Lipolysis, Differs Between Males and Females During a Treadmill‐Based Heat Tolerance Test
This study looked at how boys and girls burn fat during a hot workout, and found boys burned more fat than girls during the test. But it didn’t change anything — it just watched what naturally happened. So we can’t say being a boy or girl makes you burn more fat — we just know that in this group, during this test, they were different.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
When men and women exercise in a hot room, men burn more fat for energy and produce more body heat, even though their fat cells break down fat at the same rate.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 544 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — this means men may rely more on fat for energy during heat stress, while women may conserve energy differently, which could affect endurance, cooling, or performance in hot environments.
- 2Men burned 0.34 grams more fat per minute than women at 30 minutes into exercise.
- 3Women’s resting metabolism was 23–25% lower than men’s, even after accounting for muscle mass.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
European Journal of Sport Science
Year
2026
Authors
Margaret C. Morrissey-Basler, Michael R Szymanski, E. Filep, Sean P. Langan, M. Ormsbee, Elaine C. Lee, Douglas J. Casa
Related Content
Claims (6)
If fat is released from fat stores but not burned for energy, the total amount of fat in the body does not decrease.
When exercising in hot conditions, men and women release fat from the abdominal fat layer at similar rates, as measured by glycerol levels in the tissue, even though men burn more fat overall during exercise. This suggests that the difference in overall fat burning between sexes comes from other sources, not this particular fat depot.
During prolonged exercise in hot conditions, women show greater blood flow to fat tissue under the skin of the abdomen than men, even though the breakdown of fat is similar between sexes, indicating that blood delivery to fat may be regulated differently by sex during heat stress.
During a 2-hour walk in 40°C heat, physically active young men burn fat at a higher rate than young women, with a measurable difference of 0.34 grams per minute at the 30-minute mark, even though both groups show similar levels of fat breakdown in abdominal tissue and similar blood markers of fat metabolism.
Healthy, physically active women burn 23–25% fewer calories at rest than men, even when accounting for differences in muscle mass, suggesting that biological sex influences baseline metabolic rate independently of body composition.
During exercise in hot conditions, males produce 94 watts more metabolic heat than females, even when accounting for differences in body size.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.