Soon after exercise, fat cells begin to store energy. If you do not exercise again - soon - these fat cells will swell in size and weight, report researchers from the University of Missouri-Columbia David S. Katump and Frank W. Booth, PhD.
Why? Kunh and Booth points to human evolution. As the food was often scarce, our bodies grew very efficient in storing any non-burned food energy during exercise.
"Left on its own in nature, our body wants to store as much energy (fat) as possible because it does not know when the next meal will come," says Booth, in a news version. "If we do not break this energy through regular physical activity ... the body makes a priority to store this energy as fat."
Best Home Exercise For Fat Loss - Skipping Exercise Makes Fat a Bigger Problem
Kunt and Booth studied teenage rats. When given exercise wheels, these teenage mice grew much stronger than mice that had no exercise wheels.
But when the rats were kept from exercising - knump and cabin blocked the exercise wheels for several periods of time - their bodies began to change.
The changes in the body came surprisingly fast. Only five hours after exercise stopped, mouse's abdominal fat cells began to send chemical signals that made them start to swell. After two days without exercise, fat cells have 19% higher - and the rat stomach fat was 48% heavier.
That, Kunt and Booth suggest, it's like what happens when people become sofa potatoes. What is surprising is how fast happens. On the other hand, regular exercise offers a solution."We ate regularly, and we need to exercise regularly," Kump says in a news version. "There is a magic bullet to keep weight down. It's daily physical activity."
