Exercise During the Holidays

Looking forward to a break from working out during the holidays? Don’t drop your dumbbells so fast. Just seven days of loafing can turn your metabolism, weight, and health upside down, reports a new study from the University of Bath in England.

In the study, 26 active men were told to consume 50 percent more calories than they normally ate and decrease their steps from 10,000 to 4,000 each day for one week. The catch: Half of the guys were told to run vigorously each day while gorging and taking it easy the rest of the time. (Their steps on the treadmill didn’t count toward their daily steps.)

After a week, researchers found that the group who didn’t exercise at all had worse health declines, including waning blood sugar control, changes to certain genes that regulate metabolism, and weight gain of six pounds. The group who exercised gained about four pounds each on average—because of all the food—but showed no negative health problems.

Move less and eat more—what the researchers call “energy surplus”—and you can do physiological harm to your body, even in the short term. But know this: There is something about exercise which helps offset the changes normally experienced during an energy surplus, says study author Dylan Thompson, Ph.D. How we use carbohydrates and fat during exercise or the release of certain protein molecules in muscles called myokines are some possible explanations, he says.

If you know you’ll be gobbling cookies and eggnog while taking it easy, how much exercise should you aim for during the holidays? The runners in the study worked hard on a treadmill for 45 minutes a day, but the more vigorous the better, says Thompson. Try an intense workout like 10-Minute Torchers that will get you sweating and your metabolism pumping in as much time as you want.

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