Regular exercise could lead to weight gain

Are you attending the gym for what you assume are sufficient workouts for keeping weight gain at bay – only  to find that the lbs. are actually creeping on you?

If so, you are not alone and a new survey has actually surprisingly discovered that over a quarter of recently enlisted gym-goers actually gain weight soon after starting to attend regular sessions at the gym. The primary reason for the weight gain is because soon after beginning to exercise at the gym, people to tend to reward themselves with ‘treats’ after working out, negating the main reasons for exercising in the first place!

Diet company Forza Supplements quizzed 1,000 gym users on their diet and exercise habits, finding that a staggering 39% merely burn around 300 calories during each visit to the gym.

To put this into perspective, that amount of exercise would not even be enough to burn off the calories in a bar (62.5g) of Snickers, which has 319 calories, and is only just sufficient enough to burn off the calories in a twin bar of Twix (58g), which has a total of 284 calories.

If people are not aware of the calories in such treats, in addition to those in other ‘reward’ foods such as crisps, or even a glass of wine (about 109 calories), it can mean gym goers are liable to put on weight over time. Interestingly, 42% believed that regular exercise meant they should be able to deviate from their diet plans.

The poll discovered that people attending regular gym sessions gave them a ‘feeling of complacency’ which impacted their ability at adhering to a recommended calorie intake per day.

It was found that 26% actually put gain weight following regular exercise, whilst almost a half (49%) reported no changes in their weight, whilst only 25% actually said they managed to lose weight.

Also found in the survey was the fact that the majority of exercise enthusiasts usually go to the gym on average between three and four times a week, and whilst there they then exercise for between 40 minutes and an hour on average.

For every ten gym users, four will burn between 300 and 500 calories in a gym session. Only a quarter however only burn off between 200 to 300 calories, whilst 10% burn just 100 to 200 calories and 4% less than 100 calories. Perhaps the last two groups should ask themselves why they bother to attend the gym!

A reason why going to the gym could cause people to put weight on is that exercising is causing an increase in metabolism and increasing people’s appetites. In fact, over half surveyed (53%) claimed their gym sessions had managed to significantly boost their appetites.

Nearly half also admitted they exercise prior to a night out on the town to ‘compensate’  for the huge amount of calories they are inevitably going to consume during the course of the night through alcohol. Many party-goers also tend to finish their night in the nearest takeaway and burgers, pizzas and kebabs can then add hundreds of calories on top of the calories within the alcohol.

Luisa Zissman, runner-up in The Apprentice, commented: “Who hasn’t had a guilt inspired exercise session? We all do it – work out furiously in the gym to get brownie points ahead of a night on the town. You know you are going to consume a stack of calories by boozing and drinking – so why not burn off a load beforehand.”