Why exercising more doesn’t linearly increase calories burned.
What the evidence says
- Total energy expenditure increases with activity at low levels but plateaus at higher levels[1]
- Physical activity accounts for only 7% of variation in total energy expenditure after controlling for body size and composition[1]
- The body compensates for increased exercise by reducing energy expenditure elsewhere[1]
- Plateau threshold around 60th percentile of activity level[1]
- The constrained pattern implies exercise alone is a weak lever for weight loss — an inference from the expenditure data, not a finding of the study, which measured energy expenditure and not weight change[1]