Absence of sport: the consequence, not the cause, of overweight?
Overweight people are often wrongly accused. Indeed, they are stigmatized and suggest in the eyes of others, a lack of motivationto practice a sporting activity. However, according to a recent study, there is a neurobiological explanation for this.
An explanatory study
Alexxai Kravitz, an American neuroscientist, is a specialist in reward-related circuits in the brain area. He published in the journal “Cell Metabolism”(1) a study that asks the following question: does lack of effort originate in brain cells? For him, it is a drop in dopamine in the striatum (a specific area of our brain) that is the cause of the lack of motivation of obese subjects to practice any activity.
In fact, for this researcher, who was previously focused on Parkinson’s disease, dopaminergic activity is in free fall and marks a decrease in body movements. Thus, in the two cases studied, it would not be a lack of enthusiasm that condemns individuals to excess kilos but a simplemetabolic disorder. At the end of experiments conducted with mice, it is the absence of sportthat is the consequence, and not the cause, of overweight. Rodents on a fat-laden diet gradually reduce their activities even before they become overweight. You have to know that.
In any case, since the body mass of obese people makes movements more complex, they are more likely to do as little as possible. And since to lose weight it is not only necessary to eat less but also to move more, it must be specified here that the movements required of overweight people should not be intensive but rather regular. Concretely knowing that a hamburger is equivalent to two hours of walking and a lemon pie to 1h30 of effort … The motivation to eat vegetables comes almost by itself! But this is not enough.
Some practices to integrate regularly
Several orientations are possible. Already, at first do not try to run or jump, to make large amplitudes or to move in all directions. Instead, try static exercises that are less traumatic for the joints. They lead you to an awareness of the body diagram, to the acquisition of the taste of effort and to the mastery of the gesture.
If you enjoy the outdoors then do the following program:
- For a month, once a week, walk for 20 minutes.
- The next two months do it twice a week.
- The next quarter return to a weekly practice and walk for 45 minutes.
- In the third trimester increase to one hour once a week.
- Then, in the last trimester, replace walking with cycling by taking up the basic principles: 1st month 20 minutes, the next two months: twice 20 minutes.
- After cycling, your body will have regained the habit of moving and your motivation will be at its highest level. Everything will be easier because more obvious.
But if you prefer to stay at home, consider console games as well as those played with your children. Make a commitment with your spouse to do a few simple and undemanding exercises so as not to be “disgusted” with the practice of an activity that is too expensive to honor on a daily basis.
Thus, even if the desire is difficult to settle for metabolic reasons, it is by going there gradually and on a real annual follow-up that, as for everyone, physical activity becomes regular, in the same way as a good night’s sleep or balanced meals.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.