The term "energy expenditure" is really a fancy way of measuring how many calories your body uses to fuel all of the physiological processes your body goes through daily. Your body uses the calories you receive from food to help you breathe, sleep, digest food and even to activate the proverbial stare into thin air. Of course, exercising regularly is a healthier and more stimulating way to keep your energy traveling throughout your body at full throttle.
Energy Requirement
Your body is in a tight-knit relationship with the foods you eat. In fact, energy expenditure isn't even possible without the balance that nutrition provides. The nutrients in food are needed to create different kinds of energy that have different jobs to do. Exercise requires kinetic energy. This balance between nutrition and energy disbursement is referred to as an energy requirement because it is required by your body from the moment of conception on for proper growth and development.
Energy Expenditure and Disease
The energy your body receives from food is maximized by physical movement. Without exercise, energy that extends beyond the energy requirement is rapidly stored in fat cells. Excessive storage of fat, and the sedentary lifestyle that often accompanies this excess, is really a stepping stone toward disease. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations says that keeping the amount of calories you consume in sync with the level of exercise you are able and willing to perform will help prevent disease.
Exercise Modes
When it comes to energy expenditure, not all exercise is equal. While it is true that choosing physical activities that are engaging to you will increase your chances of maintaining an exercise regimen, choosing activities that work your body in its entirety is also important. These variations in exercise are categorized as exercise modes. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, or ACSM, modes that continuously work the larger muscles of the body promote healthy energy expenditure.
Optimizing Energy Expenditure
Your energy is optimized when you undertake exercises that vary in intensity. Altering your morning jog to include a slight incline, or adding resistance to your pedals before cycling are two great examples. The main point is that you challenge your body's cardiorespiratory system and engage muscle mass. This allows your body to expend energy from recent meals and those that have been camping out in your cells as the proverbial unwanted house guest fat from past meals.
