A Nutritional Aid to Recovery from Strenuous Exercise

Can metabolic thresholds be used as exercise intensity markers in adult men with obesity – fat burn points used as an exercise marker

We aimed to determine the exercise intensity eliciting the highest (FATmax) and the lowest (FATmin) fat oxidation rate in sedentary men with obesity and to examine if these intensities correlate with their individual aerobic (AeT) and anaerobic (AnT) thresholds, respectively. Nineteen obese males performed breath-by-breath analysis to assess maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) and to calculate their fat oxidation rate. Pearson correlation coefficient (r), coefficient of determination (R2) and paired t-test were used to evaluate VO2 at AeT and at FATmax and VO2 at AnT and at FATmin, respectively. FATmax and AeT occurred at 42.80±2.68% of VO2max and 43.02±2.73% of VO2max, while FATmin and AnT occurred at 53.40±3.65% of VO2max and 53.38±3.65% of VO2max, respectively. A high correlations were found between intensities matching FATmax and AeT (r=0.86, P<0.01) and those at FATmin and at AnT (r=0.99, P<0.01). The existing correlations suggest that metabolic thresholds may be used as exercise intensity markers assuring more tailored exercise approach in men with obesity.