天天锻炼，怎么还这么重呢！

A new gym-goer finds an exercise routine, sticks with it, and the pounds start coming off at a regular clip—until something changes. Not the person; they’re still exercising as hard as ever, sometimes harder, but the weight loss has stopped. What happened?

一个才迷上健身房的人，会先养成自己的锻炼习惯，并坚持这个习惯，在此过程中他的体重也会慢慢下降，直到某些东西发生了改变。变的并不是这个人;他们还是像以前一样刻苦锻炼，甚至比以前更加刻苦，但他们的体重就是不再下降了。发生了什么事?

A new study in Current Biology looks at the problem that’s plagued some (though not all) exercisers, and concludes that it probably wasn’t anything they changed that caused the problem. Instead, it was something that they didn’t.

《当代生物学》上发表的一项新研究，调查了这个困扰着众多健身者的问题，最后该研究认为并不是某些改变了的东西造成了这个问题。恰恰相反，正是他们没有改变的一些东西导致这个问题出现。

Essentially, non-exercisers see a big benefit in weight loss right at the start of a new regime. But, once they’ve made the transition over to becoming a regular exerciser, their exercise routines (although they may stay the same or increase) are no longer showing big results. Even if they keep upping their exercise levels, sometimes by quite a lot, the jump in the energy they burn when going from almost no exercise to some exercise is never really replicated. Hence, there is a plateau in weight loss, to the frustration of many exercisers.

本质上来说，不经常锻炼的人一旦开始锻炼起来，他们的体重就会下降。但在他们慢慢习惯他们的锻炼模式之后，他们的锻炼习惯似乎再也没有什么效果(即便他们和以前一样在锻炼)。甚至就算他们加大训练量，但他们从不锻炼到开始锻炼之后出现的那种减重效果却无法再次出现。也因此，他们减肥陷入了平台期，这使得许多健身者们沮丧不已。

It’s no big surprise that a regular runner—as legs and lungs get stronger—starts to find the routine less and less taxing to the body. But what can we draw from all this about how weight loss really works? According to the study authors, while the change from not exercising to exercising is a big one, after that, our bodies tend to adapt to increases in activity to keep our energy levels roughly in-check. Even regularly increasing exercise is unlikely to burn up so many calories to drive weight loss on its own.

一个经常跑步的人会明白的是，随着他们心肺能力和腿部力量增强，他们跑步的习惯越来越无法令他们的身体感到吃力。从这些事实里我们能得出什么结论呢?该研究的作者Herman Pontzer认为虽然人们从不锻炼到锻炼的过程中发生了很大改变，但我们的身体会慢慢习惯这样的活动，以保障我们身体的能量消耗受到大致控制。就算我们不断增加锻炼也不大可能燃烧太多卡路里，使得我们的体重下降。

So trying to figure out how much weight loss exercise can cause may simply be the wrong question to ask. Perhaps there are better reasons than weight loss for people to exercise. It can help with weight loss, but it has much more measurable gains in improving strength, stopping loss of muscle or bone mass as you age, and even in enhancing mood.

因此试图找到锻炼能让你减掉多少体重这个问题的答案，本身就是一个错误的行为。也许人们锻炼有比减肥更好的理由。锻炼有助于人们减肥，但它更加能够提升我们的力量，停止我们老化过程中的肌肉流失和骨量流失，甚至能够提升我们的情绪。

So, does exercise help people lose weight? The best answer seems to be yes, to a point—but the reasons to keep doing it reach much further than that.

那么，锻炼能帮人们减肥吗?最好的答案是在某种程度上它也许能够帮你，但坚持锻炼的理由却比单纯的减肥要多得多。