Dr. Tabatha Barber explains how muscle activity regulates blood sugar and insulin, the real reason exercise helps manage weight. Building metabolically active muscle works better than the old advice to just burn calories through cardio.
And so the more muscle activity you have, the better you can regulate your blood sugar and insulin. And that really is the basis of why exercising improves your health and manages your weight. Like, in the 80s, we were taught just burn more calories, like do cardio until you pass out, and it wasn't. We've come to understand that burning calories is not how you lose weight. It's building muscle and making muscle more metabolically active to regulate your blood sugar.
