Exercise and postexercise energy expenditure in growing pigs

Abstract

Young pigs (ca. 10 kg) were trained to run on a motor-driven treadmill for 1 h each day. After a 2-week training period the gas exchange of exercised and control animals was measured using an open circuit, indirect calorimeter. The exercised pigs ran for 2 h in the calorimeter, and then rested for 2 h. They received a day's allocation of feed and remained in the calorimeter for a total of 23 h. The total heat production of the exercised pigs was 523 kJ/kg, compared with 433 kJ/kg of the controls. Monitoring the heat production throughout the 23-h period showed that only 43% of the extra heat dissipated by the exercised pigs was lost during the 2 h of exercise, with a higher rate of heat production for the remaining 21 h accounting for the 57% of the extra energy dissipated as heat. The results suggest that exercise increases energy expenditure well beyond the time devoted to the activity itself.