Bouts of exercise and food intake in the rat.

BEATON. Bouts of exercise and food intake in the rat. J. Appl. Physiol. 21(r): 118-122, rg66.-The effect of regular and irregular enforced exercise (treadmill and swimming) on the food intake, weight gain, and, in some cases, spontaneous ac-tivity of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats was observed. Regu-lar enforced running for 4 consecutive days a week caused a reduction in these functions with some increase on the days free of exercise. Enforced swimming for 2 hr or less/day had a similar effect but swimming for 4 hr/day did not reduce food intake. All swimming groups showed less proportionate de-crease in food intake than the controls in response to a hot en-vironment. Rats exposed to irregular bouts of enforced tread-mill or swimming exercise every 3rd or 4th day decreased food intake on that day with an increase on the 1st or 2nd day fol-lowing. The reduction and subsequent increase of food intake