Exercise on its own without also following a healthy diet isn't enough to help people lose or even just maintain their weight, a recent study suggests. Exercise alone is not enough to lose weight because our bodies reaches a plateau where working out more does not necessarily burn extra calories, as researchers have found.

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In a study, published in Current Biology on Thursday, they suggest that there might be a physical activity termed as "sweet spot", whereby too little can make one unhealthy but too much drives the body to make big adjustments to adapt, thus constraining total energy expenditure.

Best time to exercise to prevent weight gain and possibly lose more weight? Early morning before breakfast! https://t.co/OGFE3D33IE

— Irene Au (@ireneau) December 15, 2016

In fact, some of the people who exercised more than others in the study actually gained weight over the two-year study period, while some of those who exercised less than others lost weight over the same period, according to Live Science.

@thebodycoach Plan to get fit and put ON weight - any tips? #weightgain #healthyeating #healthylifestyle pic.twitter.com/Z84IuEOppF — 34andUp (@34and_Up) January 31, 2017

If true, it would go some way to explaining an apparent contradiction between the two types of study carried out by researchers. On the one hand, there are studies which show that increasing exercise levels tends to lead to people expending more energy and on the other, there are ecological studies in humans and animals showing that more active populations (for example hunter-gatherers in Africa) do not have higher total energy expenditure.