Sunday, October 11, 2009

Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin ? - My comments

My comments:

The correct name of the article should be :
"Why poorly designed exercise programs and a bad diet won't make you thin?"
I would have loved to post a comment on Time, but you do not get the chance to do it. Therefore I will post a comment right here in my KB blog.

If you want to read the article here it is: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857-1,00.html

The author of this article is John Cloud. As I understand from the article and from the pics, poor John never got great results from training.
In his article he even says that "I still have gut fat that hangs over my belt when I sit. Why isn't all the exercise wiping it out? ".

Why didn't John never got good results after years of exercise ?
First he, like many others, thinks that exercise is mostly aerobic type of training.

If you want to lose fat, the most important thing you have to do is strength training. Good old, basic, progressive and intense strength training.

What does strength training do:
- it burns calories (about 70 - 80 % of what cardio burns for the same ammount of time)
- burns also some extra calories after the training for recovery
- builds muscle - 2.2 lbs (1 kg) bulids at rest 50 extra calories , so 5 extra lbs (2 kg) of muscle will help you burn 35000 extra calories equals to 5 kg of body fat, within one year. Building muscle will help you prevent fat regain.
- increases your testosterone and growth hormone production

What is good strength training.

All the kettlebell drills are valuable; beside KB also barbells and dumbells are very good:

- squat, deadlift, standing press, bench press, bent over row

Body weight drills can also work wonders:

- one leg squat, pistol squat, hindu squat, push ups, one hand push ups, dips, chin ups, gorilla crunch.

What is John wright about is that the calories you spend doing cardio equals to the calories you control in your diet in terms of fat loss.

Maybe his article is not so bad. I am sure he thought a lot before taking it to be published. The truth is that many people are scrambling like John is, running the rat race on the treadmill while munching on muffins, pizzas and chocolate.

Strength training rules even if your goal is fat loss.

Beside good training you also need to watch your diet. Calculate your daily caloric needs and count your calories. You do not need to keep on counting calories a lifetime, but you need until you get to knowledge and understanding about how much do you really eat.

Dietary guidelines
- split the total calories between 4-6meals, taken at equal intervals (200-800 cal for a meal);
- eat the meal according with the latter activity-(ex: if you have to work in the office for the next hours take a light meal 250 - 500 cal, 90 min before training take about 400 - 800 calories, mainly from carbohydrates) ;
- drink plenty of liquids (water, green tea, fruit juices, milk) during the day, at intervals, without waiting to be thirsty (at least 2-3 liters a day), more in hot weather and during and after training;
- while exercising keep a full bottle with you and sip every few minutes; you should aim to eat the same amount of liquid as you lose through sweating;
- eat fresh food, do not store it for a long time, do not overcook it ;
- eat plenty of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables- due to phytochemicals, fibers and vitamins contained, the fruits and vegetables, along with cereals are the best for supporting a good health and a prolonged life ,free of diseases;
- have a varied diet, including foods from all the food groups, and well balanced (see the food pyramid);
- one hour after the training eat a meal rich in animal protein and carbohydrates;
- do not eat late in the evening (after 21:00), or eat some fruits and vegetables;
- at least once or twice in a week eat deep sea fish for its omega 3 fatty acids and/or some olive oil ;
- avoid or limit alcoholic beverages intake - the alcohol contains 7 cal per gram and it can ruin your diet, along with other unwanted effects;

Train hard

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Kettlebell shoulder press 56 kg Kettlebell pistol squat 56 kg Kettlebell pull up 56 kg I am a kettlebell trainer's trainer in China. I own a fitness club in Tianjin, I provide Personal Trainers training and I also have my own brand of free weights equipment, Metal Gear.