Reality is a Two Ton Hippo
January 16th 2007 05:46
Meet reality
In my last two posts I have claimed that short extremely intense exercises are the best for overall long term fitness. The truth is, however, that if every member quit who is in the gym or exercise class primarily to lose weight, there would be no gyms- at least profitable ones. The fact is that our Western diets make weight loss a premium for most adults. Thus whatever suggestion is made as to how to achieve that goal will gain adherents. That includes magic pills and all kinds of exercise regimens.
It is also true that in the West the idea that the benefits of great achievement can be enjoyed without really engaging in sacrificial behavior is very often presented as plausible. This makes talking about weight loss an unpleasant prospect. When I claim that short bursts of exercise are superior to longer sessions, my assertion begs the question: how can I lose weight if I don't do my treadmill(or elliptical, or aerobics class)?
What I am saying is that many of the effects of long cardio sessions are not as conducive to long term weight loss as they may seem. The responses the body makes to short term intense stimulus is better. It is,however,so alluring to pound away on a treadmill for minute after minute in the belief that it is taking us where we want to be. The world is full of people who can rightly claim that they have lost weight by using cardio machines or made remarkable progress toward achieving and maintaining a normal weight. I counter that a portion of that loss is muscle and bone and long term that is bad. It seems like a fairly easy proposition: I cardio my way out of overweight.
What is a person to do? The answer is the two ton hippo who silently sits in on every discussion of weight loss. That hippo is diet. Here is what is happening in gyms all over the place: People are "cardioing" like crazy to compensate for bad eating. It is relatively easy to go into a gym and walk and walk etc. and use that to propitiate the fat god for a lot of food that should not have been eaten. Eat crap and eat alot of it and then worship at the whirring penance machine and you feel good. Accept the popular dogma that moderate exercise will do the fitness trick and set the level on the machine a little lower with a good conscience. I don't deny that I have engaged in such thinking.
What do I propose? I propose that we all take a dose of reality. That reality is that diet is the central way to sabotage fitness(and health for that matter). There is no reasonable way to compensate for bad eating. I'll "cardio my way out of it" is an alluring myth. The truth is that if you don't put diet first you will be in vicious cycle of trying of make up for eating in the gym and, I suggest, you wil get results you don't want. If you put diet at the top of the priority list, you will get control of your weight and be able to engage in the kind of exercise that is best for your body long term. Your servant,as always.
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