The Truth About Exercise

This 5 minute video busts a lot of myths about exercising. There's a lot more where this came from inside of Diet Boot Camp.

Correction: Cardio is NOT a Waste of Time

OK, I admit it: When it comes to weight loss, I'm not a big fan of long, mindless cardio. And recently I wrote a piece- "The Problem with Cardio" that might have led you to believe I think cardio is a waste of time.

That's not actually true. I think that aerobic exercise is way oversold as a weight-loss strategy, and that most people could get the positive calorie burning effects in a much shorter time with high-intensity interval training. But just because jogging an hour a day may not be the most effective way to lose weight doesn't mean you should abandon your cardio work.

Not long ago, scientists at McMaster University Department of Medicine, Health Sciences and Rheumatology Division compared the findings of 17 studies that examined the effect of exercise on anti-aging and the immune system. They were looking to answer the following question: "What, if any, are the effects of regular aerobic and/ or resistance exercise on the immune system in healthy older adults?"

They looked at these studies with a very critical eye, extracting only results that met very rigorous critera. Their conclusion: Aerobic exercise appears to be a friend of the immune system".

OK, remember these guys are scientists and tend to couch their findings in very conservative terms. But considering the incredibly rigorous standards they applied to their review of the research, that conclusion is pretty impressive. Coupled with all the other benefits we know even moderate aerobic exercise can confer- on the brain, for example, as well as on blood pressure, mood, well-being and the circulatory system- there's no reason to abandon those 30 minute a day walks, just because they may not be the best way to go when it comes to losing weight.

And by the way- though daily moderate-intensity exercise (like walking) may not be the best way to lose weight, it may be an essential component to keeping weight off. Findings from the National Weight Control Registry that follows people who've successfully lost a minimum of 30 pounds and successfully kept it off for a minimum of a year show that approximately an hour a day of moderate intensity exercise is one of the key strategies for weight maintenance.

The Problem With Cardio Training

We all know cardio training is great for the heart.

But for weight loss... maybe not so much.

As my friend Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS says, "Cardio exercise is such a strange thing. In theory, it should work perfectly well for all men and women, but as anyone who has tried it knows, the practicality of it just doesn't add up".

A recent study in the International Journal of Obesity illustrates the point perfectly.

The researchers had people exercise 5 times a week for 3 months. The average weight loss was a respectable 8.2 pounds. So far so good.

But when the researchers looked at the actual individuals in the study, a different picture emerged.

The best subject lost an amazing 32 pounds! The worst one actually gained almost 4. The individual variance was enormous. In other words, it was good for some people.. for others, not so much.

The researchers think they know why. They classified the exercisers into two groups which they named "compensators" and "non-compensators".

The compensators got hungry as a result of their exercise and consumed a whopping 268 additional calories a day, thereby basically wiping out their exercise efforts at least as far as weight loss was concerned.

The compensators- not surprisingly- lost the least amount of weight.

"If your cardio program is not working for you, check your appetite and calorie intake to see if you are "compensating" for your efforts', suggests Ballantyne.

And if you are, you might be better off with a high-intensity interval program!