6 Things You Didn't Know About Exercise
If you ask someone what aggravates them about their profession there is no doubt that they could rattle off a few things.
Maybe it's social media perception?
Maybe it's misinformation surrounding your practices?
Maybe it's the weird work hours your industry requires?
*I promise I'm not projecting the fitness industry downfalls to you*
But seriously, ask yourself what frustrations come with your professional industry, I bet you have a few.
So for this week's newsletter, I wanted to rattle off a few short concepts/ideas/sentiments/facts that many people misunderstand, don't know, or due to the plethora of B.S. that get's spewed to us through social media and traditional media, can get confusing.
Sound good? Cool. Let's rip.
Muscle confusion is a marketing term. There has to be a level of consistency in your training program that will allow your body to physiologically adapt (that's the magic- gotta do it over and over to spark change). More importantly, studies have shown that a consistent routine helps with sticking to it in the long-term.
Don't over think rest intervals. If you have a specific training program, or a desire a specific outcome, then your rest intervals need to be specific. 9/10 times, however, working at a consistent and casual pace during your training session is going to allow you to manage fatigue, and keep your heart rate elevated slightly in a light aerobic zone. Two birds, one stone kind of effect.
Your workout can be consolidated. Tight on time? Your 4-day workout can turn in to an effective 3-day workout. Your 3-day workout can be an awesome 2-day workout. You can make strength gains training 1x a week. You can make strength gains training 6x a week. The magic isn't in training more frequently, the magic is knowing how to train.
You can't spot reduce fat. Your body stores fat strategically (Sup, adaptation?). The notation of reducing this spot here and a little over here is all marketing. Nutritional guidance centered around fat-loss, paired with a strength training program, is going to help improve body composition. In this case, you do need both. However...
To lose weight, you need to focus on diet, not exercise. This one can be a tough pill to swallow and is generally the most confusing to understand. "But I burn 800 calories on my Peloton every day!" Your weight-loss is going to come by balancing food intake with your energy output. In this case, the amount of food going in matters more than the energy going out (via your workout). Too much food going in, no matter how bad-ass or long the workout, will still result in weight gain. If the goal is weight-loss, good nutrition should be the starting point. On that same note....
Your workout isn't the biggest calorie burner in your day. Another hard pill to swallow. Your training session is actually third on the list of calorie-burners throughout the day. The first? Your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Your BMR is the number of calories used to perform life sustaining activities. The second? Not your workout, rather, its your non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Is workout out important? Yeah it totally is, but we need to appreciate our workouts for much more than a calorie burner.
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