Allan Keller: The Biggest Fitness Lie Ever Told - Part 1

We’ve all heard it:  To get fit you need to "move more and eat less."  What you probably haven’t heard is this is a big fat lie.  OK – so maybe it’s really a misunderstanding and there’s no deception intended but the result is the same.  It’s bad information.  So let's tackle the "Move More" side of this fitness myth today and in a future post we'll discuss the "Eat Less" side of it.  Here we go...

First, quality of movement matters.  Saying you simply need to move more to burn calories and have the body you want is like saying to keep your house nice and cool during the summer all you need to do is turn the A/C on.  Seems reasonable, but what if all the windows are open?  You can run your A/C non-stop and it won’t get cool.  If you have movement quality issues, you basically have energy leaks – much like a house with the windows open.   Move all you want, but your poor movement patterns won’t allow you to fully reap the rewards of all your work.   The key here is that better movement leads directly to better results (more fat burned, more muscle gained, etc.).  You’ll also reduce your chances of being sidelined with an injury, which is a nice perk as well. 

Simply moving more doesn’t pan out in the research either.  The type of movement counts.  A recent article in the Journal of Obesity [1] reviewed much of the research on exercise and fat loss and the first sentence in the abstract is “The effect of regular aerobic exercise on body fat is negligible; however, other forms of exercise may have a greater impact on body composition.”  So right there at the very beginning we have a clear distinction between types of exercise and their effectiveness for fat loss.  Simply moving more doesn’t get it done! 

To drive the point home even further, let’s look at another study by Tremblay [2].  This study directly compared 20 weeks of endurance training against 15 weeks of interval training.  The researchers tallied up the calories burned for each group and the endurance group burned more than double the calories.  Sounds pretty promising for our endurance friends, right?  WRONG, the interval group actually lost nine times more fat than the endurance group.  Nine times!  So despite burning less than half the calories and training 5 weeks less than their endurance counterparts, the interval training participants absolutely dominated in terms of results. 

Finally, the body adapts specifically to what it’s exposed to.  This couldn’t be more important when considering movement because there’s a whole slew of ways to move.  Simply trying to move more ignores this tried and true law of specificity.  Picking up something heavy will make you better at picking up something heavy (aka you’ll get stronger) and running a lot will make you more efficient at running.  Notice I didn’t say “running a lot will make you leaner.”   It won’t.  (If you’re still struggling to accept this – go back and reread the paragraphs above.)  The take away here is that the type of exercise you do needs to be in line with the goals you are pursuing.   Otherwise, you may find yourself banging your head against a wall.  "Hey - at least I'm moving, right?"  ;)

As with all myths, they usually come from some truth.  The truth around moving more is that there are definitely health and wellness benefits to being active.  No one will argue that.  And I’m by no means trying to discourage anyone from adopting a more active lifestyle.  On the contrary, I’m trying to make sure someone doesn’t get started down the path to fitness only to give up in frustration because they’ve worked tirelessly – moving more and more and more but haven’t seen the results they crave.  I’ve seen it over and over again and I’ve been through it myself. Understanding what works and why is a huge part of how I’m able to help clients get the results they want time and time again. 

I hope this gives you a new perspective into your approach to achieving your fitness goals.  Next time we’ll take a look at the other side of the myth “eating less.”  Until then, don’t just move more: Move well, move with purpose, and get after it!

Allan Keller is a Westchase area fitness coach and owner of Direct Effect Fitness.  He can be reached at 813-333-9922 or allan@DirectEffectFitness.com. Have a question about fitness or nutrition?  Post a comment or send an email and you may see your topic featured in his next blog.

References:

1.  J Obes. 2011;2011:868305. Epub 2010 Nov 24.
     High-intensity intermittent exercise and fat loss.
     Boutcher SH.
     School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.  

2. Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8.
    Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism.
    Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C.
    Physical Activity Sciences Laboratory, Laval University, Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada.