We continue each year to confuse people about the benefits of exercise as it relates to weight loss. In a nutshell, the healthcare system’s bland and undocumented recommendation to be active is a simplistic and ineffective approach to obesity. Please note: Exercise will only accelerate fat loss if the diet keeps insulin levels low so that fatty acids are released into the blood stream for use as energy.
Activity in and of itself is not exercise, and general activity does not use up much energy. The reason we eat everyday is to satisfy our basic metabolic needs and the needs of general activity for the day. Using up this energy each day through activity may only keep us in a state of homeostasis, not gaining or losing weight.
Exercise is activity challenging enough, or of sufficient effort, that some aspect of our physiology goes into an adaptive phase. This adaption may result in an increase in strength, speed, endurance, enzymes that buffer fatigue, etc. Exercise requires much more energy than general activity and has a much greater post-metabolic burn that taps into the fatty acids for recovery if insulin levels are kept low.
Once we understand that losing weight (fat) is primarily impacted by what we eat, not necessarily by how much we eat, then exercise can be put into perspective. We can identify how much is needed, how much time is required per session and, most importantly, what kind of exercise will address the needs of a non-athletic person only interested in weight loss and general fitness.
It is important to note that weight loss and athletic enhancement are separate and distinct goals. This is one of the reasons exercise has become overcomplicated for the purpose of weight loss. It is also important to realize that time is a relative factor for most people when trying to make exercise fit into a chaotic and hectic lifestyle.
For the last two decades, my 2DF (Two Days to Fitness) program developed for the overweight population has proven that these strategically designed workouts just two days a week work. I’ve also concluded that there is a general overemphasis of endurance training (running and aerobics) for the obese and deconditioned population. This kind of training is not appropriate or prudent and typically results in low compliance rates. It tends to be physically and mentally drudgery, does little to develop muscle, and provides little post-metabolic stimulation.
Knowing that non-athletic Americans will never spend 4,5, or even 6 days a week in the gym, I ask my students: if you only had two days a week to exercise which would you do? Walk on the treadmill for an hour or perform resistance training for an hour?
The answer should be a no brainer because the benefits of resistance training are numerous and well documented. Resistance training provides strength, joint integrity, stability, flexibility, cardio, and more. It’s safe and effective. Most importantly, fats and sugars are metabolized in the muscle. With just two workouts a week, the overweight population can easily maintain and build muscle, and create a starting point to normalize blood sugars every day of the week.
This is the key to my program: matching the training approach with the clients’ goals and the ease of two workouts a week. Both of these methods dramatically increase the chances of sticking with a program.
