Exercise Information

Are You A One-Dimensional Trainer?


Most people are classically biased toward one of the three legs of the fitness triad: progressive resistance training, cardiovascular training or diet/nutrition. How many folks try and lose weight by dieting and dieting alone? A safe bet would be a majority of individuals. Ever wonder why people who lose a lot of bodyweight rapidly still look fat? It's because they are still fat.

When the human organism perceives starvation it reverts to a primordial hardwiring that seeks to preserve body fat (the last line of defense against starvation) at all costs. So dieting alone can results in weight loss but when more muscle than body fat is lost as a result of crash dieting, the end result is not all that impressive.

I had a self-indulgent buddy who balloon up from 200 to 350. He eventually went on some sort of weird diet and lost back down to 200. He looked terrible, loose skin, still fat and to make it all worse he was now a 'diet expert' and told me and anyone else within earshot how stupid they were to follow any diet other than the one he had used. Of course he still couldn't catch a ball or walk up a flight of stairs without getting totally gassed.

At the other extreme I knew a really good long distance runner who was thin as a rail, lived on carbs and eschewed lifting or protein. He became anemic and emaciated the combination of mega-miles and carbs and fruit in meager amounts produced a physique that resembled a famine victim. Lifting weights to his way of thinking would add muscle that he would have to haul around and would have the same impact as wearing a backpack with a 10 or 15-pound plate in it. Needless to say by the time he got to his mid-thirties he started experiencing the usual repetitive motion injuries - knee arthroscopic surgery, ankle ligament damage, eternal shin-splints. He eventually had to give up running altogether.

My third example is a former national level powerlifter; a man who set regional records and grew gargantuan. Eventually he weighed 350 and was able to squat over 900-pounds. He ate everything in sight and had to quit lifting altogether when he developed terrible circulatory problems.

Each individual I referenced took one particular leg of the fitness triad and because of overemphasis turned the pursuit of their specialty into something opposite of fitness & health. Better to practice a little of each leg of the triad instead of emphasizing one aspect to the exclusion of the other two. It makes perfect sense when we are presented with extreme and obvious examples.

Marty Gallagher is a former fitness chat columnist for washingtonpost.com. He is also a former world champion powerlifting coach. Marty has written for publications such as Muscle Media, Muscle & Fitness, and Powerlifting USA. His website, http://www.martygallagher.com, assimilates years of accumulated knowledge from the athletic elite and makes them accessible to the common person. The "Purposeful Primitive" way has been proven effective time after time after time for weight loss, building muscle, increasing strength, and improving health.


MORE RESOURCES:

With the Right Motivation, That Home Gym Makes Sense
New York Times, United States - 1 hour ago
Do you have exercise equipment in your house that you don't use? Join the discussion. Today, my top-of-the-line exercise machine sits idle most of the time. ...


Financial Times

US must exercise leverage on Israel
Danbury News Times, CT - 5 hours ago
We will not exercise the leverage on Israel necessary to achieve peace; we will continue to alienate Arabs in the street; we have bankrupted ourselves as an ...
Video: Notebook: Gaza CBS
An Endgame for Israel Wall Street Journal
Diplomats Converge on Israel in Push for Truce Washington Post
Varsity - Ynetnews
all 22,256 news articles


FLIR Systems Announces Exercise of Option Under $13.5 Million ...
CNNMoney.com - 17 hours ago
FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) announced today that it has received notification from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) of its intent to exercise a ...
Market Report -- In Play (FLIR) MSN Money
all 19 news articles


Consumer Reports: Big Promises of Some Infomercial Exercise ...
PR Newswire (press release), NY - 5 hours ago
Infomercials make a lot of big promises about the exercise machines they hawk on TV and the Web. But do they deliver? To find out, Consumer Reports ...
Informercial Excercisers: Which Really Work? WCPO
all 8 news articles


Local exercise programs anything but routine
San Jose Mercury News,  USA - 6 hours ago
Each exercise is scaled to each individual, so newbies, veterans and everyone in between fits into the workout scene. 20s to their mid-60s. ...


Oregon could set standards for diet and exercise at day cares
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com, OR - 21 hours ago
When parents call Desiree Newberry of Knappa looking for day care, they ask about her hours. But they never, ever ask about the food. ...


Exercise Improves Old Brains
LiveScience.com, NY - 14 hours ago
Exercise improves blood flow to the brain and may help build new brain cells, recent studies show. Image credit: Dreamstime The moment of truth has arrived, ...


Los Angeles Times

Turn the world into your gym
Los Angeles Times, CA - 22 hours ago
Hike local trails, scale buildings, exercise on the beach. It's inexpensive -- and scenic. By Jeannine Stein Gym memberships are something of a luxury these ...
For an added burn, try exercising on the sand Los Angeles Times
all 2 news articles


Best Syndication

Golf Exercises to Help Maintain a Fixed Spine Angle in Your Golf Swing
Best Syndication, CA - 11 hours ago
One of these keys to improving your spine angle lies within golf fitness exercises and training. Overall, a number of physical components are necessary for ...


Majority of Note Holders Exercise Put Option Requiring Digital ...
WELT ONLINE, Germany - 12 hours ago
Digital River, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV), a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions, today announced that the majority of holders of its 1.25% Convertible ...
Majority of Note Holders Exercise Put Option Requiring Digital ... MarketWatch (press release)
all 29 news articles

Exercise - Google News

home | site map
© 2006