A Reminder, More Good Stuff, and Overcompensation
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training
For those of you who missed it, check out my previous blog with a big announcement of Leigh Peele’s incredible nutrition book Body By Eats. Yours truly was lucky enough to contribute a recipe, so be on the lookout for that! Leigh has created an incredible resource covering diet myths, tips, tricks and kick ass recipes. Whether you want to get lean or get jacked, she covers it all in evidence-based thorough detail, be sure to check out Body By Eats!
In that same vein, the great Mike Boyle, maybe the most successful strength and conditioning coach ever and certainly one of the most influential, has just released Functional Strength Coach 3. Volumes 1 & 2 were awesome and were two of the very first learning tools EC let me borrow when I was a wee bitty intern many moons ago, and Volume 3 is even better. I’ve been following (and stealing from) Mike Boyle for as long as I’ve been coaching. His information is just that good. So the fact that he’s putting out a program with his latest training concepts tells me one thing…I need to get it in my hands as soon as possible. And so do you. Whether you train athletes, regular joe’s or are just an avid fitness enthusiast, this product will take you to a whole new level. Click here to check it out.
The Problem of Overcompensation
Many of you probably read that Time magazine article about how “exercising makes you fat”. That article sucked because I think it led people to believe that vigorous exercise doesn’t provide benefits, despite the mountains of research showing otherwise, but it did shed light on one very pertinent fact. Many people do not lose weight from exercise alone because they reward themselves with too many calories after they train. Who doesn’t know someone (probably yourself!) who has eaten a huge dinner or an extra piece of dessert because “I trained today”. Exercise doesn’t justify being a glutton!
Exercise doesn't justify being a glutton!
I don’t care how hard you train, you can not out-train a poor diet. In that article the author stated how he would exercise then reward himself with some french fries, or of others who would chomp down on some muffins (or as my dad would say, glorified cake) post run. Exercise has a whole assortment of benefits. Cardiovascular benefits, endocrine response, joint health, bone density, postural improvements, cognitive improvement, etc. Proper exercise selection, intensity, duration and frequency will make you tremendously more healthy, not less so, especially if you don’t justify to yourself that you earned that 1,000 calories Starbucks latte and chocolate chip muffin. Trust me, you didn’t expend that many calories, you are not Michael Phelps.
The best way to think of it is that your diet will control your weight loss results, your exercise will maintain or help build that awesome lean mass (to help you look “toned”), improve immune function, make you smarter and increase strength and stamina.
In the end, train smart, eat well and look awesome!
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Posted on October 22nd, 2009 by Brian St. Pierre
4 Comments
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
It amazes me how often common sense gets tossed aside………………..proper training habits optimized for you plus consistently solid eating habits equal an unbeatable combination. And when regularly combined, fat loss doesn’t even enter the picture, since you’ll either remain on the lean side from the get go, or get there in relatively short order without having to consider which element is providing more of the results.
If I could only select one, I’d give solid nutrition the edge over training (at least for body composition/general health) since I feel that great nutrition + little to no exercise would be “better” than exercise with horrendous nutrition. But being the greedy SOB that I am, I like to combine both. And lo and behold, I’ve never had to worry about using exercise to lose fat on any significant level, since I manage to stay in my desired range with this two-pronged approach.
Of course I am preaching to the choir here, but it amazes me how easily we can shift into myopic points of view and cast aside our own common sense…………….sure having experts who seamlessly blend science and practicality helps, but it is astounding just how far using your common sense goes.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:36 pm
What about college athlete’s who perform two workouts a day and need to bump their weight up in order to make the cut? Would it be alright to eat junk food (i.e. fast food) in order to just get in enough calories?
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:21 pm
You must have been tired when you wrote this one Brian. Great post, but I noticed far too many typos for your ability to create a crisp article.
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