This
Time article says exercise is pointless for weight loss.
To discredit the effectiveness of gym-going, the author pairs rising obesity figures with rising gym memberships.
"More than 45 million Americans now belong to a health club, up from 23 million in 1993." Then discounts his argument:
"Of course, some people join and never go." He cites a study where participants report exercising more since 1980. But studies relying on subject recollection likely have recall and response bias.
"I get hungry after I exercise, so I often eat more on the days I work out than on the days I don't." Either way, he's maintaining. But people who regularly exercise are still better off. They
"are at significantly lower risk for all manner of diseases."
He describes a study where some women worked out with trainers, and some didn't work out at all.
"The women in all the groups, even the control group, lost weight, but the women who exercised ... did not lose significantly more weight than the control subjects did." Sometimes health is more than a number on the scale. Exercisers likely decreased cardiovascular risk factors (circulating lipid levels, cholesterol levels, blood pressure), which the study didn't measure.
Muscle burns more calories than fat, but the author devalues this fact. In a resting body, per pound, muscle burns six calories and fat burns two. This
"means that after you work out hard enough to convert 10 lb of fat to muscle... you would be able to eat only an extra 40 calories per day... before beginning to gain weight." Discouraging, unless you look at the bigger picture. An extra 40 calorie burn over a year will shed 4.2 lbs effortlessly ((40*365)/3500=4.2))!
"After we exercise, we often crave sugary calories like those in muffins or in "sports" drinks like Gatorade." Make smart food choices. Try
Vitatops. 100 calories per muffin vs 400 calories per Starbucks muffin. Drink Powerade Zero; all the electrolytes and none of the calories. Keeping a food journal can help you be conscious not to ingest more than you burn.
"People assume that weight is mostly a matter of willpower — that we can learn both to exercise and to avoid muffins and Gatorade. A few of us can, but evolution did not build us to do this for very long." If you learn to make smart substitutions, weight loss doesn't have to be about sacrifice - or fighting evolution.
He references three pediatric studies. But weight loss in kids may not be generalizable to his audience of adults. They have more sedentary lifestyles, and are no longer growing.
The article at least concedes that
"those of us who regularly go to the gym would weigh even more if we exercised less." But it does exercise a disservice by neglecting to emphasize its associated health benefits: building cardiovascular fitness, decreasing risk of chronic disease and injury, toning the body, releasing feel-good endorphins, building confidence, improving cognitive ability, and de-stressing.
I say, "Sweat on!"
The camera pans the perimeter of an enclosed yard. Bodies swarm the chained link fence, desperately reaching through to snatch sustenance. These aren't refugees of some war torn land, they're elementary schoolers. And this is not some benighted third world corner of the globe, this is Cali. After Governor Schwarzenegger signed state legislation that "terminated" (hah!) junk food sales at schools, parents retaliated with junk food hand outs to save their kids from imminent.... sugar withdrawal. How noble?
And doctors gladly took the dough - from her paunch and her parent's pockets. Fast forward to dvd's end and we've seen she's gained back all the weight and is headed to Mexico! Ole! No, not cause she thinks her Jlo will have more fans down there, she's off to get controversial lap band surgery. Again, parent approved.
To discredit the effectiveness of gym-going, the author pairs rising obesity figures with rising gym memberships. "More than 45 million Americans now belong to a health club, up from 23 million in 1993." Then discounts his argument: "Of course, some people join and never go." He cites a study where participants report exercising more since 1980. But studies relying on subject recollection likely have recall and response bias.
He describes a study where some women worked out with trainers, and some didn't work out at all. "The women in all the groups, even the control group, lost weight, but the women who exercised ... did not lose significantly more weight than the control subjects did." Sometimes health is more than a number on the scale. Exercisers likely decreased cardiovascular risk factors (circulating lipid levels, cholesterol levels, blood pressure), which the study didn't measure.
"After we exercise, we often crave sugary calories like those in muffins or in "sports" drinks like Gatorade." Make smart food choices. Try Vitatops. 100 calories per muffin vs 400 calories per Starbucks muffin. Drink Powerade Zero; all the electrolytes and none of the calories. Keeping a food journal can help you be conscious not to ingest more than you burn.
The article at least concedes that "those of us who regularly go to the gym would weigh even more if we exercised less." But it does exercise a disservice by neglecting to emphasize its associated health benefits: building cardiovascular fitness, decreasing risk of chronic disease and injury, toning the body, releasing feel-good endorphins, building confidence, improving cognitive ability, and de-stressing.
RunKeeper 
