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:

CDC: Doctors Increasingly Prescribe Exercise
WebMD
9, 2012 -- A new report from the CDC shows that more patients are getting prescriptions for exercise from their doctors. In 2010, 1 in 3 adults who saw a doctor or other health care professional was advised to increase their physical activity as a ...
Study: Doctors only advise 1 in 3 people to exerciseUSA TODAY

all 2 news articles »


USA TODAY

Study: Tai chi helps ease symptoms of Parkinson's
USA TODAY
NEW YORK – The ancient Chinese exercise of tai chi improved balance and lowered the risk of falls in a study of people with Parkinson's disease. Fuzhong Li, AP The ancient Chinese exercise improved balance and lowered the risk of falls in a study of ...
Slow movements of tai chi helped with balance, reduced falls in Parkinson's ...Washington Post
Tai Chi Makes Parkinson's Patients Steadier on Feet, Study SaysBusinessWeek
Tai chi may help balance in people with Parkinson'sReuters

all 158 news articles »


BBC News

Bold Alligator: 19000 troops amphibious exercise
BBC News
Bold Alligator, an international training exercise involving upwards of 19000 troops, has been under way since the beginning of February and is taking place across Virginia and North Carolina. US military officials say it is the largest ...
Combat Cargo steps up for Exercise Bold AlligatorDVIDS
Libya Lessons Learned Drive Huge Amphib ExerciseAOL Defense
Marines storm US beaches in training exerciseCBS News
The Associated Press -Newsroom America
all 281 news articles »


NORAD to conduct exercise over Washington region early Thursday
Washington Post
WASHINGTON — NORAD is planning an exercise in the Washington region The North American Aerospace Defense Command will conduct a series of training flights on Thursday from 3 am to 5 am Exercise Falcon Virgo is designed to hone NORAD's intercept and ...
^..6530< AP-DC--NORAD Exercise,69WBFF/WNUV Baltimore
Training Flights Set for Early ThursdayPatch.com

all 4 news articles »


New York Magazine (blog)

Exercise-Video Giant Anchor Bay May Now Split With Komen
New York Magazine (blog)
Insiders tell Vulture that Anchor Bay Entertainment, one of Hollywood's largest producers and distributors of women's fitness, dance and exercise videos, is "submitting lists of new charities…to replace [long-time beneficiary] Komen," even after ...
Exercise Video Behemoth Considering Pulling Support from KomenJezebel

all 358 news articles »


Fars News Agency

Envoy: US Unable to Exercise Threats against Iran
Fars News Agency
Sajjadi said on Wednesday that Iran's response to any probable military adventurism will be very tough and far beyond expectations striking US targets worldwide. He told reporters that Iranian armed forces have full access to the US targets worldwide ...

and more »


MannKind Announces Exercise In Full of Over-Allotment Option and Completion of ...
MarketWatch (press release)
... including 4687500 units sold pursuant to the full exercise of an over-allotment option previously granted to the underwriters (with each unit consisting of one share of its common stock and a warrant to purchase 0.6 of a share of its common stock).

and more »


Earthquake exercise promotes awareness
Cleveland Daily Banner
by GREG KAYLOR, Banner Staff Writer Hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans took part in the critical exercise to raise awareness in case a catastrophic quake were to hit the Southeast. Millions of people in the Central zone also took part.

and more »


Department of Defense

Exercise Delivers Eye Care, Medical Capability in Africa
Department of Defense
8, 2012 – A small-scale medical exercise under way in Tanzania is having a big impact on the local population and building strong bridges between the US and Tanzanian militaries. Army Col. (Dr.) Darrel K. “Casey” Carlton, an ophthalmologist serving as ...
U.S. Army Africa leads medical team to cure blindnessDVIDS

all 3 news articles »


Senior leaders unite during seminar at Exercise Cobra Gold 2012
DVIDS
CAMP SURANAREE, Thailand – Senior officers from more than six countries convened at a Senior Leaders Seminar at Exercise Cobra Gold 2012 on Feb. 8 to discuss strategic topics and share lessons learn from real world experiences. According to Maj.
US-led Military Exercise Cobra Gold 12 Commences In ThailandBernama
Thailand to host US-led military exerciseChina Daily
Joint Thailand-US "Cobra Gold" DrillNTDTV
Marines.mil (press release) -GlobalPost (blog) -Channel News Asia
all 30 news articles »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006