The Myth of Exercise

One of your coaching clients commits to losing weight once and for all. He decides to start going to the gym. No problem there, right? On the surface, it makes perfect sense. But what if I were to tell you that exercise is fairly useless for weight loss?

Now before you accuse me of heresy, let me explain. There's no doubt that exercise is one of the best things in the world you can do for your health. It improves mood--in some studies as well as antidepressants--and it's great for your heart. Recent research shows that it even helps you grow new brain cells. And people who exercise on a regular basis have lower risk for cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

But weight loss? Not so much. Does that seem contrary to everything you've heard? Of course it does but don't shoot the messenger.

Here's the Truth
The exercise/ weight-loss equation is way more complicated than we've been led to believe. Let's start with calories. Most people overestimate calories burned during exercise (by a long shot) just as they typically underestimate daily calorie consumption (ditto!) You can wipe that out with one medium meal at McDonalds--heck, you can wipe it out with a one big "low-fat" muffin from Starbucks!

Then there's the appetite factor. Exercise makes people hungry and people often compensate for exercise by eating more. I've seen people at the gym scarf down "energy" drinks that contain the calorie equivalent of two days worth of workouts.

Interestingly, the research is very clear that it's next to impossible to keep weight off unless you exercise regularly. But using exercise alone as a weight-loss strategy is--forgive the bad pun--an exercise in futility.

Jonny Bowden is a nutrition specialist and expert on weight loss and fitness. He is a best selling author, including The Sage and Scholar's Guide to Coaching Weight Loss. On Sept 2nd, Dr. Bowden is training and licensing a limited number of qualified coaches in his Diet Boot Camp System™. See below...