Most athletes want to be lean regardless of the sport in which they participate. In fact, most of us, whether we are super athletic or weekend warriors, want lean muscle mass. So what is the most effective way to become leaner? The secret is nutrition. In other words, it’s what we eat…not what we do. I have written many times about the Rule of 70. I believe weight loss/weight maintenance is 30% what we do (exercise), and 70% what we eat. I think Alan Tyson would agree as he recently wrote about what we can do to create lean bodies with less training, and why it is a good thing. The following are the foods Tyson recommends for creating and maintaining lean muscle mass while also maintaining fitness. By eating a combination of the following foods, not only will you likely see increased muscle mass and a leaner body, your workouts will take on a whole new level. [Read more…]
If You Want Lean Muscle Mass, It’s More About What you Eat and Less About What You Do
Top Ten Fitness Trends Predicted for 2015!
If you’re doing “body weight” exercises such as push ups, lunges, and squats, then you are already part of a growing trend. Results recently released in the article, “Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2015: What’s Driving the Market”, might surprise you. Here are The American College of Sports Medicine predictions (and I can’t help myself…I add my two cents in italics after their comments).
1. Body Weight Training:
- Uses minimal equipment
- Allows us to get back to basics
- More affordable
- Body weight training also happens to be one of the most effective type of fitness for us if we are consistent about it. If you incorporate push ups, lunges, and squats into your daily exercise routine, I promise you will see results. I love barre classes for body weight training. For ultimate body weight fitness, watch American Ninja Warrior…you’ll be amazed.
2. HIIT (High Intensive Interval Training) [Read more…]
A Recent Study Confirms the Rule of 70
If you want to get serious about losing weight, get serious about what you eat…then take care of the exercise piece.
I have said on this website before that in terms of weight loss, diet is more important than exercise. A recent study confirms my claim. Before I share results of the study, I want to clarify what the “Rule of 70 “(my term) means. After considering both my personal experience and consulting many sources on the subject (including my good friend and personal trainer Karrie Ryan and sports physical therapist Alan Tyson), I feel quite confident in my assertion that weight loss (and to some degree maintenance) is 70% what we eat and about 30% what we do.
What I am not saying is that exercise is only minimally important. I believe it is hugely important, actually. But that has as much to do with what it offers outside of the scale. If you want to be healthy, you need to exercise. If you want to be strong as you age, you have to exercise. If you want to be happier, try exercise (for the natural endorphin affect-I swear by it). However, if weight loss is your primary goal, look first to what you are eating and then to exercise. [Read more…]
Rule of 70 Part II (Nutrition trumps Exercise)
I have written about the Rule of 70 (70% of weight loss comes from what we eat, 30% comes from exercise) on this website before, and so when I recently came across an article saying something similar, I was intrigued and decided to dig in a little more. I believe that cutting calories through dietary changes is a more efficient way to lose weight than exercise. This is really only important if weight loss is your goal (it isn’t mine – although weight maintenance is). [Read more…]
The Rule of 70
A lot of people ask two questions: 1. How much of weight loss comes from diet? and; 2. How much of weight loss comes from exercise? These are very good questions. While important, they ignore another component – genetics. Our DNA certainly plays a key role in the size and build of a person. In our family, I have really seen how this is manifested in our children. Even with the same parents, not all of our children are built the same. So, after considering the genetic aspect, then it comes down to diet and exercise, which are the two components we can control. While it might be easy to assume that it would be about 50/50 (diet/exercise), I think it is really more like 70/30, which is why I call this the “Rule of 70”. [Read more…]
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