I stand behind the fact that the most effective, efficient, time-friendly, successful way to lose weight and get into shape is functional training. This is not my opinion; this is backed by scientific research and numerous studies! We have a binder full of research studies to prove it. Is it possible in 3, 5 or 10 years all this will have changed and new, more efficient ways will be found? ABSOLUTELY!!
Knowing I may tick some people off, I still feel compelled to voice my belief. All exercise is not created equal. There are so many options out there, some good, some not so good. A lot of us are still stuck in the cardio mentality. Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE running. Nothing feels better than taking off in the morning on a beautiful day with birds chirping, sun beating down on you, wind blowing in your face and appreciating nature for its beauty. I would settle into a 5 – 6 mile run and not even get out of breath. Just cruise along and settle into a stride that felt amazing. That should have been my first red flag. I was running 5-6 times a week and doing my strength training 3 times a week and got great results! For a short period of time unfortunately. After about 6 months I noticed even though my nutrition and exercise was the same week after week, I was gaining body fat and losing muscle. I increased my running, things got worse. Next, cut back on calories, things got worse. My body fat kept increasing and I kept losing more and more muscle. My body was so efficient at running it would use the most efficient way of obtaining energy for that run which was using my muscle as energy. It still is not really known why our bodies would rather use muscle for energy instead of fat but the sad reality is that is the way it works for cardiovascular exercise. As much as I hated to admit it I knew the truth. Running was making me fat. Our bodies are so good at becoming efficient at what we do on a regular basis which is why running, walking, spinning, etc. stops being effective at losing or maintaining weight. With strength training you are able to change the exercise enough to keep your body guessing and working hard causing enough of a disturbance in the muscles to keep creating changes. With the right program, your body never becomes “efficient at it”. The intensity is enough that your body will go to the fat stores for energy because of the higher demand for energy. I am sorry but exercise such as walking, running (unless you are running sprints intervals with rest periods in between); yoga/Pilates (has tremendous benefits, but sorry, weight loss is not one), spinning, and Zumba (yes I said it out loud) will not get you long-term results. Anything new that you start to do will get you initial results. But if the intensity and load does not increase you will plateau. I do not think the above exercises are “evil”. I still run 3 miles 3 times a week. But I do so because I enjoy it. You have to take the exercise (tool) and realize what job it is good for. If you enjoy it that is great, but just remember it may not get you the results you are looking for.
Tammy
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