Health Resolution 2023: Goodbye Fad Diets, Hello Exercise 2/3

Part two of my series on Health Resolution 2023 will explore the importance of exercise coupled with any weight management strategy. There are some common misconceptions with regard to exercise, & hopefully I can encourage you to start from wherever you are now.

Why Exercise?

With all the fad diets currently on the market you may as well forget it if you don't introduce any regular exercise in to your routine. Low cards, low fat, high protein, macro counting, point accumulations etc are of benefit only when you regularly oxidise the nutrients through some level of resistance training or physical activity (see Layne Norton & Peter Attia: (https://peterattiamd.com/laynenorton/). In the last post I explained that calories are simple units of energy, & our physical/mental activity is the means by which energy is utilised.

Exercise is being consistently demonstrated in the scientific literature to produce benefits that are much more valuable than simple weight management strategies. Peter Attia, a world expert on longevity health explains how 'exercise might be the most potent “drug” we have for extending the quality & perhaps quantity of our years of life'.

I have written about this multiple times already, but oftentimes we don't think about what old age may look like for ourselves. When many of us picture old age we picture a frail person of whom cannot walk or even carry out simple activities for themselves. But for some reason we forget that one day this will be us! However, whether or not we will be a fit-arse 80 year old OR an obese 50 year old with heart disease, diabetes or some other preventable illness is entirely determined by the level of physical activity we maintain while we are able (See Limitless on Disney+ with Chris Hemsworth for more on this).

In a recent 2018 scientific study on the association with cardiorespiratory fitness & long-term mortality it was shown that all-cause mortality (i.e. all causes of death within a certain time-period) was negatively affected by an individual's level of fitness (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2707428). What does this mean? Attia explains that there is a clear relationship with mortality & fitness. The study was categorised between low, below average, above average, high, elite levels of fitness. The study demonstrated that when a person transitions across the categories, their risk of all-cause mortality reduces significantly. (https://peterattiamd.com/ama27/).

Why is this important? Because the data suggested that 'going from just being low to being below average is a 50% reduction in mortality over a decade... & If you then go from low to above average, it’s about a 60% or 70% reduction in mortality' (Attia).I don't know about you but this sounds like a brilliant reason to adopt regular exercise into our routines.

Before we look at what exercise is we need to determine what it isn't!

Misconceptions of Exercise!

Many of us will be starting our 2023 with some elaborate fitness plan to kick start that beach body in the summer. I have already seen lots of posts linked directly with this in mind. However, it should be noted that there is a misconception about what actually exercise is.

Although I started this post with the importance of regular exercise, coupled with weight management strategies, exercise in & of itself doesn't really help up to lose weight. At least with the general strategy of most people! Norton & Smith both explain that the goal of exercise is more about building & facilitating lasting health & fitness, as opposed to calorific weight loss (Not A Diet Book).

On the surface I seem to be contradicting myself, but when you take a closer look at the calories burned during the popular methods of exercise you will see that you don't actually burn that many calories in a single session. Moreover, research has demonstrated that the popular 30 minute Joe Wicks style HIIT training, Zumba classes etc activate & utilise our current glycogen stores because of the high intensity HR elevation (of which are carbohydrates & are reserved for ~90minutes of consistent activity at any one time), but not necessarily for fat oxidation. Anyone who has a smart fitness watch will recognise the higher the HR, the higher the zone for training. This is great for building muscle & cardiovascular health, but so not great for losing weight. How often have you experienced or witnessed the regular theme of when someone joins a class or begins a HIIT programme only to confusingly question why they feel fit & strong, but see little of the way of decrease on the scales?

Attia & almost everyone else I have read on this subject advocate for lower intensity (zone 2) exercise over a prolonged period of time is much more effective for burning fat. Moreover, 40 minutes of low intensity exercise is more effective for weight loss than 30 minutes of high intensity torture. The HIT torture is great for strength & overall fitness, but not great if shedding the unwanted pounds is your goal.

I say this to highlight that if weight management is top of the agenda, your elaborate unsustainable desire to adopt a single class session 1-2 times a week is probably going to reduce your bank balance more than your waist size!! We don't exercise to lose weight, we exercise to increase our overall fitness, which in turn aids the facilitation of healthy weight management. Muscle strength, stability, & cardiovascular fitness are the vehicles to living a long & functionally healthy life.

Although I recommend joining a gym (& going regularly), running, swimming or whatever else you can find enjoyment in, there are positive things we can apply to our everyday lives that not only keep us fit & healthy, but can aid a long-term strategy to manage our weight. It is as simple as saying goodbye to sedentary & hello to mobility.

NEAT

There is a great buzz word on the internet at the minute with lots of fitness fanatics advocating for optimising your NEAT (alongside giving you another annoying discount code for something you don't actually want!!). None-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis is an overly complicated scientific term for something as simple as 'the number of calories burned during everyday activities rather than formal exercise' (https://www.livescience.com/What-is-non-exercise-activity-thermogenesis-NEAT). The idea is that we are burning calories all the time, subconsciously, even while sitting at our desks. However, research has demonstrated that some people burn more calories than others during periods of inactivity. Moreover, the annoying finger tapper, fidgeter or feet bouncer has been shown to burn a greater number of calories than someone who sits completely still.

The underlying principle of NEAT is mobility with consistent unconscious activity. When you are hanging the washing on the line, washing the pots or simply playing games with the kids, you are consuming energy. The more you do this, the less likely you are to become overweight! A recent study proposed that 'by avoiding sitting, promoting motion, & engaging in simple, repetitive, & creative activities, a significant amount of extra calories may be expended that can reduce weight & perhaps prevent the cardiovascular & metabolic complications associated with obesity'.

Knowledge of this is great news if your career or lifestyle is primarily sedentary (a person spending much of the time seated or inactive). This is because there are subtle changes we can make that can increase the NET accumulation of calories burned in a given day, coupled with Attia's point on prolonged low intensity regular exercise to increase fat oxidation.

James Smith recommends simple alterations to our daily routines that can have long-term benefits, such as making a decision to take the stairs as opposed to habitually getting the lift. My job is entirely sedentary because I work from home. To combat this I recently bought a stand-up desk to force me to regularly stand up (increasing my daily step count, coupled with the fact that I too am an annoying tapper!!). Moreover, often to my wife's despair, instead of finding the convenient close parking spot at the shop or gym, I park at the far end of the car park to increase my daily step count.

Likewise, although the number of 10,000 steps per day is arbitrary & has no real scientific importance, the Japanese principle of working toward a particular daily step count positively benefits our low intensity NEAT output for the better. With a smart phone in most of our pockets, or watch on our wrist most of us have the ability to track our steps. If you only do 5000 steps a day why not try to increase it to 7000, & be determined to hit that everyday? Taking the stairs to the office, or parking the car further from the shop all works toward increasing that regular daily output, which done consistently helps to burn those extra calories.

Summary

Weight loss is not the purpose of exercise. The purpose of exercise is to build physical & emotional health, while keeping us fit & strong. But when we exercise regularly it works as a facilitator to effective weight management. The elaborate unsustainable training strategy of subjecting yourself to torture 1-2 times a week is great for strength & overall fitness, but not so great for weight loss. Instead, adopting some subtle lifestyle changes, coupled with regular exercise you can actually enjoy, is probably better for the goal of weight loss. However, with this there are no shortcuts! Only consistent regular decisions to replace convenience with activity! To swap sedentary for mobility regardless of your career! Why not say goodbye to the lift & opt the stairs? Or go for a walk at lunch time instead of scrolling on your phone? Walk to the shop instead of getting in the car? Or replace a couple of episodes on Netflix a week with a game with the kids?

The accumulation of small changes can have massive effects on that dreaded waist size. More importantly, it may provide a vehicle to live a long & healthy, functional life. I exercise regularly, not to look great (although I do now also feel great!), but to maintain fitness & health, so that hopefully I can go on to become a fit & strong 80 year old. We don't know what the future has in store for us, but we can certainly limit the risk by the lifestyle choices we make now.

Peter Attia said 'we don't stop because we get old, we get old because we stop'.

Much love,

Ross