Bryan K, newest member of the “Muscle Up Club”, always chooses quality over quantity.
Here’s an article by Tony Leyland, one of the rare exercise science professors who fully believes in the CrossFit training model and implements them in his courses in Vancouver. In the article, he goes over the importance of quality in regards to calories and exercise.
From the post:
There are many examples of where CrossFit is a superior training regime but for this article I will focus on quantity of exercise. I think too many in the health and fitness industry focus on quantity of exercise (and food) and pay little attention to quality. One obvious example is weight control, where most “authorities” in the field have used the first law of thermodynamics (conservation of energy) and the energy balance equation (EBE) to promote low-fat diets and long steady endurance workouts. The EBE quite simply states:
Change in energy stores = Energy intake – Energy expenditure
This equation must be correct in the simplest sense due to the laws of physics. However, despite the apparent simplicity, the interplay between the variables in this equation is complex. Most weight loss programs have simply (and wrongly) treated energy intake and energy expenditure as two independent variables. A further, simplistic interpretation of the EBE is that people in our society who are overweight and obese must be eating too much and not exercising enough. While this may be true for many, a number of studies have shown that at least some overweight individuals eat the same number of calories, or fewer, than lean individuals. Understanding why they stay overweight is neither rocket science nor a violation of the law of energy conservation. The food we eat elicits hormonal responses, which determine how energy is stored in the body—that is, in the form of body fat. Basically, energy intake is not independent of energy expenditure, and the type of calories you eat does affect your energy output. Energy intake and energy expenditure are dependent variables. Sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and easily digestible carbohydrates drive an insulin response, and insulin drives fat storage. Many excellent researchers in this field argue that dietary fat—or even calorie quantity—is not the main culprit at all.”
In a parallel manner to my brief discussion on food intake, understanding the relationship between exercise and weight control lies in understanding the body’s hormonal response to exercise. Most weight loss programs have had subjects doing exercise like 20–60 minutes of steady-state low-power activities, such as walking, jogging, and cycling. These modes of exercise are less than ideal for improving aerobic conditioning and ineffective at stimulating significant production of testosterone, human growth hormone, and the other hormones involved in optimal health and body composition. In fact, chronic low power-output endurance exercise has been shown to lower testosterone levels in male subjects.
Just as the “calorie is a calorie” logic is flawed with regard to energy intake, anaerobic/power athletes the world over have shown that the prevailing logic on the energy expenditure side of the equation is equally as flawed. In other words, stating that “a calorie burned is just a calorie burned” is too simplistic. Just as the type of calorie you are eating makes a difference, the type of exercise you are doing makes a difference.
Read the full post here.
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Wednesday’s WOD:
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
7 Pullups
9 Ring Dips
15 KB Swings (53#/44#)
OR
“Nate”
2 Muscle Ups
4 Handstand Pushups
8 KB Swings (70#/44#)
results:
2011 CrossFit Games winners – (Photo credit: Sunae Park)
