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Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?: Fitness Myths, Training Truths, and Other Surprising Discoveries from the Science of Exercise
In Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights? Alex Hutchinson, a physicist, award-winning journalist, and contributing editor of Popular Mechanics magazine, reveals the little-known and often surprising truths that science has uncovered about exercise. A book that ranges from cardio and weights to competition and weight loss, here are fascinating facts and practical tips for fitness buffs, competitive athletes, and popular science fans alike.
317 pages, Paperback
First published May 24, 2011
436 people are currently reading
2630 people want to read
About the author
Alex Hutchinson
14 books322 followersAlex Hutchinson is the author of the New York Times bestseller Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance. He is a National Magazine Award-winning science journalist and Outside magazine’s longtime Sweat Science columnist. Before journalism, he was a postdoctoral physicist and a long-distance runner for the Canadian national team. He lives in Toronto.
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October 3, 2020
Copying chapter summaries for my favorite chapters here:
CHEAT SHEET: GETTING STARTED
• It takes three months of hard training to see significantly bigger muscles, and six weeks to boost endurance, but health and performance gains on a cellular level start within a few days.
• Aiming for a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week, in bouts as short as 10 minutes, will boost your health, but more is better.
• Your body can be “set” to build strength or aerobic fitness during any given workout, but not both at once, so start your workout with the exercises you’re focusing on that day.
• A few minutes of short, intense intervals can produce the same effect as a long, slow aerobic workout—but the intervals have to be hard.
• About two heart-related deaths occur for every million hours of aerobic exercise, due to pre-existing abnormalities in 94 percent of cases. Not exercising is far more dangerous for your heart.
• Cold air can’t freeze your lungs, but dry air can trigger an asthma-like response in between 4 and 20 percent of people. You can moisten incoming air by wearing a scarf or breathing mask.
• Be cautious doing prolonged hard exercise in temperatures above about 70°F (21°C). It takes about 10 to 14 days to acclimatize to hotter conditions.
• You take in more polluted air when you’re breathing hard. Exercising in the early morning or evening and staying a few hundred yards away from busy roads can reduce your exposure.
• Athletic ability and desire to exercise are influenced by many different genes; recent studies suggest that more than 80 percent of the differences among us are environmental, not genetic.
• You can retain fitness for about two weeks without training before significant losses occur. A couple of short, hard workouts each week can preserve fitness for longer.
CHEAT SHEET: FITNESS GEAR
• Your stride on the treadmill is the same as it is outside, but you may need time to readjust to harder outdoor surfaces, so do a few outdoor runs before any races. Set the treadmill incline at 0.5 to 1 percent to compensate for the lack of wind resistance.
• Elliptical machines offer a low-impact aerobic workout that is equivalent to running or biking, but they don’t develop “functional” muscle patterns. You can prolong the workout by using the arm levers.
• Athletic shoes are optimized for the different movement patterns and playing surfaces in different sports. This boosts performance, but the evidence that the right shoes reduce injuries remains weak.
• Running in bare feet produces a different stride pattern and different stresses on your feet and legs, but there’s no evidence yet to link it to a reduction in injuries.
• There’s increasing evidence that compression socks and sleeves can help speed muscle recovery after intense workouts. Claims that they boost power and endurance remain unconvincing.
• Walking poles help you burn 20 percent more energy by involving your arms and propelling you up hills—as long as you use proper form and vigorous push-offs.
• “Active video games” burn more energy than traditional games but are generally equivalent only to a leisurely walk.
• Balance training is vital for avoiding the recurrence of ankle and knee problems and may help prevent them in the first place. But you should still do some training on solid ground to maximize strength gains.
• Initial studies suggest that specially fitted mouthpieces may boost performance by a few percent by keeping your jaw relaxed, but the evidence remains patchy.
• “Inspiratory muscle training” to strengthen your breathing muscles appears to boost endurance by a few percentage points, but it’s unclear whether the benefits are lasting.
CHEAT SHEET: THE PHYSIOLOGY OF EXERCISE
• Your physical limits aren’t defined by the failure of your muscles, heart, or lungs; instead, there’s increasing evidence that “fatigue” is regulated by subconscious processes in the brain.
• Lactic acid isn’t a metabolic waste product that makes your muscles burn. It’s actually a useful fuel that provides energy to your muscles; the fitter you are, the more lactic acid you use.
• Hard exercise causes microscopic damage to your muscle fibers. The repair process causes swelling and hypersensitive nerve endings, leading to “delayed onset muscle soreness” (DOMS) that peaks a day or two later.
• VO2max is a measure of the maximum amount of oxygen you can deliver to your muscles during exercise. It’s a measure of aerobic fitness but varies widely even among athletes of equal ability.
• “Lactate threshold” refers to the point at which lactate begins to accumulate rapidly in your blood, indicating that you’re no longer in the “aerobic” zone. It’s often used to monitor the progress of training.
• Moderate exercise boosts your immune system, but very intense exercise—serious marathon training, for example—can temporarily suppress it.
• Muscle cramps are traditionally blamed on electrolyte loss through sweat, but a new theory suggests that they’re caused by disrupted neural reflexes linked to muscular fatigue.
• “Stitches” are still poorly understood but may result from friction between layers of a membrane lining the abdominal cavity. Good posture reduces your chances of getting one.
• Peak physical performance for most people occurs in the late afternoon or early evening, around 6 p.m., when body temperature is highest. You can boost your performance at a particular time of day by training regularly at that time.
CHEAT SHEET: AEROBIC EXERCISE
• No matter what your exercise goals are, aerobic exercise is crucial for your health—and it also plays a key role in sports performance, even in “relaxed” sports like golf.
• Use the “Talk Test” to divide your effort between the aerobic, threshold, and anaerobic effort zones. Spend about 70 percent of your time in the aerobic zone.
• The old “220 minus age” formula for finding your maximum heart rate is highly inaccurate, especially for older adults. (208-0.7 x age) is better, but the only way to get an accurate reading is with a max HR test.
• Altering your breathing to fit a certain pattern or rhythm generally makes you less efficient. If you’re panting uncontrollably, you’re probably pushing too hard.
• The smooth, unchanging surface of roads and sidewalks may be more of a problem for our legs than hardness. Running on a variety of surfaces minimizes injury risk.
• It is possible, with a lot of hard work, to alter your running form. However, there’s no current evidence that doing so will reduce injuries or make you faster.
• Most runners push too hard on uphills and slow down more than they need to on downhills. Practice the mechanics of running downhill to gradually increase your speed.
• The muscles in your arms play very little role in running, but swinging your arms may help keep your legs going through “neural coupling.”
• Some riders manage to exceed their “maximum” intensity during spinning classes; researchers believe that motivational instructors and the group setting provide an extra boost.
• Climbing stairs for just two minutes at a time, five times a day, can produce significant fitness gains without even going to the gym.
CHEAT SHEET: STRENGTH AND POWER
• Starting in your 30s, you lose 1 to 2 percent of your muscle mass each year. Strength training can slow this decline and help keep your bones strong.
• A standard beginner’s program is one to three sets of 8 to 12 repetitions, reaching failure at the end of the last set. Decrease the number of reps to emphasize maximum strength; increase it to emphasize muscular endurance.
• No matter how much weight you use or how many reps you do, the most important factor in building muscle is reaching muscle failure by the final rep.
• “Toning” muscles with light weights accomplishes little if you’re lifting less than 40 to 50 percent of your one-rep maximum.
• Power—the ability to deliver strength in a rapid burst—is more important than absolute strength in many sports. Develop your power by training with explosive movements.
• Weight machines are safe and easy to use, but free weights offer a more “realistic” challenge, forcing you to develop balance and stabilizing muscles.
• A whole-body strengthening program can reduce strain on your back and possibly fix lower-back pain—but you should not persist with any exercises that cause discomfort.
• People exercising under the guidance of a personal trainer gain more strength than those exercising alone, mostly because they’re encouraged to lift heavier weights.
• Contrary to conventional wisdom, the amount of protein in a typical North American diet is more than enough to build muscle with any strength training program.
CHEAT SHEET: FLEXIBILITY AND CORE STRENGTH
• Stretching increases your range of motion, but studies have failed to confirm that stretching reduces injuries. The best time to stretch for flexibility is after exercise, not before.
• “Static” stretching reduces strength, power, and speed for an hour or more, thanks to a combination of neuromuscular effects and lowered force transmission in “loose” muscles and tendons.
• Runners who display greater flexibility in a sit-and-reach test run less efficiently, and pre-run static stretching also lowers efficiency and worsens performance.
• Warming up with “dynamic” stretching exercises raises the temperature of muscles and prepares them for exertion but doesn’t decrease strength, power, speed, or endurance.
• Stretching after exercise makes no difference to how sore you are the next day.
• Hip muscles and deep abdominal muscles are more important than the superficial “six-pack” muscles for core stability and injury prevention.
• The benefits of yoga depend on the style and level; in general, yoga classes are good for flexibility and strength but are insufficient to count as an aerobic workout.
• Like other forms of exercise, yoga can help reduce stress hormones and control mood.
CHEAT SHEET: EXERCISE AND AGING
• Starting in your mid-30s, you lose 1 to 2 percent of your muscle mass each year and about 9 percent of your aerobic fitness per decade—but regular exercise slows this decline dramatically.
• Long-term studies find that runners get osteoarthritis at a lower rate than non-runners, contradicting the common belief that running wears down your knees.
• Successful masters athletes train consistently without long breaks, focus their workouts on the most essential elements, and take extra recovery time to avoid injuries.
• Endurance declines more sharply than speed as you age. Steady training may prevent your rate of decline from accelerating.
• Declining motivation may be as important as aging bodies in explaining why older athletes slow down. Ensuring that your family and friends are supportive helps maintain positive social pressure.
• Aerobics-style exercise in water can reduce the impact on joints and lower the risk of falls. The exercise benefits are similar to dry land, though your heart rate will be lower due to water pressure.
• Activities that build muscle (like strength training) or provide jarring impacts (like running or basketball) are better for building strong bones than cycling, swimming, or elliptical training.
• Exercise slows down the cellular aging process in which the caps on the end of your DNA (known as telomeres) get shorter.
CHEAT SHEET: MIND AND BODY
• Mental fatigue causes a reduction in physical performance, which suggests that exhaustion is controlled by the brain’s perception of effort rather than the body’s failure.
• The most productive training is “deliberate practice,” which involves setting goals, monitoring progress, and focusing on technique rather than mindlessly repeating drills.
• Responses to music are highly personal, though there are some general patterns (faster music makes you work harder). Watching video is so distracting that it may lead you to slack off.
• Once you’ve mastered skills, whether it’s golf putting or darts, focusing too much on the details can lead to choking.
• Swearing or imagining yourself doing something evil taps into feelings of aggression that enhance physical performance.
• Prolonged physical exercise causes the release of endorphins, which can lead to runner’s high—and exercise addiction.
• Training with a group leads to greater endorphin production, which enhances pleasure and performance. About a third of people prefer working out alone.
• Exercise makes you smarter and improves your memory, starting immediately. Aerobic exercise is more effective than strength training, and the harder the better.
CHEAT SHEET: GETTING STARTED
• It takes three months of hard training to see significantly bigger muscles, and six weeks to boost endurance, but health and performance gains on a cellular level start within a few days.
• Aiming for a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week, in bouts as short as 10 minutes, will boost your health, but more is better.
• Your body can be “set” to build strength or aerobic fitness during any given workout, but not both at once, so start your workout with the exercises you’re focusing on that day.
• A few minutes of short, intense intervals can produce the same effect as a long, slow aerobic workout—but the intervals have to be hard.
• About two heart-related deaths occur for every million hours of aerobic exercise, due to pre-existing abnormalities in 94 percent of cases. Not exercising is far more dangerous for your heart.
• Cold air can’t freeze your lungs, but dry air can trigger an asthma-like response in between 4 and 20 percent of people. You can moisten incoming air by wearing a scarf or breathing mask.
• Be cautious doing prolonged hard exercise in temperatures above about 70°F (21°C). It takes about 10 to 14 days to acclimatize to hotter conditions.
• You take in more polluted air when you’re breathing hard. Exercising in the early morning or evening and staying a few hundred yards away from busy roads can reduce your exposure.
• Athletic ability and desire to exercise are influenced by many different genes; recent studies suggest that more than 80 percent of the differences among us are environmental, not genetic.
• You can retain fitness for about two weeks without training before significant losses occur. A couple of short, hard workouts each week can preserve fitness for longer.
CHEAT SHEET: FITNESS GEAR
• Your stride on the treadmill is the same as it is outside, but you may need time to readjust to harder outdoor surfaces, so do a few outdoor runs before any races. Set the treadmill incline at 0.5 to 1 percent to compensate for the lack of wind resistance.
• Elliptical machines offer a low-impact aerobic workout that is equivalent to running or biking, but they don’t develop “functional” muscle patterns. You can prolong the workout by using the arm levers.
• Athletic shoes are optimized for the different movement patterns and playing surfaces in different sports. This boosts performance, but the evidence that the right shoes reduce injuries remains weak.
• Running in bare feet produces a different stride pattern and different stresses on your feet and legs, but there’s no evidence yet to link it to a reduction in injuries.
• There’s increasing evidence that compression socks and sleeves can help speed muscle recovery after intense workouts. Claims that they boost power and endurance remain unconvincing.
• Walking poles help you burn 20 percent more energy by involving your arms and propelling you up hills—as long as you use proper form and vigorous push-offs.
• “Active video games” burn more energy than traditional games but are generally equivalent only to a leisurely walk.
• Balance training is vital for avoiding the recurrence of ankle and knee problems and may help prevent them in the first place. But you should still do some training on solid ground to maximize strength gains.
• Initial studies suggest that specially fitted mouthpieces may boost performance by a few percent by keeping your jaw relaxed, but the evidence remains patchy.
• “Inspiratory muscle training” to strengthen your breathing muscles appears to boost endurance by a few percentage points, but it’s unclear whether the benefits are lasting.
CHEAT SHEET: THE PHYSIOLOGY OF EXERCISE
• Your physical limits aren’t defined by the failure of your muscles, heart, or lungs; instead, there’s increasing evidence that “fatigue” is regulated by subconscious processes in the brain.
• Lactic acid isn’t a metabolic waste product that makes your muscles burn. It’s actually a useful fuel that provides energy to your muscles; the fitter you are, the more lactic acid you use.
• Hard exercise causes microscopic damage to your muscle fibers. The repair process causes swelling and hypersensitive nerve endings, leading to “delayed onset muscle soreness” (DOMS) that peaks a day or two later.
• VO2max is a measure of the maximum amount of oxygen you can deliver to your muscles during exercise. It’s a measure of aerobic fitness but varies widely even among athletes of equal ability.
• “Lactate threshold” refers to the point at which lactate begins to accumulate rapidly in your blood, indicating that you’re no longer in the “aerobic” zone. It’s often used to monitor the progress of training.
• Moderate exercise boosts your immune system, but very intense exercise—serious marathon training, for example—can temporarily suppress it.
• Muscle cramps are traditionally blamed on electrolyte loss through sweat, but a new theory suggests that they’re caused by disrupted neural reflexes linked to muscular fatigue.
• “Stitches” are still poorly understood but may result from friction between layers of a membrane lining the abdominal cavity. Good posture reduces your chances of getting one.
• Peak physical performance for most people occurs in the late afternoon or early evening, around 6 p.m., when body temperature is highest. You can boost your performance at a particular time of day by training regularly at that time.
CHEAT SHEET: AEROBIC EXERCISE
• No matter what your exercise goals are, aerobic exercise is crucial for your health—and it also plays a key role in sports performance, even in “relaxed” sports like golf.
• Use the “Talk Test” to divide your effort between the aerobic, threshold, and anaerobic effort zones. Spend about 70 percent of your time in the aerobic zone.
• The old “220 minus age” formula for finding your maximum heart rate is highly inaccurate, especially for older adults. (208-0.7 x age) is better, but the only way to get an accurate reading is with a max HR test.
• Altering your breathing to fit a certain pattern or rhythm generally makes you less efficient. If you’re panting uncontrollably, you’re probably pushing too hard.
• The smooth, unchanging surface of roads and sidewalks may be more of a problem for our legs than hardness. Running on a variety of surfaces minimizes injury risk.
• It is possible, with a lot of hard work, to alter your running form. However, there’s no current evidence that doing so will reduce injuries or make you faster.
• Most runners push too hard on uphills and slow down more than they need to on downhills. Practice the mechanics of running downhill to gradually increase your speed.
• The muscles in your arms play very little role in running, but swinging your arms may help keep your legs going through “neural coupling.”
• Some riders manage to exceed their “maximum” intensity during spinning classes; researchers believe that motivational instructors and the group setting provide an extra boost.
• Climbing stairs for just two minutes at a time, five times a day, can produce significant fitness gains without even going to the gym.
CHEAT SHEET: STRENGTH AND POWER
• Starting in your 30s, you lose 1 to 2 percent of your muscle mass each year. Strength training can slow this decline and help keep your bones strong.
• A standard beginner’s program is one to three sets of 8 to 12 repetitions, reaching failure at the end of the last set. Decrease the number of reps to emphasize maximum strength; increase it to emphasize muscular endurance.
• No matter how much weight you use or how many reps you do, the most important factor in building muscle is reaching muscle failure by the final rep.
• “Toning” muscles with light weights accomplishes little if you’re lifting less than 40 to 50 percent of your one-rep maximum.
• Power—the ability to deliver strength in a rapid burst—is more important than absolute strength in many sports. Develop your power by training with explosive movements.
• Weight machines are safe and easy to use, but free weights offer a more “realistic” challenge, forcing you to develop balance and stabilizing muscles.
• A whole-body strengthening program can reduce strain on your back and possibly fix lower-back pain—but you should not persist with any exercises that cause discomfort.
• People exercising under the guidance of a personal trainer gain more strength than those exercising alone, mostly because they’re encouraged to lift heavier weights.
• Contrary to conventional wisdom, the amount of protein in a typical North American diet is more than enough to build muscle with any strength training program.
CHEAT SHEET: FLEXIBILITY AND CORE STRENGTH
• Stretching increases your range of motion, but studies have failed to confirm that stretching reduces injuries. The best time to stretch for flexibility is after exercise, not before.
• “Static” stretching reduces strength, power, and speed for an hour or more, thanks to a combination of neuromuscular effects and lowered force transmission in “loose” muscles and tendons.
• Runners who display greater flexibility in a sit-and-reach test run less efficiently, and pre-run static stretching also lowers efficiency and worsens performance.
• Warming up with “dynamic” stretching exercises raises the temperature of muscles and prepares them for exertion but doesn’t decrease strength, power, speed, or endurance.
• Stretching after exercise makes no difference to how sore you are the next day.
• Hip muscles and deep abdominal muscles are more important than the superficial “six-pack” muscles for core stability and injury prevention.
• The benefits of yoga depend on the style and level; in general, yoga classes are good for flexibility and strength but are insufficient to count as an aerobic workout.
• Like other forms of exercise, yoga can help reduce stress hormones and control mood.
CHEAT SHEET: EXERCISE AND AGING
• Starting in your mid-30s, you lose 1 to 2 percent of your muscle mass each year and about 9 percent of your aerobic fitness per decade—but regular exercise slows this decline dramatically.
• Long-term studies find that runners get osteoarthritis at a lower rate than non-runners, contradicting the common belief that running wears down your knees.
• Successful masters athletes train consistently without long breaks, focus their workouts on the most essential elements, and take extra recovery time to avoid injuries.
• Endurance declines more sharply than speed as you age. Steady training may prevent your rate of decline from accelerating.
• Declining motivation may be as important as aging bodies in explaining why older athletes slow down. Ensuring that your family and friends are supportive helps maintain positive social pressure.
• Aerobics-style exercise in water can reduce the impact on joints and lower the risk of falls. The exercise benefits are similar to dry land, though your heart rate will be lower due to water pressure.
• Activities that build muscle (like strength training) or provide jarring impacts (like running or basketball) are better for building strong bones than cycling, swimming, or elliptical training.
• Exercise slows down the cellular aging process in which the caps on the end of your DNA (known as telomeres) get shorter.
CHEAT SHEET: MIND AND BODY
• Mental fatigue causes a reduction in physical performance, which suggests that exhaustion is controlled by the brain’s perception of effort rather than the body’s failure.
• The most productive training is “deliberate practice,” which involves setting goals, monitoring progress, and focusing on technique rather than mindlessly repeating drills.
• Responses to music are highly personal, though there are some general patterns (faster music makes you work harder). Watching video is so distracting that it may lead you to slack off.
• Once you’ve mastered skills, whether it’s golf putting or darts, focusing too much on the details can lead to choking.
• Swearing or imagining yourself doing something evil taps into feelings of aggression that enhance physical performance.
• Prolonged physical exercise causes the release of endorphins, which can lead to runner’s high—and exercise addiction.
• Training with a group leads to greater endorphin production, which enhances pleasure and performance. About a third of people prefer working out alone.
• Exercise makes you smarter and improves your memory, starting immediately. Aerobic exercise is more effective than strength training, and the harder the better.
April 16, 2013
This book was awesome, with short chapters, each answering a different question about exercise and fitness, reviewing the latest studies and knowledge. I was surprised at how much of my "common knowledge" was actually wrong. I liked the quick summaries at the end of each chapter.
Here are some of the things I learned:
* Lactic Acid build-up is NOT the source of the DOMS (day-after muscle soreness). Lactic acid is a fuel, not a waste product, that gets cleaned out of your system within an hour after exercise. It's actually the repair process that causes soreness, so soreness is a sign your muscles are building themselves stronger. =)
* "Stitches" are still poorly understood but good posture and avoiding eating heavily before a workout may help avoid them.
* A good, short, intense interval session can give you the same changes as a long aerobic exercise.
* Fitness begins to deteriorate after two weeks without working out.
* Barefoot running remains unproven for now.
* "Breathing Training" doesn't work to improve aerobic performance, so just breathe the way you do without thinking about it.
* Balance training (like on wobble boards or exercise balls) helps reduce ankle and knee problems.
* "220 minus age" is a really bad way to find your maximum heart rate.
* Your body adjusts well to whatever surface it runs on, so running on hard surfaces does not increase injury risk. However, running on surfaces that are too smooth may contribute to overuse injuries.
* High weights/low reps typically build more strength, while low weights/high reps build more endurance.
* Choose weights to lift so that you reach failure by the end of your last set.
* There's no proof that stretching prevents injuries. It also doesn't help a bit with DOMS. Stretching before aerobic workouts actually slow the performance slightly, so the current wisdom is not to stretch until after your workout.
* Exercising with a cold doesn't exacerbate the symptoms or make them last longer.
* Running doesn't ruin your knees long-term; it may actually help them.
* Obesity isn't a risk when you're fit. Several studies show that those who are slightly overweight live longer. Obese people who are physically fit are actually half as likely to die as those who are normal weight but don't exercise.
* The common wisdom that most people burn the same calories per mile no matter how fast they are going is wrong. It's been shown that much more calories are burned when running a mile than while walking one.
* The body's thirst response is a good measure of how much you should be drinking during long workouts. It is possible to become over-hydrated.
* Basic Gatorade is a great replenishment for long workouts because it delivers fluid, sugar, and salts. Nothing more than that is needed.
Here are some of the things I learned:
* Lactic Acid build-up is NOT the source of the DOMS (day-after muscle soreness). Lactic acid is a fuel, not a waste product, that gets cleaned out of your system within an hour after exercise. It's actually the repair process that causes soreness, so soreness is a sign your muscles are building themselves stronger. =)
* "Stitches" are still poorly understood but good posture and avoiding eating heavily before a workout may help avoid them.
* A good, short, intense interval session can give you the same changes as a long aerobic exercise.
* Fitness begins to deteriorate after two weeks without working out.
* Barefoot running remains unproven for now.
* "Breathing Training" doesn't work to improve aerobic performance, so just breathe the way you do without thinking about it.
* Balance training (like on wobble boards or exercise balls) helps reduce ankle and knee problems.
* "220 minus age" is a really bad way to find your maximum heart rate.
* Your body adjusts well to whatever surface it runs on, so running on hard surfaces does not increase injury risk. However, running on surfaces that are too smooth may contribute to overuse injuries.
* High weights/low reps typically build more strength, while low weights/high reps build more endurance.
* Choose weights to lift so that you reach failure by the end of your last set.
* There's no proof that stretching prevents injuries. It also doesn't help a bit with DOMS. Stretching before aerobic workouts actually slow the performance slightly, so the current wisdom is not to stretch until after your workout.
* Exercising with a cold doesn't exacerbate the symptoms or make them last longer.
* Running doesn't ruin your knees long-term; it may actually help them.
* Obesity isn't a risk when you're fit. Several studies show that those who are slightly overweight live longer. Obese people who are physically fit are actually half as likely to die as those who are normal weight but don't exercise.
* The common wisdom that most people burn the same calories per mile no matter how fast they are going is wrong. It's been shown that much more calories are burned when running a mile than while walking one.
* The body's thirst response is a good measure of how much you should be drinking during long workouts. It is possible to become over-hydrated.
* Basic Gatorade is a great replenishment for long workouts because it delivers fluid, sugar, and salts. Nothing more than that is needed.
November 24, 2023
"When the body is subjected to stresses and overloads of varying intensities, it will gradually adapt over time to overcome whatever demands are placed on it..."
Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights? was a decent cursory look into the modern (well, circa 2011 anyhow) science behind the fields of fitness and exercise. I enjoyed the book, but the title is a bit misleading. While that question is briefly covered, so are about 100+ other exercise-related topics.
Author Alex Hutchinson is a National Magazine Award-winning journalist whose work appears in Outside, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and other publications. This is my second book from the author, after his 2018 book Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, which I also enjoyed.
Alex Hutchinson:
The book is presented in a rather straightforward, matter-of-fact, no-frills presentation. Hutchinson writes with a decent style that shouldn't struggle to hold the reader's attention.
The formatting of the book is a little unorthodox. While it is broken into chapters, each chapter is broken into many many different segments, with relevant headers at the top. The book's title: "Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?" is just one of countless dozens of these topics covered.
The quote from the start of this review continues:
Hutchinson also drops this quote early on, which speaks to the scope of the book:
I have been vigorously exercising since I was in my mid 20s; both cardio and strength training. I have no plans of stopping, ever. If you meet me at a dinner party, I'll probably irritate the shit out of you by preaching this evangel.
But - it's for good reason. The author drops this short quote, about the importance of getting moving, even just a little:
I think one of the main problems associated with trying to get people to become active has to do with a common heuristic they have almost universally adopted. That is; exercising is just for people who are overweight. If you are thin, you don't need to exercise. This is a terrible (as well as wrong) assumption.
In this short quote, the author dispels that myth:
Indeed, newer research done by various exercise scientists has placed your VO2 Max as one of the greatest predictors of both general health, and your risk of all-cause mortality. Hand grip strength is also cited similarily.
********************
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. Unfortunately, almost all of what is covered here won't be new to anyone with even a fair degree of fitness literacy. However, if you don't know much about the topic, this could make a great primer.
4 stars.
Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights? was a decent cursory look into the modern (well, circa 2011 anyhow) science behind the fields of fitness and exercise. I enjoyed the book, but the title is a bit misleading. While that question is briefly covered, so are about 100+ other exercise-related topics.
Author Alex Hutchinson is a National Magazine Award-winning journalist whose work appears in Outside, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and other publications. This is my second book from the author, after his 2018 book Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, which I also enjoyed.
Alex Hutchinson:
The book is presented in a rather straightforward, matter-of-fact, no-frills presentation. Hutchinson writes with a decent style that shouldn't struggle to hold the reader's attention.
The formatting of the book is a little unorthodox. While it is broken into chapters, each chapter is broken into many many different segments, with relevant headers at the top. The book's title: "Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?" is just one of countless dozens of these topics covered.
The quote from the start of this review continues:
"...That’s what every form of exercise boils down to. The stress could be lifting weights or pedaling a bicycle, and the adaptation is bigger muscle fibers, a stronger heart, and hundreds of other microscopic changes. The key is balancing the size of the stress: too small (lifting a half-pound weight, say), and your body won’t see any need to adapt; too large, and it won’t have a chance to adapt due to injury or exhaustion. Much of the research described in this book aims to help you find this delicate balance."
Hutchinson also drops this quote early on, which speaks to the scope of the book:
"...So let me begin with a full disclosure: this book does not contain any secret workouts or magic pills that will produce instant fitness.
Instead, what follows is an up-to-date guide to what scientists know about exercise, health, and performance—and, just as importantly, what they don’t know. It’s an “evidence-based” guide: the answers it offers to common fitness questions aren’t based on conventional wisdom or gut feelings.
Instead, they’re drawn from the more than 400 peer-reviewed journal articles listed in the reference section at the back, along with over 100 interviews with researchers around the world.
That means that if scientists don’t yet have a definitive answer to a question, I haven’t just made one up. For example, the last few years have seen a surge of interest in running barefoot or in “minimalist” shoes, a practice that some people believe reduces the risk of injury compared with conventional running shoes. A few studies examining how running barefoot affects your joints have now been published, but the results so far have been ambiguous—so, in chapter 2, you can read about some of these studies and make up your own mind about whether the potential benefits outweigh the risks (and the funny looks). For someone who has been repeatedly injured trying to run in conventional shoes, the answer might be yes; for someone trying running for the first time, probably not."
I have been vigorously exercising since I was in my mid 20s; both cardio and strength training. I have no plans of stopping, ever. If you meet me at a dinner party, I'll probably irritate the shit out of you by preaching this evangel.
But - it's for good reason. The author drops this short quote, about the importance of getting moving, even just a little:
"From a public health perspective, the top priority is getting those inactive people to start moving, even a little bit. Going from zero to slightly active offers the biggest possible health boost, according to a recent National Institutes of Health study that followed 250,000 men and women between the ages of 50 and 71. Those who were just slightly active but didn’t manage to meet the exercise guidelines were 30 percent less likely to die than those who were totally inactive. Stepping it up to moderate exercise reduced risk by only eight more percent, and adding in some vigorous exercise subtracted an additional 12 percent. When you combine that data, you find that getting half an hour of moderate to vigorous exercise five times a week cuts your risk of dying from all causes in half."
I think one of the main problems associated with trying to get people to become active has to do with a common heuristic they have almost universally adopted. That is; exercising is just for people who are overweight. If you are thin, you don't need to exercise. This is a terrible (as well as wrong) assumption.
In this short quote, the author dispels that myth:
"Obese people who are physically fit are half as likely to die as thin, sedentary people. Aerobic fitness may be a better measure of health than body-mass index."
Indeed, newer research done by various exercise scientists has placed your VO2 Max as one of the greatest predictors of both general health, and your risk of all-cause mortality. Hand grip strength is also cited similarily.
********************
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. Unfortunately, almost all of what is covered here won't be new to anyone with even a fair degree of fitness literacy. However, if you don't know much about the topic, this could make a great primer.
4 stars.
July 29, 2012
I was impressed with the new "science" in this book. Set up in a Q&A format, this book answers some common questions about fitness and weight loss. I'm no novice to exercise techniques and the science behind them, but it's been awhile since I've read up on new exercise science. While I don't think any of the answers are conclusive (it cites lots of research studies with mediocre sample sizes), I did learn a thing or two, like drink pickle juice if you have cramps. I will now tell people that encourage me to stretch after I warm up to SHUT UP. There is no scientific evidence that supports the belief that stretching helps reduce injuries. Furthermore, these warmup stretches lead to inefficiency, so suck on that! I've been reading a lot about high intensity interval training (which I've been dabbling in for a few weeks), so I was pleased to see it mentioned here. This is a great book for those that know little about exercise and/or those that think they do, which could be anyone: meatheads, weight lifters, gym rats...
October 17, 2012
I think this is a book that anyone who does fitness of any kind should read. It smites fitness myth and misinformation with the power of SCIENCE, which is the best way to do things.
One of the things that made it such an easy read was the Q and A format, that make what could be a dry subject more interesting. And there was a little bit of humor interjected here and there.
My only complaint is the title, it's one of the stupidest titles imaginable, but I suppose the book had to have some sort of hook.
I just wish that Dr Hutchinson was there to interpret every new fitness study that comes out in the future!
One of the things that made it such an easy read was the Q and A format, that make what could be a dry subject more interesting. And there was a little bit of humor interjected here and there.
My only complaint is the title, it's one of the stupidest titles imaginable, but I suppose the book had to have some sort of hook.
I just wish that Dr Hutchinson was there to interpret every new fitness study that comes out in the future!
November 25, 2013
Fairly recent, good info; even one of the trainers at the gym I work at perused it for a half hour or so and then came back and said "I'll see you later... I'm going to buy that book."
December 11, 2023
had to read for a class 🤘would not recommend
April 23, 2017
The idea behind this book is a good one, but the content is simply outdated. I enjoyed Hutchinson's conversational tone, but sometimes I felt like he was "talking down" to me. Luckily, the way the book is structured, I could skip sections where I already knew the content without missing much. All in all, I think fitness magazines should focus on publishing this sort of material; I'd be much more interested in reading monthly educational snippets than a book-length Q&A-style info dump.
October 20, 2019
Written in an accessible questions and answers format, this book answers some of the most common fitness and sports related questions that you might have, such as of course, "which comes first: cardio or weights". I'd recommend this to anyone.
This book is a bit dated now though, so I'm wondering what might change if an updated second edition was written.
This book is a bit dated now though, so I'm wondering what might change if an updated second edition was written.
March 26, 2017
Hutchinson does the work for you by wading through the most recent studies to delineate scientifically strong fitness suggestions against folk tales with no factual evidence. A good read for anyone who wants to exercise more efficiently.
January 21, 2012
An excellent summary of everything exercise (and much of nutrition) related. Highly recommended to everyone starting an exercise regime, and even to those who exercise for a long time.
August 11, 2019
Lots of common sense info in this book. Loved the researched rational and the organization of topics.
July 1, 2021
A collection of (very) short articles about sports-related questions, myths and fads. Each article poses a question or commonly believed idea (i.e. does static stretching before exercise improve performance? Does stretching after exercise improve recovery? Does protein intake affect muscle growth? Does carb intake help in endurance sessions? Etc...) and then moves on to review multiple scientific studies which confirm or debunk the proposed idea/question. I'd say most of what is said is interesting to anyone curious about sports, fitness and health in general, but the format felt too random and unstructured to me. I would have much preferred to read a more solid and in depth coverage of fewer topics.
As per the question asked in the book's title, the answer is -of course- "it depends" and "both".
UPDATE 2021/06/30
As suggested by fellow reader Ana Claudia, I'm pasting here a short reply to the book title's question about cardio vs resistance training:
Very summarised (oversimplified) answer:
- You need cardio to have proper blood circulation, lung capacity, insulin sensitivity, organ oxigenation (including brain), and overall functional endurance, among other benefits.
- You need strength to mantain (or increase) muscular mass (not just for the looks; this is super important as you age for both functional and physiological needs), bone density, metabolic flexibility (aerobic and anaerobic exercise use different ways of obtaining energy), mobility, joint health, and all sorts of hormonal processes regulated by short+intense effort.
So, "if you had to give up one" is a very bad scenario. If we think of exercise as a three-legged stool (here I come again with a hypersimplification...), those three legs would be:
- Strength training (shorter, very intense effort)
- Cardio (longish, moderate effort)
- Rest (much longer, virtually no effort)
Cut one leg and the other 2 are insufficient and the stool will fall sooner or later.
A proper fitness/exercise/health program should include at least a bit of all of these.
I think the dichothomy cardio vs. strength is a false one. There's no such dilemma. Of course, depending on your preferences, your goals, your sport of choice, your physical limitations, etc... you may want to lean more on one or the other, but it should be a matter of leaning, not excluding.
I hope it makes sense!
As per the question asked in the book's title, the answer is -of course- "it depends" and "both".
UPDATE 2021/06/30
As suggested by fellow reader Ana Claudia, I'm pasting here a short reply to the book title's question about cardio vs resistance training:
Very summarised (oversimplified) answer:
- You need cardio to have proper blood circulation, lung capacity, insulin sensitivity, organ oxigenation (including brain), and overall functional endurance, among other benefits.
- You need strength to mantain (or increase) muscular mass (not just for the looks; this is super important as you age for both functional and physiological needs), bone density, metabolic flexibility (aerobic and anaerobic exercise use different ways of obtaining energy), mobility, joint health, and all sorts of hormonal processes regulated by short+intense effort.
So, "if you had to give up one" is a very bad scenario. If we think of exercise as a three-legged stool (here I come again with a hypersimplification...), those three legs would be:
- Strength training (shorter, very intense effort)
- Cardio (longish, moderate effort)
- Rest (much longer, virtually no effort)
Cut one leg and the other 2 are insufficient and the stool will fall sooner or later.
A proper fitness/exercise/health program should include at least a bit of all of these.
I think the dichothomy cardio vs. strength is a false one. There's no such dilemma. Of course, depending on your preferences, your goals, your sport of choice, your physical limitations, etc... you may want to lean more on one or the other, but it should be a matter of leaning, not excluding.
I hope it makes sense!
March 12, 2021
This book is great at debunking exercise myths and presenting scientific facts. It not only helps you understand the science but it also explains where the myths come from, which is incredibly helpful.
The information is good for someone if they are new to exercise and focuses on a variety of information so there is good information for every kind of person looking to increase health benefits through exercise. Whatever benefits or exercise that may be.
The chapters are easy to read and broken down into simple categories. Each chapter ends with a key point panel which gives a great summary and the most basic information you need for success.
The information is good for someone if they are new to exercise and focuses on a variety of information so there is good information for every kind of person looking to increase health benefits through exercise. Whatever benefits or exercise that may be.
The chapters are easy to read and broken down into simple categories. Each chapter ends with a key point panel which gives a great summary and the most basic information you need for success.
November 6, 2016
I read this book slowly, more so I could take time to absorb it than because it wasn't easy reading. I really like that Hutchinson answers some of the most commonly-asked fitness-related questions. I was interested in it more to learn more about weight loss and cardio vs. strength training science, but I picked up a lot of interesting tidbits. For example:
- There's no evidence that coffee takes away from performance. (Note that caffeine isn't the same thing as coffee.)
- For my clients anxious to see results, it might take 3 months to see bigger muscles and six months to boost endurance, but health and performance gains will start within a few days.
- It confirmed that short bursts of intense intervals can be produce the same effect as a long, slow aerobic workout assuming that the intervals are HARD.
- Working out at the end of a long, tiring day at the office can have an effect more on your mentality- you might not be able to work hard as long as someone who isn't as mentally drained.
- Lactic acid isn't a metabolic waste product but instead a useful fuel that provides energy to your muscles.
- Peak physical performance for most people is in the late afternoon or early evenings (body temp is the highest). But if you train regularly at a certain time of day, your body will adjust.
- Starting in your 30's, you lose 1-2% of your muscle mass every year. Strength training will help combat this. (Phew!)
- It confirmed that the amount of protein in most Americans' diets is enough to fuel muscle recovery.
- People exercising under the eye of a personal trainer see better gains than someone who doesn't. (This applies to one-on-one training as well as small group led by a teacher.)
- If you're not feeling good and trying to figure out whether to work out or not, use the "neck check"- if you have a symptom above the neck like a runny nose or a sore throat, exercising should be fine. If the symptom(s) is below the neck like a fever or a chest cold, you might be better taking time off.
- Losing weight through exercise alone is challenging - middle-aged women had to exercise an hour a day just to maintain their current weight.
- In a long race, contrary to common thought, a slightly faster start may help one finish with a faster time than a perfectly even pace throughout.
- Swearing during a workout may actually give you more endurance since it triggers your fight or flight response.
- Sleep helps exercise and exercise helps sleep. In a 2010 study, moderate aerobic exercise (but not strength training or heavy aerobic exercise) increased reported sleep time by 26% in a group of chronic insomniacs.
- The body adapts quickly to weight loss or diets. If you burn mostly carbs during a workout, the calories you consume after a workout will be used to replenish your carb stores. If you burn mostly fat, your carb stories will remain full and any calories consumed after the workout will be stored as fat.
Lots of interesting tidbits that apply to most of my clients!
- There's no evidence that coffee takes away from performance. (Note that caffeine isn't the same thing as coffee.)
- For my clients anxious to see results, it might take 3 months to see bigger muscles and six months to boost endurance, but health and performance gains will start within a few days.
- It confirmed that short bursts of intense intervals can be produce the same effect as a long, slow aerobic workout assuming that the intervals are HARD.
- Working out at the end of a long, tiring day at the office can have an effect more on your mentality- you might not be able to work hard as long as someone who isn't as mentally drained.
- Lactic acid isn't a metabolic waste product but instead a useful fuel that provides energy to your muscles.
- Peak physical performance for most people is in the late afternoon or early evenings (body temp is the highest). But if you train regularly at a certain time of day, your body will adjust.
- Starting in your 30's, you lose 1-2% of your muscle mass every year. Strength training will help combat this. (Phew!)
- It confirmed that the amount of protein in most Americans' diets is enough to fuel muscle recovery.
- People exercising under the eye of a personal trainer see better gains than someone who doesn't. (This applies to one-on-one training as well as small group led by a teacher.)
- If you're not feeling good and trying to figure out whether to work out or not, use the "neck check"- if you have a symptom above the neck like a runny nose or a sore throat, exercising should be fine. If the symptom(s) is below the neck like a fever or a chest cold, you might be better taking time off.
- Losing weight through exercise alone is challenging - middle-aged women had to exercise an hour a day just to maintain their current weight.
- In a long race, contrary to common thought, a slightly faster start may help one finish with a faster time than a perfectly even pace throughout.
- Swearing during a workout may actually give you more endurance since it triggers your fight or flight response.
- Sleep helps exercise and exercise helps sleep. In a 2010 study, moderate aerobic exercise (but not strength training or heavy aerobic exercise) increased reported sleep time by 26% in a group of chronic insomniacs.
- The body adapts quickly to weight loss or diets. If you burn mostly carbs during a workout, the calories you consume after a workout will be used to replenish your carb stores. If you burn mostly fat, your carb stories will remain full and any calories consumed after the workout will be stored as fat.
Lots of interesting tidbits that apply to most of my clients!
March 31, 2022
Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights? by Alex Hutchinson.
I was attracted to the title because it's been a decades-long argument between fitness enthusiasts.
This book covers more than just discussions on aerobic (or cardio) exercises and resistance training. It also examines issues like fitness gears (shoes, machines), the physiology of exercise itself, the difference between cardio exercise and weights, different methods people have used to speed up recovery after injury, nutrition and hydration, and ageing.
I love this book because it gives balanced arguments about many issues in sports and fitness, detailed enough and at the same time uses easy terms so that it's accessible to most people. The writing is good and often positive, without much fear mongering.
It has points for those of us who just want to keep ourselves fit, and for amateurs in competetive sports. Of course, sports professionals they should learn from their own coaches and doctors.
At the end of every chapter, there's a summary that we can get back to if we want to quickly refer back to that particular topic.
Another good thing about the book is that it has a reference section which has citations to all the studies mentioned in the book, which is imporant for a book that based its contents on scientific findings.
I was attracted to the title because it's been a decades-long argument between fitness enthusiasts.
This book covers more than just discussions on aerobic (or cardio) exercises and resistance training. It also examines issues like fitness gears (shoes, machines), the physiology of exercise itself, the difference between cardio exercise and weights, different methods people have used to speed up recovery after injury, nutrition and hydration, and ageing.
I love this book because it gives balanced arguments about many issues in sports and fitness, detailed enough and at the same time uses easy terms so that it's accessible to most people. The writing is good and often positive, without much fear mongering.
It has points for those of us who just want to keep ourselves fit, and for amateurs in competetive sports. Of course, sports professionals they should learn from their own coaches and doctors.
At the end of every chapter, there's a summary that we can get back to if we want to quickly refer back to that particular topic.
Another good thing about the book is that it has a reference section which has citations to all the studies mentioned in the book, which is imporant for a book that based its contents on scientific findings.
March 23, 2012
Two of my favorite things are common sense and empirical evidence--that's why I was an economics major. This book is chock full of both. Alex Hutchinson clearly outlines pretty much all aspects of physical fitness--debunking various myths in the process. All the while backing up every statement with empirical evidence (all studies mentioned are thoroughly referenced in the back of the book).
As a loyal reader of the NY Times Well Blog (definitely go check it out) I already knew much of what the book touched upon, but there was sooo much more! Everyone should read this book--especially those who think physical fitness means eating nothing. I'm sorry, if you don't exercise, it is actually to your advantage to have a few extra pounds--you will live longer.
I learned several things about the importance of warming up (soooo important to prevent injuries), when to stretch (AFTER workout), the effects of alcohol (doesn't hurt unless you drink WAYYY to much),and how to be slow aging (EXCERCISE).
The only thing that I would add to this book would be a section on things that specifically concern women. I would really like to know stuff about exercising during pregnancy, etc.
As a loyal reader of the NY Times Well Blog (definitely go check it out) I already knew much of what the book touched upon, but there was sooo much more! Everyone should read this book--especially those who think physical fitness means eating nothing. I'm sorry, if you don't exercise, it is actually to your advantage to have a few extra pounds--you will live longer.
I learned several things about the importance of warming up (soooo important to prevent injuries), when to stretch (AFTER workout), the effects of alcohol (doesn't hurt unless you drink WAYYY to much),and how to be slow aging (EXCERCISE).
The only thing that I would add to this book would be a section on things that specifically concern women. I would really like to know stuff about exercising during pregnancy, etc.
May 4, 2013
This book was written within the last two years and contains lots of great up to date information about fitness and health. All of the information is backed up with references to scientific studies and explains plainly and thoroughly what the results mean. It's refreshing to read a book about fitness that just gives you the facts, as best as we understand them right now instead of anecdotal stories and unverified stuff made up by the "pros".
March 22, 2018
Fantastic book, probably the best I come across for exercises.
The book covers a wide array of common questions, myths, concerns regarding exercises, and answers those with proper scientific studies. The author, PhD and a former competitive runner, went through tons of scientific studies in various journal to write this book. I found myself highlighting all over the book and hard to put the book down once I started.
Happy to share the highlights upon request
The book covers a wide array of common questions, myths, concerns regarding exercises, and answers those with proper scientific studies. The author, PhD and a former competitive runner, went through tons of scientific studies in various journal to write this book. I found myself highlighting all over the book and hard to put the book down once I started.
Happy to share the highlights upon request
Read
August 22, 2025the only systems that don’t respond to exercise appear to be the senses and (surprisingly) the lungs.
even with sophisticated lab equipment, researchers can’t usually detect changes in fat and muscle composition until after about nine weeks of training. For the average person at the gym, it will take six months or more to see significant sculpting of the body
For about 48 hours after a workout, your muscles will be consuming more glucose than usual, helping to bring down blood-sugar levels. After a few workouts, your insulin sensitivity will begin to improve, offering further control of blood sugar.
National Institutes of Health study that followed 250,000 men and women between the ages of 50 and 71. getting half an hour of moderate to vigorous exercise five times a week cuts your risk of dying from all causes in half.
you can’t have it both ways: the switch is set either to “bigger muscles” or to “better endurance,” How you start your workout determines which way the switch will be set for the session.
30 minutes of daily exercise recommended by public health guidelines.
about two deaths occur for every one million hours of aerobic exercise—a rate that isn’t significantly different from the baseline hourly risk of being alive for the average 45-year-old man. About 10 percent of healthy athletes display abnormal electrocardiograms—
people have blamed “exercise-induced bronchoconstriction” (EIB), an asthma-like narrowing of the airways that leads to shortness of breath and coughing, on cold air. The condition affects between 4 and 20 percent of the population—but it’s the dryness of the air, not its temperature, that triggers the response.
mass casualty incidents occurred when the “wet bulb globe temperature” (a corrected scale that factors in air temperature, humidity, and solar radiation) was a relatively modest 70°F (21°C) at the start of the race.
How long does it take to get unfit? Danish researchers found that after just two to three weeks, subjects who reduced physical activity showed worse insulin sensitivity and a decreased ability to burn fat.
A series of classic studies in the 1980s showed that you can get away with working out fewer times per week, and with doing shorter workouts—as long as you maintain or even increase the intensity.
“lactate threshold”. the “Talk Test” can be used as a rough guide to find your threshold.
A 2009 review in the journal Sports Medicine surveyed 32 studies of the link between lactate threshold and racing performance in running, cycling, race walking, and rowing. The results showed that lactate threshold was far more accurate than VO2max at predicting results, accounting for between 55 and 85 percent of variance in running distances from 800 meters to the marathon.
Researchers from Brigham Young University reported an odd finding in 2010: drinking a quarter-cup of pickle juice gets rid of muscle cramps within an average of about 85 seconds, 45 percent faster than they’d disappear on their own.
For years, we’ve been told that muscle cramps result when you become dehydrated and lose too many electrolytes, the salts that are carried away in your sweat.
“If it’s a systemic problem like dehydration, then why doesn’t the whole body cramp?” —another hint that the problem is local rather than general.
the vinegar in pickle juice can alter these reflex signals
stretching a muscle triggers the inhibitory reflex, which explains why it’s a painful but effective way of ending a cramp.
Schwellnus’s study of triathletes found that those who developed cramps had set higher pre-race goals and started at faster paces relative to their previous best times compared to non-crampers. These lessons—train sufficiently, set realistic goals, and rest before races—won’t stop every cramp, but they may reduce your risk.
What’s happening when I get a stitch? Morton and his team found that they could induce a stitch by pressing on this area of the spine, suggesting that there’s a neural component. And in a 2010 study, they found a link between the degree of spine curvature in 159 volunteers and their susceptibility to stitches. The greater the kyphosis (curvature of the upper back) and lordosis (curvature of the lower back), the more severe the pain of the stitch.
The actual pain, the researchers argue, is best explained as irritation of something called the “parietal peritoneum,” the outer layer of the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity. Friction between layers of the peritoneum could be caused by a full stomach pressing from the inside or the constrained shape of a rib cage with excess spine curvature.
This suggests that, if you’re prone to stitches, you should avoid filling up your stomach with food or water right before exercising.
the clearest correlation they’ve found is with age: the younger you are, the more likely you are to get a stitch. So if all else fails, time may cure you.
If you happen to have, say, a particular mutation in the hPer2 gene that makes it hard for you to stay awake past 8:00 p.m., your peak performances will likely come quite a bit earlier than 6 p.m.
Your physical limits aren’t defined by the failure of your muscles, heart, or lungs; instead, there’s increasing evidence that “fatigue” is regulated by subconscious processes in the brain.
less-experienced runners among his patients were overwhelmingly prone to “overstriding”— reaching too far forward with each step so that the heel comes crashing down well in front of the body.
New research by Stuart Phillips at McMaster University suggests that reaching failure is the most important factor in building muscle—lifting at 30 percent 1RM synthesized just as much muscle protein as volunteers lifting at 90 percent 1RM, as long as they lifted to failure.
Will I get a better workout if I hire a personal trainer?
In a famous study at Ball State University in Indiana, researchers put two groups of 10 men through identical 12-week strength training programs. gained 32 percent more upper-body strength and 47 percent more lower-body strength than the other.
The real question is, do they gain muscle because of what they do, or in spite of what they do?
“Toning” muscles with light weights accomplishes little if you’re lifting less than 40 to 50 percent of your one-rep maximum.
The simplest and most common form of stretching is “static” stretching, which involves holding a position at the very edge of your range of motion for, say, 30 seconds at a time.
Most muscle injuries occur within the normal range of movement during “eccentric” contractions (while the muscle is lengthening, for instance when you’re lowering a biceps curl). In other words, you’re most likely to pull your hamstring while sprinting or changing direction, not while trying to do the splits (unless you’re a ballerina or a hockey goaltender, in which case static stretching is in fact important).
If an injured muscle heals without any stress being put on it, it will generally heal in a shortened position, and the affected area will be a bit weaker and more fibrotic than the surrounding tissue
The traditional advice has been to apply cold to acute injuries—a sprain or a bruise, for example—and reserve heat for nagging pains that persist for weeks or months. The reason is that new injuries are often accompanied by swelling. Cold constricts your blood vessels to limit swelling, while heat can have the opposite—undesirable—effect. Chronic injuries, on the other hand, are often tight and surrounded by scar tissue, so heat can help soften and loosen the muscles around the injury, allowing them to move more freely.
the heat needs to increase skin temperature by 5 to 7°F (3 to 4°C) for about five minutes. a heat pack generally elevates muscle temperature by less than 2°F. Electric blankets, hot water bottles, saunas, and even hot baths also qualify as “superficial” heat sources that don’t penetrate far into your muscles. (Heating deeper tissue generally requires machines using, for example, ultrasound, shortwave, or microwave energy.
(Despite rumors to the contrary, PRP is not illegal; however, since the beginning of 2010, elite athletes who are subject to drug testing have had to apply for a “therapeutic use exemption” before receiving PRP therapy, and injections of PRP directly into muscle tissue are banned.) The technique is designed to help injuries that don’t heal well on their own. For example, unlike muscles, tendons have a very poor blood supply, so minor tears and inflammation tend to heal slowly.
In a group of 100 patients with tennis elbow, 73 percent of those given PRP reduced their pain by at least 25 percent after a year, whereas only 49 percent of those who received a corticosteroid injection achieved similar results.
rhinovirus, better known as the common cold
even with sophisticated lab equipment, researchers can’t usually detect changes in fat and muscle composition until after about nine weeks of training. For the average person at the gym, it will take six months or more to see significant sculpting of the body
For about 48 hours after a workout, your muscles will be consuming more glucose than usual, helping to bring down blood-sugar levels. After a few workouts, your insulin sensitivity will begin to improve, offering further control of blood sugar.
National Institutes of Health study that followed 250,000 men and women between the ages of 50 and 71. getting half an hour of moderate to vigorous exercise five times a week cuts your risk of dying from all causes in half.
you can’t have it both ways: the switch is set either to “bigger muscles” or to “better endurance,” How you start your workout determines which way the switch will be set for the session.
30 minutes of daily exercise recommended by public health guidelines.
about two deaths occur for every one million hours of aerobic exercise—a rate that isn’t significantly different from the baseline hourly risk of being alive for the average 45-year-old man. About 10 percent of healthy athletes display abnormal electrocardiograms—
people have blamed “exercise-induced bronchoconstriction” (EIB), an asthma-like narrowing of the airways that leads to shortness of breath and coughing, on cold air. The condition affects between 4 and 20 percent of the population—but it’s the dryness of the air, not its temperature, that triggers the response.
mass casualty incidents occurred when the “wet bulb globe temperature” (a corrected scale that factors in air temperature, humidity, and solar radiation) was a relatively modest 70°F (21°C) at the start of the race.
How long does it take to get unfit? Danish researchers found that after just two to three weeks, subjects who reduced physical activity showed worse insulin sensitivity and a decreased ability to burn fat.
A series of classic studies in the 1980s showed that you can get away with working out fewer times per week, and with doing shorter workouts—as long as you maintain or even increase the intensity.
“lactate threshold”. the “Talk Test” can be used as a rough guide to find your threshold.
A 2009 review in the journal Sports Medicine surveyed 32 studies of the link between lactate threshold and racing performance in running, cycling, race walking, and rowing. The results showed that lactate threshold was far more accurate than VO2max at predicting results, accounting for between 55 and 85 percent of variance in running distances from 800 meters to the marathon.
Researchers from Brigham Young University reported an odd finding in 2010: drinking a quarter-cup of pickle juice gets rid of muscle cramps within an average of about 85 seconds, 45 percent faster than they’d disappear on their own.
For years, we’ve been told that muscle cramps result when you become dehydrated and lose too many electrolytes, the salts that are carried away in your sweat.
“If it’s a systemic problem like dehydration, then why doesn’t the whole body cramp?” —another hint that the problem is local rather than general.
the vinegar in pickle juice can alter these reflex signals
stretching a muscle triggers the inhibitory reflex, which explains why it’s a painful but effective way of ending a cramp.
Schwellnus’s study of triathletes found that those who developed cramps had set higher pre-race goals and started at faster paces relative to their previous best times compared to non-crampers. These lessons—train sufficiently, set realistic goals, and rest before races—won’t stop every cramp, but they may reduce your risk.
What’s happening when I get a stitch? Morton and his team found that they could induce a stitch by pressing on this area of the spine, suggesting that there’s a neural component. And in a 2010 study, they found a link between the degree of spine curvature in 159 volunteers and their susceptibility to stitches. The greater the kyphosis (curvature of the upper back) and lordosis (curvature of the lower back), the more severe the pain of the stitch.
The actual pain, the researchers argue, is best explained as irritation of something called the “parietal peritoneum,” the outer layer of the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity. Friction between layers of the peritoneum could be caused by a full stomach pressing from the inside or the constrained shape of a rib cage with excess spine curvature.
This suggests that, if you’re prone to stitches, you should avoid filling up your stomach with food or water right before exercising.
the clearest correlation they’ve found is with age: the younger you are, the more likely you are to get a stitch. So if all else fails, time may cure you.
If you happen to have, say, a particular mutation in the hPer2 gene that makes it hard for you to stay awake past 8:00 p.m., your peak performances will likely come quite a bit earlier than 6 p.m.
Your physical limits aren’t defined by the failure of your muscles, heart, or lungs; instead, there’s increasing evidence that “fatigue” is regulated by subconscious processes in the brain.
less-experienced runners among his patients were overwhelmingly prone to “overstriding”— reaching too far forward with each step so that the heel comes crashing down well in front of the body.
New research by Stuart Phillips at McMaster University suggests that reaching failure is the most important factor in building muscle—lifting at 30 percent 1RM synthesized just as much muscle protein as volunteers lifting at 90 percent 1RM, as long as they lifted to failure.
Will I get a better workout if I hire a personal trainer?
In a famous study at Ball State University in Indiana, researchers put two groups of 10 men through identical 12-week strength training programs. gained 32 percent more upper-body strength and 47 percent more lower-body strength than the other.
The real question is, do they gain muscle because of what they do, or in spite of what they do?
“Toning” muscles with light weights accomplishes little if you’re lifting less than 40 to 50 percent of your one-rep maximum.
The simplest and most common form of stretching is “static” stretching, which involves holding a position at the very edge of your range of motion for, say, 30 seconds at a time.
Most muscle injuries occur within the normal range of movement during “eccentric” contractions (while the muscle is lengthening, for instance when you’re lowering a biceps curl). In other words, you’re most likely to pull your hamstring while sprinting or changing direction, not while trying to do the splits (unless you’re a ballerina or a hockey goaltender, in which case static stretching is in fact important).
If an injured muscle heals without any stress being put on it, it will generally heal in a shortened position, and the affected area will be a bit weaker and more fibrotic than the surrounding tissue
The traditional advice has been to apply cold to acute injuries—a sprain or a bruise, for example—and reserve heat for nagging pains that persist for weeks or months. The reason is that new injuries are often accompanied by swelling. Cold constricts your blood vessels to limit swelling, while heat can have the opposite—undesirable—effect. Chronic injuries, on the other hand, are often tight and surrounded by scar tissue, so heat can help soften and loosen the muscles around the injury, allowing them to move more freely.
the heat needs to increase skin temperature by 5 to 7°F (3 to 4°C) for about five minutes. a heat pack generally elevates muscle temperature by less than 2°F. Electric blankets, hot water bottles, saunas, and even hot baths also qualify as “superficial” heat sources that don’t penetrate far into your muscles. (Heating deeper tissue generally requires machines using, for example, ultrasound, shortwave, or microwave energy.
(Despite rumors to the contrary, PRP is not illegal; however, since the beginning of 2010, elite athletes who are subject to drug testing have had to apply for a “therapeutic use exemption” before receiving PRP therapy, and injections of PRP directly into muscle tissue are banned.) The technique is designed to help injuries that don’t heal well on their own. For example, unlike muscles, tendons have a very poor blood supply, so minor tears and inflammation tend to heal slowly.
In a group of 100 patients with tennis elbow, 73 percent of those given PRP reduced their pain by at least 25 percent after a year, whereas only 49 percent of those who received a corticosteroid injection achieved similar results.
rhinovirus, better known as the common cold
June 12, 2013
Up-to-date and very useful information. Probably aimed more for a beginner audience, but I picked up several useful tidbits too. The question/answer format makes it very readable.
August 27, 2015
A handy book with a lot of answer for common questions.
It talks about a lot of myths which are really interesting.
It talks about a lot of myths which are really interesting.
March 30, 2016
Quick read, worth it for someone who is fairly new to exercise and would like motivation. If you're someone who is experienced with working out you likely will not learn a ton.
October 9, 2018
So you want to get healthier? Excellent! Let me explain . . . No, there is too much. Let me sum up.
That's basically what this book is. It takes all of the science around exercise and tries to sum it up in concise little chunks to help physiology neophytes like me understand what's going on with Exercise Type A vs. Exercise Type B.
So which comes first? Cardio or weights? Well, it may not surprise you that there isn't one right answer. There are just lots of trade-offs. It turns out doing a variety of exercises might be the best thing for you overall. Who knew? (Hint: I did.)
Even with that not-so-useful advice being the book's conclusion, it was still good to dig down a bit more into why that is the case, and to learn a few new things along the way, like the fact that lactic acid is actually fuel for your muscles, not a toxic by-product of exercise. The one new fact that, I think, will haunt me the most was that weight gain and loss can level off. Basically, if you eat an extra cookie a day, you will start to gain weight because of the extra calories. Eventually, your body mass will increase. But maintaining that increased body mass takes extra energy, which will eventually cancel out the extra cookie. That makes sense. The thing that terrifies me is that this same process works in reverse. If you drop, say, 300 calories from your daily intake, you will eventually hit the point where you are at a new equilibrium. In order to drop down further than that, you must drop more calories. Ugh.
Still, now I understand this idea, and will be able to adjust my lifestyle accordingly to account for it. And that's a good thing.
For anybody looking to get a leg up in their personal exercise, or to even try to figure out where to start, I think this book would be a great one to read.
That's basically what this book is. It takes all of the science around exercise and tries to sum it up in concise little chunks to help physiology neophytes like me understand what's going on with Exercise Type A vs. Exercise Type B.
So which comes first? Cardio or weights? Well, it may not surprise you that there isn't one right answer. There are just lots of trade-offs. It turns out doing a variety of exercises might be the best thing for you overall. Who knew? (Hint: I did.)
Even with that not-so-useful advice being the book's conclusion, it was still good to dig down a bit more into why that is the case, and to learn a few new things along the way, like the fact that lactic acid is actually fuel for your muscles, not a toxic by-product of exercise. The one new fact that, I think, will haunt me the most was that weight gain and loss can level off. Basically, if you eat an extra cookie a day, you will start to gain weight because of the extra calories. Eventually, your body mass will increase. But maintaining that increased body mass takes extra energy, which will eventually cancel out the extra cookie. That makes sense. The thing that terrifies me is that this same process works in reverse. If you drop, say, 300 calories from your daily intake, you will eventually hit the point where you are at a new equilibrium. In order to drop down further than that, you must drop more calories. Ugh.
Still, now I understand this idea, and will be able to adjust my lifestyle accordingly to account for it. And that's a good thing.
For anybody looking to get a leg up in their personal exercise, or to even try to figure out where to start, I think this book would be a great one to read.
July 15, 2021
Książka, o której nie wiedziałem, że jej potrzebuję.
Hutchinson odwalił kawał świetnej roboty. Wziął na warsztat mnóstwo fitnesowych mitów, jeszcze więcej badań naukowych i analiz, zadał właściwe pytania właściwym osobom związanym ze sportem i voila - czytelnicy otrzymali książkę naszpikowaną przydatnymi informacjami. Przydatnymi, o ile uprawia się sport.
W "Which Comes First..." mamy do czynienia ze zbiorem różnych, tematycznie poukładanych pytań i odpowiedzi dotyczących sportu, zdrowego stylu życia, odżywiania się, treningów i wszystkich rzeczy z tymi związanych. Zasadnicza treść przedstawia stanowisko naukowe na tematy aktualnie modne, kontrowersyjne lub nie do końca jasne.
Zatem, jakich przykładowych rzeczy można dowiedzieć się z tej książki? Może na przykład tego, że "haj biegacza" wywołany endorfinami to ściema. Robienie sześciopaka to nie ćwiczenie mięśni "core". Zmęczenie mentalne powoduje ograniczenie wydolności fizycznej. Twardość nawierzchni ma dużo mniejsze znaczenie niż równość nawierzchni. Rozgrzewka przy wykorzystaniu rozciągania statycznego to strata czasu. Witaminy wcale nie muszą być dobre. Odwodnienie podczas zawodów jest lepsze niż "przewodnienie"...
A to tylko niektóre z informacji - te, które akurat przyszły mi na myśl, gdy pisałem tę recenzję.
Słowem, Hutchinson wydał naprawdę dobrą książkę. Nie mogę się o nic przyczepić: przytaczane badania naukowe są prezentowane z pewną dozą sceptycyzmu, przy tym przedstawiane są różne punkty widzenia. Rozdziały kończą się długo zanim zaczną robić się nudne. Styl opisów jest bardzo przystępny. Może brak polskiej wersji językowej jest jakimś problemem - choć przyznam, że nawet takowej nie szukałem, więc mogę się tu mylić.
Po prostu polecam.
Hutchinson odwalił kawał świetnej roboty. Wziął na warsztat mnóstwo fitnesowych mitów, jeszcze więcej badań naukowych i analiz, zadał właściwe pytania właściwym osobom związanym ze sportem i voila - czytelnicy otrzymali książkę naszpikowaną przydatnymi informacjami. Przydatnymi, o ile uprawia się sport.
W "Which Comes First..." mamy do czynienia ze zbiorem różnych, tematycznie poukładanych pytań i odpowiedzi dotyczących sportu, zdrowego stylu życia, odżywiania się, treningów i wszystkich rzeczy z tymi związanych. Zasadnicza treść przedstawia stanowisko naukowe na tematy aktualnie modne, kontrowersyjne lub nie do końca jasne.
Zatem, jakich przykładowych rzeczy można dowiedzieć się z tej książki? Może na przykład tego, że "haj biegacza" wywołany endorfinami to ściema. Robienie sześciopaka to nie ćwiczenie mięśni "core". Zmęczenie mentalne powoduje ograniczenie wydolności fizycznej. Twardość nawierzchni ma dużo mniejsze znaczenie niż równość nawierzchni. Rozgrzewka przy wykorzystaniu rozciągania statycznego to strata czasu. Witaminy wcale nie muszą być dobre. Odwodnienie podczas zawodów jest lepsze niż "przewodnienie"...
A to tylko niektóre z informacji - te, które akurat przyszły mi na myśl, gdy pisałem tę recenzję.
Słowem, Hutchinson wydał naprawdę dobrą książkę. Nie mogę się o nic przyczepić: przytaczane badania naukowe są prezentowane z pewną dozą sceptycyzmu, przy tym przedstawiane są różne punkty widzenia. Rozdziały kończą się długo zanim zaczną robić się nudne. Styl opisów jest bardzo przystępny. Może brak polskiej wersji językowej jest jakimś problemem - choć przyznam, że nawet takowej nie szukałem, więc mogę się tu mylić.
Po prostu polecam.
February 25, 2018
If you have a habit of listening to infomercials about fitness, or pick up the usual fitness magazine this is a really good book at dispelling so many myths about exercise. Even some really longstanding myths. The author is a runner and his bias for aerobics comes through. I think, however, he stays fairly objective listing the benefits of both aerobics and weight training.
Here is the bottom line of this book. Exercise is really good for you. Eating a well balanced diet is good for you. You should really, really exercise.
There are so many references to scientific studies and research exacting the mind numbing minutia that it seems to be just hair splitting. If you exercise to be healthy and enjoy working out most of the details are just not relevant. Advice that might shave a half second off a PR, or if you are a competitive athlete it might give you a slight edge.
That's the thing even with all the studies and info the information it comes down to this might help or this might do that but there are no hard and fast rules. Why? Because human bodies are very complex and what works for one might not work for another.
Good information yes! Good information to know so you don't listen to the BS from gym rats and advertisers yes! My low review is mostly because the information seems to mostly overburden something that should be looked at in a holistic manner. Caveat; unless you really need to make small improvements for competitive events.
Here is the bottom line of this book. Exercise is really good for you. Eating a well balanced diet is good for you. You should really, really exercise.
There are so many references to scientific studies and research exacting the mind numbing minutia that it seems to be just hair splitting. If you exercise to be healthy and enjoy working out most of the details are just not relevant. Advice that might shave a half second off a PR, or if you are a competitive athlete it might give you a slight edge.
That's the thing even with all the studies and info the information it comes down to this might help or this might do that but there are no hard and fast rules. Why? Because human bodies are very complex and what works for one might not work for another.
Good information yes! Good information to know so you don't listen to the BS from gym rats and advertisers yes! My low review is mostly because the information seems to mostly overburden something that should be looked at in a holistic manner. Caveat; unless you really need to make small improvements for competitive events.
August 5, 2024
I appreciated the author's efforts to consolidate frequently asked questions about exercise and fitness. The book provides clear answers and practical advice. For instance, when deciding between cardio and weights, do the activity that aligns more closely with your fitness goals first.
The author explains that static stretching before a workout doesn't help; it might even worsen your performance. Instead, focus on dynamic stretching to warm up your muscles. The best way to do that is by doing sets with low weights. Static stretching won't prevent injury (because injury doesn't happen because of low range of motion) or DOMS. But, stretching can increase your range of motion.
I learned about the benefits of eccentric exercises and the importance of perceived effort over objective measures of tiredness. I used to think objective metrics were always best, but this was an eye-opener. It builds on the author's book Endure.
The book also discusses the differences between using an elliptical trainer and a treadmill and emphasizes the value of core strength and deep abdominal muscles over superficial abs. It was surprising to learn about the large amount of carbohydrates needed for carb loading.
I rated this book 4/5 because, while it offered many tips, I have already implemented them in my life. However, I'm not sure how long the book's advice will stay, but I'll need to change my decisions based on new research.
The author explains that static stretching before a workout doesn't help; it might even worsen your performance. Instead, focus on dynamic stretching to warm up your muscles. The best way to do that is by doing sets with low weights. Static stretching won't prevent injury (because injury doesn't happen because of low range of motion) or DOMS. But, stretching can increase your range of motion.
I learned about the benefits of eccentric exercises and the importance of perceived effort over objective measures of tiredness. I used to think objective metrics were always best, but this was an eye-opener. It builds on the author's book Endure.
The book also discusses the differences between using an elliptical trainer and a treadmill and emphasizes the value of core strength and deep abdominal muscles over superficial abs. It was surprising to learn about the large amount of carbohydrates needed for carb loading.
I rated this book 4/5 because, while it offered many tips, I have already implemented them in my life. However, I'm not sure how long the book's advice will stay, but I'll need to change my decisions based on new research.
March 13, 2022
I picked up this book after searching for “aerobic” in the library. This was a great find. Most of the book was debunking many exercise theories. One theory that I have been using since junior high is the 220 - age x percent for the different zones. It turns out there is “no magic formula” but the better one is 207 - (0.8 x your age). So, the author suggests using your breath as a guide.
There were a few concepts that was repeated throughout the book…1) Exercise no matter what; 2) Exercise will help stave off the inevitable decline of muscle mass that starts when you are 30; 3) Listen to your body because there is a lot of contradictory research out there; 4) Strength training can be very useful.
One of the interesting pieces of research is that when you hire a trainer, your workout can be more effective because the trainers make sure that your weights are heavy enough. Many people who complete their own strength training don’t pick heavy enough weight on their own.
There is a lot here. Each chapter had a list of questions and research that tried to answer the questions. What was great about the format of the book was that at the end of each chapter was a summary of the main points.
So Cardio or Weights? Or course BOTH, but start with the one that you are focusing on.
There were a few concepts that was repeated throughout the book…1) Exercise no matter what; 2) Exercise will help stave off the inevitable decline of muscle mass that starts when you are 30; 3) Listen to your body because there is a lot of contradictory research out there; 4) Strength training can be very useful.
One of the interesting pieces of research is that when you hire a trainer, your workout can be more effective because the trainers make sure that your weights are heavy enough. Many people who complete their own strength training don’t pick heavy enough weight on their own.
There is a lot here. Each chapter had a list of questions and research that tried to answer the questions. What was great about the format of the book was that at the end of each chapter was a summary of the main points.
So Cardio or Weights? Or course BOTH, but start with the one that you are focusing on.
February 24, 2017
This was an enjoyable and interesting read. I've been a little obsessive about fitness lately (I'm a marathon runner), and this book was right up my alley.
There are a lot of articles on Runner's World and other websites that basically review a recent study and discuss the implications. This book is basically over 100 of those articles one after another. However, each short topic doesn't just focus on one study, but often mentions multiple studies. The science-based approach is very informative and it puts to rest a lot of common myths. The chapters focus on different themes, and at the end of each chapter there's a useful summary.
I think I've already incorporated several things from this book into my routine, but I need it in front of me to remember specifics... Here are two of my favorite take-aways from the book:
1. We tend to overestimate what we can do in the short term, and tend to underestimate what we can do in the long term. This is so true! It applies to running, but also to nearly every other area in our lives.
2. Exercise is addictive. It releases dopamine with an effect similar to drugs. I've had some experience with this and laughed when I read it.
There are a lot of articles on Runner's World and other websites that basically review a recent study and discuss the implications. This book is basically over 100 of those articles one after another. However, each short topic doesn't just focus on one study, but often mentions multiple studies. The science-based approach is very informative and it puts to rest a lot of common myths. The chapters focus on different themes, and at the end of each chapter there's a useful summary.
I think I've already incorporated several things from this book into my routine, but I need it in front of me to remember specifics... Here are two of my favorite take-aways from the book:
1. We tend to overestimate what we can do in the short term, and tend to underestimate what we can do in the long term. This is so true! It applies to running, but also to nearly every other area in our lives.
2. Exercise is addictive. It releases dopamine with an effect similar to drugs. I've had some experience with this and laughed when I read it.
August 15, 2022
I have read Spark by John J. Ratey and Exercised by Daniel E. Lieberman because the benefits of exercise have always been way too good to believe. Don't get me wrong, I do exercise regularly myself, even before having read these books. It's just that the myriad of effects from doing a few minutes of exercise a day is unbelievable. Why isn't exercise touted as a superb treatment for many illnesses that ail us? Why is it 50% of the American population will be considered obese by 2025? These two questions have one overarching answer, it is because we choose not to! It's like many of you have already heard, if all the benefits of exercise were fit into a pill it would become an instant best-seller. The majority of people do not want to put in the effort it takes to cycle for half an an hour or even walk around the block at a frisk pace. The reasons people give do not exempt them from trying half an hour a day to lift something they can handle in a controlled, repetitive manner or a bit of cardio. But, unfortunately, the majority are on the path to self-destruction. I will not be one of them.
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