Reader Q&A - How Often Should I Work Out?
This question came from someone who wished to remain unnamed, but it’s definitely an interesting one. How often should you work out?
The answer depends on your lifestyle. Are you an active person by nature? Do you go out to play soccer every Friday afternoon like a good friend of mine? Do you hike every Sunday morning? Do you bike to work every day? All of these things count as physical activity which you are trying to replicate when you work out.
In general, I would recommend that you get a serious resistance workout 3 to 4 times a week. A resistance workout is something that challenges your muscles. It could be rock climbing or it could be lifting weights, but it needs to really strain you to the point where your muscles ache and you feel tired, but not out of breath.
I would also recommend a good two or three sessions a week where you challenge your whole body and especially your cardiovascular system. In other words, exercise which gets you out of breath. This could be soccer, sprints, fast paced dancing, uphill hiking or anything else that gets your heart rate pumping.
Otherwise, just maintain an active lifestyle with plenty of walking and moving around.
Reader Q&A: Should Kids Workout?
This question comes from Sarita:
I have an 8 year old and a 4 year old. They eat healthy and are very active but I was wondering if they should be working out like I do at a gym. Would it help them?
This question is better asked of a pediatrician. However, I will give you my opinion. You describe your kids as eating healthy and being very active. That should be enough. Kids are kids, they run around, they climb trees, they play games and that’s more than enough physical activity. Regular gym workouts are important only to adults, like me, who spend most of their day sitting in an office. If your kids are already active, then let them enjoy that and don’t drag them into a gym.
By the way, that applies to adults too. If you lead an active lifestyle where you’re running, climbing, biking, lifting and doing other physical things all the time, you probably don’t need a regular gym workout as much as I do. Might it help to have a more structured exercise routine? Possibly, but the benefit you get is probably small for the time you need to invest.
The Basic Equation of Life
I often get questions along the lines of “will this make me thin?” or “what do you think of this diet?” which make me believe that most folks don’t understand the basic mechanisms of our body. So I decided to devote today’s post to a review of the underlying equation of life and weight. Here it is folks, the theory of relativity for weight loss.
Calories In - Calories Out = Change In Weight.
If calories in are higher than calories out, you get a positive change in weight (you gain weight). If calories in are lower than calories out, you get a negative change in weight (you lose weight). That’s it, the basic equation.
A Bit More Detail
To understand how various things work, I’m going to expand the equation a bit into the following:
(Calories In * Digestive Efficiency) - (Metabolic Calories Out + Activity Calories Out) = Change in weight.
What does all this mean?
Calories In - This is an easy one. Calories in are what you consume. Eat a 300 calories candy bar and you’ve consumed 300 calories in.
Digestive Efficiency - Not exactly a scientific term but a good one nonetheless. This basically represents how many calories your body actually derives from those calories in. For example, some people are unable to digest certain foods. So they may consume 100 calories worth of that food but their bodies don’t really get the full 100 calories worth. For anyone thinking this is a good thing, spend some time with people who are lactose intolerant, they’ll set you straight.
Metabolic Calories Out - Your body uses a certain amount of calories per day just to stay alive. Basic living activities such as breathing, pumping blood and maintaining temperature all require calories. This is what goes under Metabolic Calories Out.
Activity Calorie Out - These are the calories you use on activities other than basic bodily functions. For example, walking, running, lifting weights, dancing, hiking, having sex. All of these activities require energy and that energy expenditure falls under activity calorie out.
So What?
So, now that we have our equation and our terms, what does this all mean? Well, the basic lesson here is that anytime someone tells you about something that could help you lose weight, you want to make sure you understand how it’s going to affect your body. That’s why it’s important to know this equation.
For Example:
Exercise - Well, that’s an easy one. We exercise which means we increase Activity Calories Out.
Eat More Vegetables - This one is a little less obvious. Vegetables are relatively low in calories. So if we eat the same volume of food but make more of that volume vegetables, we’ll eat less calories overall. That means less Calories In. Note that “eat more vegetables” isn’t really the secret. It’s “Eat Vegetables Instead Of Other Food With More Calories”. If you ate everything you did today and then just added vegetables, you’d actually gain weight since you increased Calories In. That’s the power of this little formula. Once you understand, you can make sense of a lot of these diet and health tips.
Eat More Frequent Meals - Why? Well, the theory is that our bodies spend calories more freely when they get food frequently. Our bodies will behave like people who get 10 dollars every day instead of 300 dollars at the end of the month and they’ll be more willing to spend that 10 dollars right now. Note that this only affects metabolic calories out. That is, by eating more frequent but smaller meals, our Metabolic Calories Out increase.
Calorie Restrictive Diets - These are the diets that tell you to cut down your calories in drastically. Sounds simple enough, lower calories in and you lose weight, right? Maybe, but what other parts of the equation could these diets affect? Well, as our bodies receive less calories, they also try to spend less calories. Bodies do this by lowering the amount of calories spent on basic life sustaining activities. For example, stay on a calorie restricted diet long enough and your body will shut off things like reproductive systems. It will also start cannibalizing calorie rich tissue like muscles. In other words, your body will compensate for the drastic decrease in Calories In by reducing Metabolic Calories Out.
Bad Ideas
As a general rule, there are a few bad things you can do:
Changes in digestive efficiency - This includes taking laxatives, forcing yourself to throw up and so on. Most of these fall into the realm of eating disorders and if you’re doing them, please seek help. As someone who’s struggled with healthy eating for many years, I can understand your pain, but this isn’t the way to solve the problem.
Artificial changes in your metabolic calories out - This includes things like smoking, most diet pills and other stimulants. Sure, they cause you to burn more calories but at what cost? Most of these things put a tremendous burden on your body and can cause many other health issues.
Drastic changes in calories in - Things like 500 calorie a day diets or week long fasts. These aren’t healthy for you and, in the long run, they are not conducive to weight loss. You’re just going to ruin your body by doing these.
Luckily, there are some good things you can focus on:
Increase in activity calories out - This is easy. Move more. Go out. Walk, exercise, dance, swim. Whatever it is, just keep moving.
Natural increases in metabolic calories out - This includes things like eating more frequent meals, lowering the thermostat at home (forcing your body to spend a few more calories on the proper temperature), building muscles (muscle tissue uses up a lot of calories) and so on. There are a variety of ways in which you can tell your body “speed it up!” that are natural and good for you.
Gradual and healthy changes in calories in - For example, removing sodas and coffee from the menu. Your body won’t notice the removal of most liquid calories so you can do this without sending your body into panic mode. Also, doing things like replacing high calorie foods with low calorie foods like vegetables is good. Your body will get the same volume of food but less calories overall. That means your body still believes it’s getting a good amount of food and so it won’t start enacting emergency measures.
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Just remember that basic equation and try to figure out how various behaviors fit within it. It will make you a smarter and more educated consumer of health activities.
Also, this was a VERY short and unscientific primer about the human metabolism. People should educate themselves about their bodies in more detail than this. It’s just as important as learning about your mortgage rate or how your car works. In fact, it’s probably a lot more important than either one of those. If you’re interested, I highly recommend YOU: The Owner’s Manual, Updated and Expanded Edition: An Insider’s Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger
Freeweights or Machines, Which Is Better?
Colin writes in:
I started working out about 6 months ago and I’m feeling great. I have a question, which is better, freeweights or machines? Also, is it true that people who use freeweights get injured more?
Hello Colin, congratulations on your 6 months of working out. You’re past the hardest parts.
I think I answered a similar question a few months ago but since I couldn’t find that article myself, I guess I’ll answer this again. If any reader manages to find the original post, please link it in the comments.
As for your question. Let me handle the second question first. Yes, free weights do pose a greater injury risk. First of all, it’s easier to injure yourself through simple mishaps such as dropping a weight on your foot or falling down, things that are nearly impossible when using a machine. In fact, my only gym injury in 6 years happened because I dropped a dumbbell on my head. Second, because your body isn’t confined to a limited range of motion, there is a greater chance to stress muscles and joints in an inappropriate manner while working out with free weights. For example, if you try to do dead lifts incorrectly with free weights, you can strain your back or your legs. Doing back exercises with a machine is much safer since your range of motion is limited.
However, that said, I am still a big proponent of free weights and believe that they are superior to machines in a number of ways. When you work out with machines, you are limited to a very specific set of motions and muscles. For example, when you do a back exercise on a machine you are only working out the back muscles, nothing else. When you do a similar back exercise with free weights (dead lifts for example) you are working out the back but you are also recruiting the leg muscles, shoulders and upper arms in a variety of ways. Yes, the back muscles are still the ones being worked out, but you’re also seeing benefits all over your body. In other words, working out with free weights is a more “natural” way of working out. You’re doing motions that your body does normally, only with weights. Where as machines limit you to a very narrow motion.
The key is good form. If you have good form, you will minimize your injury risk and maximize your free weight workout. Good form means control and isolation of muscles. It means you lift the weights with the muscles you’re trying to work out, recruiting other muscles only for stability, and you control both the speed and the range of the lifting motion. If you don’t have good form and you have no desire to learn good form, you should stick to machines. You’ll get a better workout and you won’t injure yourself.
Reader Q&A: Are Breakfast Cereals Healthy?
I was reading some fitness magazines this week (needed something to keep me busy during my flights) and I noticed that quite a few of them were recommending some kind of breakfast cereal as a way to start out your day. That’s interesting, because most breakfast cereals are actually not too healthy, especially the way we eat them here in the states.
And apparently, I wasn’t the only one reading those magazines since I got this email from a reader in Europe:
I recently visited the US and one of the most common commercials I saw was for cereals. There were many different advertisements but all of them claimed that cereals were healthy and good for you. How true is this?
What’s The Problem With Cereals?
Two things, they’re usually too much processed grains and they usually contain too much sugar. Is that always true? No, not all cereals are like this but the overwhelming majority is. That includes most kids’ cereals by the way. All those commercials about how many vitamins Trix has, or how Fruit Loops is the cereal moms recommend? Yah, if you believe that, I have some real estate I want to sell you.
So What Should I Look For In A Healthy Cereal?
A healthy cereal usually meants whole grains. It means no extra sweetners, so once you start seeing boxes talking about frosting and maple clusters, you’re probably in the unhealthy category. Ideally, it’s going to have less than 200 calories per serving, since most people will end up eating two servings for breakfast with some added milk for good measure. If possible, look for cereals high in fiber.
So Is A Cereal A Healthy Breakfast?
It can be. A good cereal, eaten in moderation can be a good source of many vitamins, protein and fiber. However, I would recommend keeping cereals to a minimum. Two or three times a week may be fine, but try to vary your breakfasts a bit. Try eggs one or two days a week, or maybe some cheese and vegetables.
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As with many foods, cereals can be a good healthy option if you pick wisely and eat them in moderation.
Reader Q&A: Treadmill, Elliptical or Stationary Bike?
Darshant writes in:
I want to add more cardio training to my gym workouts but my gym has limited cardio options. Which one would you recommend, treadmill, stationary bike or elliptical?
Your gym sounds like mine Darshant 
But no worries, you can still get a great workout using these machines. Let’s take a look at each one.
Stationary Bike
This is actually my least favorite machine, for a number of reasons.
- Difficult posture - Most stationary bikes force your body into an odd position which is both uncomfortable and not very good for your spine.
- Difficult to maintain speed - Unless you’re constantly looking at the readouts, your speed will tend to decrease over time. So you get into this cycle of slowing down over time, checking out the readout, picking up your speed and then starting to slow down again.
- Only works out one part of the body. Really, the only part of you which moves is your legs. The rest of you is stationary. That’s not a good workout as far as I’m concerned.
On the plus side, the stationary bike is easy to figure out and has no impact on your feet. However, these two advantages don’t outweigh the disadvantages.
Elliptical
One of the best options out there. The elliptical does suffer from the same speed maintenance problem as the stationary bike. That is, since you’re the one setting the speed and not the machine, there’s a tendency to slow down unless you’re constantly watching the readout. However, the elliptical does have a two very strong advantages that make up for this.
- Full body workout, especially if you’re using an elliptical machine with the moving poles for the arms. When you’re on an elliptical, you can really get your whole body engaged, which is much better than working out your legs alone.
- Low impact - Unlike the treadmill, the ellipitical has zero impact on your feet.
So as long as you can maintain a good pace, the elliptical is a great option.
Treadmill
Another great option. The treadmill’s strongest advantage is the ability to set a pace and follow it. Just program your desired speed into the treadmill and off it goes. At this point, you have no choice but to keep up or fall off. That means no slacking and it’s the reason why I think the treadmill provides the strongest cardio workout. However, strongest does not mean best and the treadmill does have a few disadvantages.
- Falling off - It sounds silly, but if you’re not careful, you can injure yourself on a treadmill.
- Impact - And if the falling doesn’t hurt you, the repeated impacts on your feet might. Running on a treadmill is better than running on concrete but it’s still running, which means it’s still a lot of repeated impacts on your feet and legs.
My Recommendation
Avoid the stationary bike. Instead, alternate between the elliptical and the treadmill. Personally, I work out on the treadmill every Tuesday and Thursday and on the elliptical every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That gives me a a good variety of workouts while not being boring. I would also recommend varying things up by doing faster, shorter workout followed followed by slower, longer workouts and so on.
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Oh, and if you can, try to convince your gym owners to get a stair master. A real one, the one that looks like a small, steep escalator. Those are great! It has all the advantage of a treadmill without the impact to your feet.
How To Lose Love Handles In Two Weeks
That’s the question I got over email last night from someone who happened to stumble upon 60 in 3. I responded back with most of the same information I’m about to post here and exchanged a few more emails with this person. They proved to be quite intelligent and I would like to thank them for allowing me to use this conversation as a post topic; it’s not easy sometimes to admit that you don’t know something other people consider to be basic truth.
Can You Lose Weight In A Specific Area?
Despite every infomercial that tells you it has the machine that melts belly fat or the exercise regime that shapes your thighs, it’s actually very difficult to do spot fixes on your body, especially when it comes to losing fat. Where your body stores fat is determined mostly by genetics and gender. Most men tend to store fat in the belly area while most women tend to store fat in the thighs and rear end. This isn’t always true but it’s generally accurate. Once you put on enough fat, the body will start storing it everywhere it can which is why very obese people don’t just have thick thighs or large bellies.
No Spot Losses
This is bad news because it means that we can’t diet in a way that specifically targets certain areas of the body. There’s just no way to lose the love handles. Also, making radical changes to your body in two weeks is almost impossible and usually unhealthy. To lose weight the healthy way, you’re going to want to lose between 1 to 2 lbs per week. Anything more than that and you’re probably doing damage to your body by starving yourself and cannibalizing muscles.
Exercise is slightly different. You can actually target different muscles in exercise. However, building stronger belly muscles is not going to specifically target belly fat, it will just mean that you have good muscle tone under that belly fat.
So What’s The Answer?
Well, the answer is the same as always. Eat a healthy diet, lead an active life and exercise at regular intervals. Eventually, your body will become fit and those love handles will go away. The down side is that it takes more time than two weeks. The upside is that you end up feeling good and looking good all over rather than just losing weight around your belly.
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There are no miracle solutions in health. Anyone who promises you major changes in two weeks is more than likely trying to sell you something.
NOTE - Right after I posted this ad I noticed an advertisement on 60 in 3 called “learn the secret to losing belly fat”. Needless to say, I went ahead and blocked it. If you see other such ads for junk health sites like this one, please let me know.
