Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

TIME ^ | Aug. 09, 2009 | By John Cloud

[LTCJ]

did you catch my Freudian slip?

Omagosh, I completely missed it. I guess having a middle-aged, graying, winded body causes jellying of the hanging-lob-over-the-center-of-the-plate portion of my mind.

Good laugh.

[tsmith130]

You're doing the right thing. Full body workouts are the only thing I have my clients do...along with interval training.

Keep up the great work!

[TheThirdRuffian]

Yeah, I had the advantage of NFL coaches, albeit years ago.

Single joint lift? Never done one unless I’ve been hurt.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

Does anyone know the formula for toning up, rather than bulking up? Reps, length of time?

[Stentor]

A chaw will help also.

[randomhero97]

deadlifts (405lbs for 10),

Nice. My best pull was 500 for a single at 190lbs. Trying to get my squats back up due to knee issues. If an average person like a powerlifter and with the intensity of a powerlifter the US wouldn't have to worry about the obesity problem.

[TheThirdRuffian]

“If an average person like a powerlifter and with the intensity of a powerlifter the US wouldn’t have to worry about the obesity problem.”

It’s true.

I am, by no means, “svelt,” but I can throw a pretty boy through a wall -— and I don’t get short of wind going up stairs, either.

I am occassionaly tempted to see what my best deadlift would be, but, for safety reasons, I don’t drop below what I can do for 5 reps (which is in the mid 400s somewhere, depending on the day).

I also don’t use straps. I figure if I can’t hold it up, I don’t need to be picking it up.

[randomhero97]

I also don’t use straps. I figure if I can’t hold it up, I don’t need to be picking it up.

Get a good belt and try it. I don't use straps either I use a mixed grip. Brad Gillingham (top USAPL SHW powerlifter) pulls in the high 800's to low 900's with a hook grip. Of course, he is the largest human being I have ever seen in my life.

My body is built fast-twitch so I have to lift pretty much low reps high weight to get any gains. Once I work through some injuries I'll probably start competing again. You should look into a competition. You could lift in the Master's division if you wanted.

[TheThirdRuffian]

Don’t use a belt, either. Just me.

I don’t want to compete; if I did, I’d get way too serious and start roiding, I know me.

[randomhero97]

I don’t want to compete; if I did, I’d get way too serious and start roiding, I know me.

Lol. That's why the Russians are always suspended from the IPF (International Powerlifting Federation). The IPF tends to have more stringent testing than the Olympics.

[Ax]

On 5/25/83 I weighed 250 at 5'9". On that day I underwent my first triple bypass at age 40. I was release on day six and on day ten I started walking, up to ten miles a day. Six weeks post op, I started jogging, then running. After 100 days I was running through the streets of Baghdad with the Hash House. I weighed 190. I jogged four or five miles daily for the next 16 years. In 1999, I just got tired of it and went to walking five or six miles a day. After stopping jogging, I went up to 200, my current weight. On 1/02/08, I had my second triple bypass. All my numbers (cholestorol, BP, etc.)we right where they were supposed to be and still the angina came back. I still walk three miles daily, do pushups, crunches and some light weight work.

My best buddy, also 67, is 5'9", weighs about 150, smokes three packs a day, eats like a horse - eggs, bacon, cheese - pastries, and drinks a LOT of red wine. To the best of my knowledge, he's never exercised in his life, or been on any kind of diet. Nobody ever said life was fair.

[staytrue]

It may be the red wine.

Start eating grapes, and take a resveratrol supplement and see if that helps.

Also, you might try coenzyme q10

[Ax]

I’ll stick with the red wine, thanks. If it works for Vince....

[BellStar]

I did the exercise after I lost most of my weight. I was slow to add the exercise out of ignorance. I know as a white female over 50 and small boned (most susceptible group) with a mom and grand-mom with severe osteoporosis. That is my drive to keep up the exercise! I have been tested and so far don't have even ostopenia (sp?) and I think that's the exercise factor. I have keept the weight off by keeping at about 1200 Calories 6 day's with a day off a week where anythig goes.

[BellStar]

Here’s the straight dope: There are no masculine and feminine patters of muscle growth. There are no exercises that specifically encourage definition. You can build muscle mass, and you can lose fat. That’s it.
http://randomfit.blogspot.com/2007/06/bulking-vs-toning.html

[BellStar]

I am so proud of you! Thank you for sharing your really great and oh so encouraging story.

[MainFrame65]

First, a correction - I was 65, not 60, in early 2005.

I had a LOT of trouble getting started. I wore prescription “diabetic shoes with accommodative inserts” to prevent blisters and other such problems with my feet, but just the initial, minimal treadmill walking quickly wore the soft lining out of them. I got a new pair of “diabetic walking shoes,” but they were no better - for the same reason. And after just a few weeks, not only were the linings worn, but I was developing layers of blisters on the ball of both feet, as well as where the lining was worn and on 4 toes.

I would find the blisters only when I examined my feet, because I could NOT feel them. I saw a Orthopedic Dr, who told me that If I kept doing this I would soon be doing it on prosthetic feet - and gave me a new prescription for the same kind of shoes. I also saw a podiatrist, who gave me the same grim prediction - and prescription. And I also saw 3 different PEDORTHISTS - people who actually make the inserts.

The last one told me to visit a running shoe store and get running shoes with adequate soft lining, the best shock absorbtion I could find, and enough room to accept the diabetic inserts I needed. He recommended “Fleet Feet” because they actually put me on a treadmill in the store and took a movie of my feet.

Turned out I needed a LOT of support, as well, and that Nike “Structure II” was what I needed, along with “Balgo” sox, that NEVER wrinkle. I also needed a thin Spenco insole over the inserts, because the bare inserts would not allow the sox to slip - so they would wrinkle.

Not a single blister since then, and I have already told the rest of the story.

[TheThirdRuffian]

I hope it is better than the NFL; those were easy to trick.

(Yes, like all pro players, I was roided to the gills. 750 sostenon and deca was a typical week.)

[woollyone]

created an xls for this purpose.

Thanks for the information and excellent article.

[heartwood]

Thanks for your account of the barriers that someone who WANTS to exercise but already has limitations might face. It’s good to keep in mind.