“Don’t eat past 6pm!” “You have to circuit train to get skinny– heavy weights just lead to bulk!” “Cardio burns fat, weights build muscle!” “I’m only eating off of the ‘super food’ list these days– you know, blueberries, oatmeal, and broccoli!”

Oprah Winfrey Is Wrong!

Have you ever heard any of these statements? In my years as a trainer, I’ve encountered so many half-truths (and complete falsehoods) about exercise and healthy diet that my head starts to spin every time I hear “I heard that.” Oprah Winfrey alone should be made to pay for all of your gym memberships for all of the disinformation she has spread on her show during the past year. Remember, it always comes down to a “thyroid problem.”

The fact is, exercise science is both simple and complex, depending on the angle you approach it from. It’s complex in the sense that you can’t just listen to any source out there and hope they are accurate in their “fact giving.” Any scientific field is going to have broad principles guiding the field as a whole, as well as a slew of smaller-scale facts that comprise the intricate details of that particular discipline.

With exercise science specifically, if you get too caught up in focusing on the intricate details– like the merits of some particular food, or how many reps and how many sets of a particular exercise you should do– then chances are you’re going to be confused, especially as a beginner. However, if you focus on the big picture– the broad principles underlying and defining the field of health and fitness as a whole– then you should have a relatively easy time achieving your goals.

Integration

The field of exercise science breaks down into three basic segments– nutrition, cardiovascular exercise, and resistance exercise (or simply “weight training”).  Lifetime Fitness as a company subscribes to the philosophy that you need the appropriate balance between these three elements in order to achieve your health and fitness goals.

Let’s sidetrack for a moment and talk about goals. What are the goals of most of the new members joining up here are Lifetime Fitness? The vast majority of people using this club are striving to achieve general health. As a personal trainer, I can tell you that the majority of members I speak with are looking primarily to lose body fat, and secondarily, to build muscle tone.

Continue to Part 2 here…