You ever heard of the “Fitter But FATTER” phenomenon - PART 1

If you want to do something about it, this kettlebell program has yielded some impressive decreases in body fat and inches lost - especially because users didn’t watch what they ate.

I don’t know if you’ve heard of this, so let me just give you a quick overview:

The “Fitter But FATTER” Phenomenon occurs when you commit to an exercise program for a period of time - say 12 weeks - and instead of getting leaner, stronger and better conditioned…

You just get stronger and better conditioned but you actually gain a few pounds / kilos and your pants get tighter in the waist, thighs, and butt.

Why does this happen?
Simple.
Your workouts are either too long, too hard, or a combo of both.

How “Long” is “Too Long?”

Some interesting research from the University of Copenhagen back in 2010 examined this question.

Two groups of men exercised daily for 13 weeks.

One group exercised for an hour a day, the other for 30 minutes a day.

Which group lost more fat?

If we followed the “more is better” ideology, we’d think the first - 60 minutes, 5 days a week, right?
Wrong.
The 60 minute group lost an average of 2.7kg of scale weight and 3.8kg of fat mass.
The 30-minute group lost an average of 3.6kg of scale weight and 4.0kg of fat mass.
So, exercising half as much, the 30-minute group lost a little more fat and a third more “scale weight.”

The researchers postulated that the 60-minute group probably ate more to compensate from the fatigue accumulated, hence the less-than-expected fat loss.
Researchers also noted that the 30-minute group reported extra energy and a positive outlook on life as a result.

Take Away Points:

[1] 30 minutes will give you (probably) better results than 60 minutes.

[2] The longer your training duration, the more likely it is that you’ll be tired and hungry, and so the more likely it is you’ll eat more than you should, or more than normal.

And yeah, I know that doesn’t account for the “fatter” part because both groups still lost fat mass.

So, there’s gotta be more to it than just “shorter exercise duration” right?

There is.

It’s called the “The I.T. Effect.”

And we’ll cover it next time.

Stay Strong,

Geoff

P.S. Just in case you’ve been frustrated by this phenomenon, you’re not alone.

It’s probably why only about 25% of Americans exercise. They’ve tried, and repeatedly failed because they’ve been listening to conventional wisdom.

REFERENCES:

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22855277/ (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

[2] https://archive.nytimes.com/well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/is-30-minutes-of-daily-exercise-a-sweet-spot-for-weight-loss/ (Si apre in una nuova finestra)