On Wednesday, my local support group had a guest scholarly and published speaker. He had all sorts of degrees in kinesiology and muscle synthesis. He's a big fitness science nerd, and he owns a gym here called Exercise Science. He threw around big words and sited countless studies. So here were his main points..

• Muscle strength and growth is the most important thing for fitness. Blah blah metabolic, hormonal, and skeletal benefits. It's the "fountain of youth". If you compare a young control group to an older group of swimmers, an older group of runners, an older group of tennis players, and an older group of weight lifters, the weight lifting group's muscle biopsies are identical to the young folk.
• High intensity resistance training is the most efficient and effective way to strengthen muscle. Cause as much micro-trauma to the tissue as you can and then rest to build muscle. His goal for his clients is to get them to their strongest genetic potential. Intensity and required resting periods vary for individuals, but he made ball park recommendations.
• High intensity means you leave the gym walking as if you have cerebral palsy. You shouldn't be able to lift your arms. You go at it so hard, you should reach that point with only a 30 minute workout.
• Soreness is unrelated to whether you're sufficiently rested or not. The only way you know if you've rested sufficiently is if the next time, you're stronger. Rest means no muscle stimulus. No moderate or even light resistance training in between. No endurance activities in between. No jogging, no swimming, no yoga.
• People who rest for a full week have better muscle growth/strength improvement than people who train twice a week.
• Combining this method with a ketogenic diet is ideal for weight loss.
• Not a single person in my support group was exercising the "right way".

So what?

I like my early morning 3 mile walk. It seems to help me with stress and starts my day off on a good foot. I like Couch to 5K. Half-way through! I like working out with weights 4 times a week. I'm motivated as hell. Yoga is improving my flexibility, breathing and posture.

Let's just say his method is measurably and scientifically backed up and proven to yield the best fitness results. Screw it? Do you forget the science? Do you stick with what's "working" for you, even if it's not actually working so well? Despite my efforts to reverse the trend, my fat free mass (according the BIA scale at the doc's office) continues to drop. From 128lbs before surgery now down to 104lbs. There are weeks where according to that a-hole scale, my fat% is increasing. I haven't gotten stronger. According to him, the science says my efforts are misguided and are in vain, I'm not shredding or resting enough, and his method would actually be effective.

I plan to stick with what I'm doing anyway. I'm open to increasing my intensity, but I'm not giving up my other activities. I could try decreasing my gym training to 3xs a week, but no less, and I wouldn't be happy about it.

The best exercise program is the one you will actually do...

Um...he is a quack. Or at the very most he horribly misunderstands what the has been taught. Often people who gauge themselves scientists misunderstand that results do not always mean a hypothesis is correct. You are going to see results if you push yourself the way he describes. However, it is not ideal, it does not produce ideal results either.

Muscle strength occurs with a balance of health. You must be able to breath, you must be sufficiently hydrated, you must have sufficient sleep, it is best to eat in a manner that serves your body, any medical issues should be addressed and dealt with in a mindful manner. Connective tissue, lymph system, bones, muscle, fascia, skin and MORE all contribute to a successful workout regimen.

Not all body types respond to different activities (I prefer to think of my exercise as activities than workouts, lol). Your body type and how your dominate activity will define alot about the rest of what goes on. for instance, a long distance runner, healthy, active and prime will be much less flexible in yoga when stretching than a wrestler or someone who takes karate. It is how the muscle responds, it "remembers" the dominant activity.

In my experience, you should never work a consistent activity that literally prevents your body from responding. Pain is not results. Pain is pain, it developed as a warning devise to tell you to either slow down or pay heed or stop if possible.

The intense physical activity he is describing taxes the central nervous system, which uses sodium and phosphate and other minerals in complex forms to provide the electrical impulses for coordination and movement. Overtaxing occurs quickly, and that equals poorer and poorer impulses, and lack of concentration and coordination. Injury. Not to mention what shredding your muscles does to your body's filters - liver, kidneys, etc.

This man is promoting a club, and telling you why YOU need HIM, and why therefor you should be willing to pay for his services and facility.

The best exercise program is the one you will actually do...

Wow!!! Perfect response!!! AMEN!!!!

And I will add, that I would never feel like I wasn't doing myself good by going outside and enjoying a good walk. Walking will lose weight, but WLS ensures that the weight will stay off.

I want to share another thought. I was pretty fit ... until I started working with a pesonal trainer. I was injured in about 3 weeks - overuse. He could tell that I am strong and aerobically fit and just didn't think I was pushing myself hard enough.. I could do "more"

What he didn't factor and what this quack isn't factoring is that a lifetime of obesity has left hidden damage. I have arthritis in my knees and as a result of my overuse injury I found out in my hips too. I walked around like a cripple for a few months due to this kid personal trainer .. it was painful and I lost my exercise mojo.

i do believe in high intensity workouts, but this leaving the gym like a cripple is BULL! Don't buy into it - respect what your body tells you. Keep moving, keep active and be open to new ideas, but overdoing it and hurting yourself = major setback!

You already have stellar responses but I thought I would add that a muscle biopsy may look like that of a young athelete but that is not a good measure of overall health or quality of life in my opinion. Having great muscle mass doesn't mean you are "fit" any more than being thin means you are "fit". At the gym where I go to work out there are a half a dozen men that have HUGE muscles.....but I would bet you money they can't bend over to tie their shoes because they don't have the flexibility. I also doubt they have any stamina when it comes to cardiovascular exercise. My trainer and I have a running joke that when one of them is grunting loudly that they are showing appreciation for how hard I'm working lol.

Ok ...

as someone who has friends and myself who like to push each other to our limits (and what we define as limits are definitely NOT in the same realm as others), I don't have but so much right to talk. That being said, we don't do these types of work outs that he is describing all the time. When the month long, national swim challenge happened last year, I pushed it. 2 ER visits and I'm still looking forward to doing it again another year. However! I took it easier after that. Then revved up again. I never swam or anything like that on a consistent basis. Nor does any one I know. They do big things, settle down.

I think that is where I have a bit of an issue. No one who really pushes themselves, does it permanently. He doesn't describe tapers or anything else. That is what I find scary.

I can easily deal with doing a tough workout but not every time you hit the gym because we're talking almost every day you should be doing something. If that is not people's cup of tea, I have no problem with that. Different strokes, different folks.