Taking on non-sense about exercise

I lost my cool today when I opened the newspaper in the morning. Predictably there was an ignorant nonsensical article published in the T2 by a fitness expert. Normally I would not have bothered but this one touched a nerve.

“Strength coach Charles Poliquin had coined the term ‘chunky aerobics instructor’ (CAIS) to describe women aerobics and step-class instructors who spend almost two to three hours every day on aerobic exercise, yet carry 22-24 per cent body fat. Compare these figures to female sprinters who carry only 12-13 per cent body fat and the punchline is clear: stay away from aerobic exercise!”

Comparing apples to oranges are we? Normal women compared with sprinters? Even then this is a pathetic comparison. He seems to imply that 22 -24% body fat is bad for women. On the contrary 21-24% body fat is considered to be fitness level for women and 25 to 31% body fat is acceptable for women (Diabetes India). So he is wrong there. May be he should have Googled properly before shooting his mouth off.

“Forget what doctors tell you about aerobic exercise based on research done on treadmill running of rats. Humans are not rats.”

Oh! Slandering doctors are we? Perhaps he should have read up a bit more. Isn’t there any human study showing the effect of aerobic exercise? Of course there is, the fitness expert is too lazy to even use Google. What a shame! So here are two studies (on humans m'Lord, not on rats, I swear) that show aerobic exercise is indeed good for you –

1. Effect of Exercise on Total and Intra-abdominal Body Fat in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial
– Whoa, an RCT! I can barely control my glee. Qouting the results –

“Exercisers showed statistically significant differences from controls in baseline to 12-month changes in body weight (–1.4 kg; 95% confidence interval [CI], –2.5 to –0.3 kg), total body fat (–1.0%; 95% CI, –1.6% to –0.4%), intra-abdominal fat (–8.6 g/cm2; 95% CI, –17.8 to 0.9 g/cm2), and subcutaneous abdominal fat (–28.8 g/cm2; 95% CI, –47.5 to –10.0 g/cm2). A significant dose response for greater body fat loss was observed with increasing duration of exercise.”

                    And the conclusion –

“Regular exercise such as brisk walking results in reduced body weight and body fat among overweight and obese postmenopausal women.”

    2 .Effect of Aerobic Training on Percentage of Body Fat,Total Cholesterol and HDL-C among Obese Women (PDF) – Quoting from the abstract –

“The results showed that there were significant changes in Percentage of Body Fat, TC and HDL-C.”

So Mr. Fruitness expert, you are demonstrably wrong. Maybe you should think again before slandering doctors and sprouting non-sense?

Edit - Can't believe I missed this nugget -

"Cortisol leads to adrenal fatigue, yo-yo-like fluctuations in blood sugar and completely throws your digestive system off gear."

Our fruitness expert is a total woo monger, peddling a fake disease!! From the brilliant people of Science based Medicine -

“Adrenal fatigue” is not a real medical condition. There are no scientific facts to support the theory that long-term mental, emotional, or physical stress drains the adrenal glands and causes many common symptoms."

Irwin, M. (2003). Effect of Exercise on Total and Intra-abdominal Body Fat in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 289 (3), 323-330 DOI: 10.1001/jama.289.3.323