Fitness time machine

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/06/2021 (1574 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In 1966, researchers paid healthy 20-year-olds to do nothing but lay in bed all day for three weeks.

Keep in mind, this is before Netflix, so it probably wasn’t much fun. After three weeks, the subjects’ blood pressure, resting heart rate, and cardiac output were measured.

The Dallas Bed Rest study shocked researchers when it showed participant’s cardiovascular systems aged nearly two decades. Their health markers now looked like most out of shape 40-year -olds.

But, the study didn’t stop there, as the researchers wanted to see what would happen if they followed up the initial bed rest with an eight-week exercise program.

After that, they were happy to find their health metrics measured all returned to where they were prior to the study, suggesting the damage was quickly reversible.

“Yeah, that’s great, but they were in their 20s” you’re saying in your head, right?

Sure, but that’s not the cool part. About 30 years after the original study, the researchers got the same group of participants together again.

Most of the now 50-year-olds had gained a lot of weight and had common issues such as high blood pressure and cholesterol. They were put on a six-month exercise program. After six months, on average, participants significantly improved in terms of blood pressure, resting heart rate, and overall heart health and lung capacity. Many of which returned to their 20-something standards!

There was little change in body weight or body fat percentage. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise as we tend to understand exercise needs to be paired with diet for that to happen.

This was purely about exercise and its impact on how your body functions and ages and the nice thing is health improved despite a lack of weight loss.

The research is a good reminder of the power of exercise, its ability to slow (or reverse) aging, and its effectiveness even if you aren’t seeing external validation through weight loss all of the time.

8 Tips To Lose Weight (And Feel Great)

I know many come to this column for diet and weight loss tips, so let’s leave you with a few actionable tips here so I feel validated for my efforts.

1. The majority of your diet should consist of whole, nutrient-rich, unprocessed or minimally processed foods. This isn’t because processed foods are inherently bad, but because they tend to be low in nutrition and very easy to over-eat. After all, they taste really good because they’re packed with calories.

2. Practice the 90/10 rule. I’m not one of those coaches who force kale shakes down my client’s throats.

I don’t recommend you completely cut out the foods you enjoy because, well, where is the fun in that?

The key here is to eat healthy 90 per cent of the time and allot 10 per cent for whatever you’re craving each week.

You can fit in fun foods, even splurge the odd weekend, and not sabotage your long term success.

3. Watch the fat intake: While dietary fat isn’t the cause of all health problems like it was labeled in decades past, the pendulum is swinging a bit too far to the other side.

“Saturated fat isn’t as bad as we once thought” doesn’t mean add it to everything. It doesn’t give you licence to start dropping full bars of butter into your coffee and snack on bacon all day.

I’d still ensure the majority of your fat intake consists of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats like olive oil, nuts (while packed with healthful nutrients and delicious, be careful of these as they’re extremely calorific), and fatty fish (or fish oil capsules).

4. It’s not the carbs or fats but the combo of the two. No, carbs aren’t bad or killing you or whatever else some guy with “Dr.” on his Instagram handle is claiming on the internet to sell you in his book. It’s not the fruit. It’s foods that are both high in carbs and fat.

Doughnuts, pizza, french fries, cake and so on. These foods are high in calories with a big wallop of both carbs and fats and very tasty and easily over eaten. It’s not the carbs. It’s too much calories from what we tend to classify as junk food.

5. Drink more water. It’s good for you, duh. Aim to be in the 3L Club most days (especially if you sweat). Between 2.5-3.5 litres per day is the general guideline, depending on body size.

6. Drink less alcohol. Moderate intakes of alcohol are probably OK.

Remember that alcohol is a toxin and the less you consume, the better.

“Wine has many health benefits” is questionable marketing schtick — predicated on the presence of the antioxidant compound resveratrol — and grossly overstated.

You’d have to get drunk to the point of losing all motor skills to get a measureable amount of resveratrol.

Look, if you like wine or beer and want to nurse a glass after dinner, maybe two on a Friday night, have at it.

Life can be hard and alcohol is pleasurable. However, if the average middle aged not-so-casual beer or wine drinker was to cut back or remove alcohol from their diet they’d look younger, sleep better and have an easier time losing fat.

7. Cook more meals at home: Learning to cook simple, healthy, and tasty meals will mean that you have complete control over what you eat and the quality and quantity of what you eat.

If you want a free copy of my hot off the presses five-ingredient recipe book, you can visit my site or send me a message.

This isn’t to say that you can’t eat well when eating out, but it does make it harder.

For example, researchers looked at the nutrition content of more than 360 dishes at 123 non-chain restaurants and found that, on average, the dishes contained 1,200 calories. That’s followed up by drinks and dessert and you’ve basically consumed a day’s worth of calories in one sitting. Restaurants can make modifications for you, and often it’s best to check out the menu or calorie counts ahead of time if you’re really watching what you eat.

8. Most importantly: It’s not just calories in, calories out. It’s calories plus protein. When calories and protein are equated then all diets end up working fairly equally in terms of fat loss (when you’re in a deficit).

That means that you simply need to find your maintenance calorie intake and eat less than that, prioritize protein, and then adjust carbs and fats based on your preference within calorie limits.

Mitch Calvert is a Winnipeg-based fitness coach for men and women like his former self, struggling to slay their weight loss demons and become the healthy fit version they deserve. Visit mitchcalvert.com to grab yourself a free metabolism jumpstart or inquire about his July “Summer Sustainable” diet challenge.