- You need to do resistance training
- High Intensity Interval Training is efficient and effecting
- Fat loss is about a calorie deficit
I liked this quote:
You should assess every fitness claim - whether it is about a new form of exercise or an amazing new product - by first asking yourself this question: does anyone benefit financially from creating the perception that this works? If the answer is yes, adopt an attitude of healthy scepticism.
Comments
I would say that the weekly exercise program that he lays out and the end of chapter 2, is probably a bit too skewed in favour of interval training. If I remember correctly he advocates 3 interval sessions and 2 weights sessions in a week. Keeping in mind that he regards himself as an ex athlete, and a sprinter at that, I feel that this prescription would probably be too much for most.
I would agree - that routine is a bit too much. One resistance session, 1 interval session and lots of activity is enough!
In any case, healthy skepticism is always useful.
Remember that medicine is an art, the art lies in knowing what sort of person is likely to benefit, there are few medicines (in the wider sense) that are good for everyone.
Someone who implies that exactly the same product or system will benefit all-comers is less to be trusted. They may have a good thing, but they don't know, or aren't being honest about, its limitations.
Then again, telling people especially older trainees, that one workout per week and one set per body part is enough is not validated either in my experience or the most recent studies.
Also, I think he went after the low-hanging fruit a bit much. I can figure out the difference between crazy claims and garbage.
The business about the crass commercialism in the "fitness" industry, the search for visible abs, was good, but he undercut his own criticisms by obsessing about getting down to 10% body fat, and the lengths to which he went to do so.
In short, I was disappointed and I thought the book was overrated. And the name was grandiose.
yes, the exercise routine was over the top.
Overall I think it is a good book. The title is grandiose, but that is the journalistic style he adopts.
"Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights" by Alex Hutchison is probably better overall
I'll check out the Hutchison book.
He's a physicist! I like them, they have a fact-oriented problem solving approach (except Taubes).
Now that I think of it, the title of the Caulfield book is probably ironic. Let's be fair.
I've ordered Hutchinson from the library. Thanks for the tip.