Exercise and Overeating: Lessons from Football Players
Many professional football players struggle to lose weight when they retire. CNN reported on the experiences of these players, including Chuck Smith (former defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers), who said:
When I trained, they told us to eat all you can eat ... Drink beer, eat peanut butter to gain weight. All those eating habits were great for football. But when I got done, no question I had to make adjustments.
Should You Be Eating More When You Exercise?
Athletes and professional sportsmen definitely need extra food. A few months ago, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps' diet hit headlines around the globe; he apparently consumed 12,000 calories per day while training.
But most of us don't need many extra calories when exercising. You might be surprised how long it takes to burn calories compared to how quickly you can consume them; a half-hour jog burns about 350 calories (for a 155lb individual), but a large mars bar comes to almost 300 calories - and takes just a few minutes to eat.
If you find that exercising makes you hungrier, fuel your body with what it needs. Experts advise eating slow-release carbohydrates (like wholegrain breads and cereals, rice or pasta) before exercising, and eating carbs and some lean protein after a workout.
Don't Be Put Off Exercising
Most people find that exercise encourages them to make healthy choices and helps strengthen their willpower. Don't be put off the idea of exercising because you're afraid you'll end up eating more: just be realistic about how long and how hard you've really worked out for - and don't use exercise as an excuse to eat junk. If you've been for a half-hour gentle walk, have a glass of water and perhaps a piece of fruit afterwards - not three cookies.
Chuck Smith took steps to reduce his weight after retirement from professional football, and now works as a fitness trainer. He told CNN:
I had to retrain my thinking .... I don't have to stuff myself to feel comfortable.
Like Smith, most of us need to learn to eat until we're comfortably full, not until we're stuffed to the brim. Use this as your rule of thumb, and you won't be undoing the good effects of your exercising.
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My brother takes after my Uncle, in that he can train and eat junk all day. I take after my father, in that I still put up the weight, if I don't be careful.
ReplyAn Intensive and consistent Strength training with combination of interval cardio training is the key to keep your metabolism elevated. When you stop doing this, you might keep your body weight on the same level when you eat less but in the same time your body becomes weeker too. To keep your body strong, healthy you need to do intensive physical activity and eat more and right.
ReplyI think what is more telling is that most people don't workout hard enough to really expend enough energy.
If you're in good overall health and can safely push yourself, let out the stops.
At 170lbs, I can easily but 3-400 calories in a twenty-minute workout.
Some of my endurance focused ones (2-2:30) hours have gone through several thousand calories, according my heart rate monitor.
ReplyYou're fully correct that exercising isn't an excuse to eat crap. But, if you're expending a few hundred calories in a half hour, you might want to reconsider the intensity (or lack thereof) that you bring to your workouts.
I work out quite often...usually 2+ hours a day, 6 days a week. I also eat probably more than most people would guess...something like 2500 calories a day, sometimes 3000 a day. Yet, I manage to keep my weight steady at around 103. I do try to make sure the calories I do get come from nutritious foods, but I don't exactly binge on donuts and ice cream either. I think a lot of people have the idea implanted in their brains that if you work out, you can eat whatever you want. WRONG!! If you work out for an hour and burn maybe 500 calories, you can quickly undo it by chowing down a couple of Krispy Kremes and a cappuccino.
ReplyWhy do you work out so much?
ReplyThat is the question, and without further input I'm going to assume her (his? I assume her...) regimen is wildly inefficient. You should see solid results from 30-40 minutes of high intensity weight training 2-3 times per week along with your 30 minutes of conditioning every day. Realistically, 3 days of conditioning is what is reasonable for most people, so that's about 3-4 hours a week. You should be able to reach whatever goals you have on that sort of system, understanding that it's a base generalization.
ReplyMaybe because it's fun?
Y'all are making incorrect assumptions here-- primarily being that exercise is not enjoyable in its own right (Wrong!)
Replyand that Spectra is not an athlete of some sort.
so we dont look like you.
Replyi've read that too much exercising results in the effect very opposite from what one expects, i.e. in gaining weight because of the elevated levels of a hormone called cortisol, which lead to formation of abdominal fat...
Replyhaha 2+ hours a day 6 days a week? You realize you are doing yourself more harm than good?
You are ATROPHYING. You spend all this time working out for so many days a week and your muscles have absolutely NO time to recover.
Take a break... sounds counter-productive but your results should sky rocket.
But i Do agree with your little krispy kreme philosophy, so many tools UNDO what they have done in the gym by letting a pile of sugar control them. It's sad really... oh well =P
Cheers.
Replyi don't think a 2-hour workout is much at all. my long routine, which i do about twice a week, takes that long. 25 mins of arms, 20 mins of abs, 10 mins legs/glutes, 35 mins of cardio, 10 mins of stretching, plus walks to the water fountain and waiting for machines adds up to about two hours. like spectra, i used to do this routine almost everyday, albeit during college, but i've scaled back because i've gotten much busier since then. also, my focus has shifted to maintenance/building muscle definition/preventing weight gain instead of weight loss.
going back to the point of this thread: even though i've scaled back the frequency of my workouts and now work a desk job, i haven't gained weight. in fact, i've been told that i'm leaner than ever. why? because i don't eat crap. maybe i'll indulge in some junk once a month, but i make sure i hit the gym that night or the next day to work it off. exercising is definitely no excuse to consume crap food. doing so negates the benefits of working out.
ReplyTo everyone that thinks this is somehow counterproductive or whatever, I don't think it is at all. I enjoy my workouts and I like what they do for my body. I generally do about an hour of cardio and an hour of strength training OR an hour and a half of lower intensity cardio and some Pilates. I mix it up as far as which muscles I use and which I rest. I am in excellent cardiovascular shape and my joints/muscles/etc. are in great condition. I also have a VERY sculpted body that I can't complain about. And since I DO like to eat, I will continue to work out...I'm not one of those people that can subsist on carrots and celery and cigarettes.
ReplyWhat I find a concern is that people feel they "earn" the "right" to eat junk food because they do enough exercise to burn it off.
Junk food is just that - rubbish - very poor fuel for our bodies and people like Phelps and pro footy players have young, fit, resilient and forgiving bodies that cope well at that age. As we get older, we pay in full for the poor decisions in our youth.
If the footy players and Phelps and co ate well now and learned to enjoy and look forward to good food, they would not have to change their eating habits as they age.
However the perception of sugary, fatty food as a reward has the western world in a death grip.
ReplyI think this is a problem with all ex-athletes. When they are in their 30's or 40's or older they remember being able to eat anything they wanted when they were young athletes. So they try to workout hard to lose weight, but they never workout as much as they did when they were in competitive sports.
Think about this the average competitive athlete workouts out 12-20 hours a week. Going to the gym every day for an hour is still only 7 hours.
The best way to keep you weight in control after sports is with exercise and nutrition.
Replyplease advice me how do I get speed while Im playing football
Reply