The societal messages about exercise are incredibly confusing. As with nutrition, most doctors know little about the connection between exercise and health and rely on media misinformation rather than any true data. Minimally knowledgeable writers and a powerful exercise industry instead dominate our collective thoughts.
There is plenty of evidence that moderate exercise on a regular basis is better for overall cardiovascular health. Being completely sedentary worsens health and well-being.
Increased exercise or fitness does not correlate with commensurate improvement in health. It only confers improved athletic abilities.
However, the underlying message about exercise relates implicitly or explicitly to weight. No matter how people discuss exercise, they always imply that exercise is necessary to remain or get to a low weight. And by and large, these conversations lead to shame, guilt or conversely smugness.
The overall data is conclusive: exercise doesn’t lead to weight loss. For a sedentary person, exercise often leads to short-term amounts of weight loss that returns within six months. Exercise often leads to increased hunger to compensate for increased activity. Time and again, research proves that exercise does not change one’s weight.
This fact is irrefutable, yet it seems to shock anyone who hears it. Almost everyone told this information can’t believe it’s true. Instead, most people exercise out of guilt and shame and many people only feel able to eat if they compensate with regular exercise.
How has the falsehood around exercise and weight become so pervasive? What keeps people from learning the basic facts about exercise and the body’s response? I’ll talk more about it in the next post.
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