In Defense of Exercise - response to Time magazine article

August 13, 2009

Recently, Time magazine featured a cover article titled “The Myth About Exercise.”  Within days everyone I knew was asking me about this article.  By the end of this article, you’ll enjoy much-needed clarity on a subject that wasn’t really confusing to most people until flawed journalism made it that way.

My points will have full impact if you read the original article so here is the link:
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1914857,00.html

Strap yourselves in.  This is about how to think about exercise – something you don’t hear enough about but in my opinion is the real secret to long-term success.  This is the main problem with the article – a dysfunctional attitude about exercise that leads to misinterpretation of research studies.

Here are my main points:

1.   The author’s bias is evident and leads to incorrect conclusions from research studies (and additionally, some of the studies were poorly designed)

2.   The article completely misses the point of exercise – as so many people often do

3.   The real source of our world-wide obesity problem is ignored in favor of “smearing” exercise

4.   There is a clear, nearly obvious, outcome from the research that the article unfortunately missed.  Or was too scared to print.

First, a subtitle for the Time article could easily be “The Myth of Journalistic Objectivity.”  One of the tenets of journalism is its objectivity, yet the author has a bias so powerful that it is impossible for it not to affect his conclusions.  The article is riddled with references to how much he hates exercise.  You’ll find him mentioning “working like a farm animal” with a personal trainer, throwing in terms like “abuse,” “hateful,” “grueling,” “wretched,” just to add some color and flair.  At least we can compliment him for a complete lack of subtlety with his bias.  Okay, Mr. Cloud, we get it!  You don’t like exercise.  With a weak premise, the best way to build support for your position is to play to emotions.

Were the bias in this article limited only to providing colorful language, it would be less bothersome.  But, it unfortunately affects his conclusions from the various research studies he quotes throughout.  Shockingly, in the article we learn that there are studies – real, scientific studies –  that prove that exercise increases appetite! 

Um, was this point unclear to anyone or inconclusive enough to warrant research?   

At one point, he mentions that “I get hungry after exercise, so I often eat more on the days I workout than on the days I don’t.”  Exactly!  And your car uses more gas on days you drive than on days you don’t. 

Precisely what “ah-ha” moment are we supposed to have in response to this obvious information?

(As an aside, I believe none of us are free from some degree of bias – myself included – and that true objectivity is a myth.  We are all a mixture of our experiences, values, and beliefs and efforts to completely excise them from our lives results in a lessening of our ability to reason.  The best we can hope for is to try and minimize bias, do our homework, and grow.)

The study which seems to be the fuel for his premise of the article is so flawed that it is of questionable usefulness (I did manage to find a more useful, closer-to-the-data conclusion – you’ll find it a bit later on.) 

A large group of overweight women were broken into four groups – three of whom exercised for varying lengths with a personal trainer, and one of whom was asked to maintain their normal activity patterns.  The kicker?  They were not asked to change their dietary habits!  All the groups lost weight, but no one group lost a significantly larger amount of weight than any other.  And the conclusion was that exercise did not lead to a statistically significant change in weight loss.  The only thing clear is that just because research is done doesn’t mean it gives us useful conclusions. 

And to close the first point: I find it interesting that Mr. Cloud solicited not one comment from his own (or some other) personal trainer or other fitness professional.  I suppose it was easier to call researchers in labs all over the country than get up and go find some people working in the trenches.

Next, this article completely misses the point of exercise.  It promotes some of the most misguided misconceptions about exercise that keep people from living their best.  Specifically, the article reiterates the concepts that:

· Exercise helps you lose weight

· Exercise decreases risk of heart disease

· Exercise prevents cognitive decline

· Regular exercisers have less back pain

· Exercise is a “sweaty, exhausting, hunger-producing” burst of activity

After reading this list, even I don’t want to exercise anymore.  Boring.  What a dull list.  Given this approach, there is simply no compelling reason to exercise.  It’s all negative, negative, negative.  Many people think like this and it’s the wrong approach.  What if I told you that you should go to college so you don’t have to be ignorant, work a tiring, dreary job for little pay, don’t have to drive a clunker car and wear old, dingy clothes?  Even if it’s true, does all the negative language in this description sound positive and motivating? 

Exercise isn’t about avoiding things it’s about doing things.  It’s about becoming more capable.  I’ve written about this exhaustively in blogs (with the previous post here, in fact) and online forums and I feel this is the one essential mindset shift that is crucial for long-term health. 

Physical activity isn’t supposed to prevent you from having a horrible life; it allows you to fully participate in your own life!

The article further points out that exercise – such as the author negatively defines the experience – may not even be necessary.  A study showing kids who exercised vigorously were just as likely to be at a normal weight as kids who were active at lower levels more frequently throughout the day.  I’ll concede that point. 

But what’s the real problem here, exercise?  No, it’s that both the exercising kids and the daily-activity kids get told to stop fidgeting, sit still, grow-up and get real jobs and stop playing so much.  So they go out and get journalism degrees, sit still for 23 hours a day, eat crappy food, then grunt and sweat their way through one hour of grueling exercise a day to try and balance the scales.  That’s asking an awful lot of exercise.

Third, the article drops hints at the real problem with obesity, but the dots are never connected for you.  The real source of the obesity problem is not that “exercise does not help you lose weight.”

Exercise is powerless against poor nutrition habits.

You get hints of this in the article, but nothing more.  The article references the “lip-licking anticipation of perfectly salted, golden-brown French fries after a hard trip to the gym.”  Another reference is to someone who does a light workout and then grabs a massive coffee shop muffin after the workout. 

I’ve worked with a lot of people over the years, some have lost a lot of weight while following my exercise programs, and some of them haven’t.  Did I give them different programs?  Did I treat one client better than the other by withholding some sure-fire exercise strategies from one and not the other?  Of course not! 

The main difference between results and frustration is in one’s ability/willingness to end their love affair with junk food.  Ladies, if you fantasize about a threesome with Ben & Jerry, no trainer or exercise program is likely going to get you very far.  This romanticized, weak-kneed reaction to stuff that barely qualifies as food is the real problem…and this leads directly to the fairly obvious conclusions from the research that the author (and unfortunately many of the researchers) missed.

The correct conclusion from most of the studies is to note the overpowering effect that junk food has on our metabolism, health, and minds.  And to be clear, I don’t blame the individual for having difficulty staying away from it.  Recall that the main study the author cites to form his premise featured already overweight women who made no changes to their dietary habits. 

Let’s see…we all eat several times per day and maybe exercise 2-4 days per week.  And we know that in this case, the women clearly were already living a lifestyle that led them to become overweight so it’s not a huge leap to assume their nutrition habits were a teensy bit off.  You just cannot conclude (if you are a reality-based individual) from this study that exercise is worthless in weight loss.  What if your car had no tires, but I made the engine run better and got it in tip-top shape?  Your car still wouldn’t go anywhere.  Do I conclude the engine work has no value? 

Although all of our choices for food are up to us, I don’t blame the individual for having difficulty in staying away from junk foods.  You can find the truth if you look for it in books like “Beating the Food Giants,” by Paul Stitt, “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think,” by Brian Wansink, and more recently, “The End of Overeating” by David Kessler. 

The powerful chemistry – and the marketing – that is put to work on us through junk foods by the corporations who are not necessarily setting out to make bad foods, but are most definitely setting out to increase profits, has us consuming more and more empty food.  If they make satisfying, nutritious food, we’ll eat less of it and they’ll have lower profits. 

If you strip away the nutritive value of food and you add the taste sensations of fat and sugar, and then add the “emotional gloss,” as Dr. Kessler says, of comfort foods that we ingrain in ourselves by soothing every skinned knee with an ice cream cone as kids, then we find ourselves in the situation we’re in now: a world where despite “trying everything,” people can’t lose weight.

It’s no coincidence that the timeline of our massive obesity problem flows right alongside our major industrial advances and the advent of large-scale food processing.  Our brain and body chemistry is powerless against the “engineered addictiveness” of junk food, and no amount of exercise can undo the “sins” of eating. 

We’ve been “exercising” forever as we’ve needed to hunt and avoid prey to stay alive for millennia.  Modern living has engineered the need for movement out of our day-to-day lives so the need to reinsert it is self-evident.  Whether it is through challenging chores or full-on exercise, the choice is yours.  But there is a real myth exposed from the information in the article:  And that is the myth that “there is no such thing as bad food.”  The truth can hurt.  And in this case to say so would incur the wrath of the big food companies and the mouthpieces they’ve brainwashed.  But you can’t sue the makers of “exercise” so it’s a safe target. 

But one need not even think deeply about this to see the truth. 

The cover of the issue of Time featuring this article really does say it all.  It shows a woman on a treadmill eyeing a giant cupcake with green icing and sprinkles.  

Is the problem with exercise or with the food?

Jonathan Ross
National Body Challenge Fitness Expert
on line community:
www.inspire.com/JonathanRoss/
www.AionFitness.com

Comments

[Exclusive Fitness]

Great article! You've fixed that problem! Thanks for posting!

[Ronald Timothy]

Hello people, John Clould is not only crazy but he is stupid I dare say and I challenge him to do what I can because I execise. Execise is the best thing especially if you like to eat a lot of the type of foods that would harm the body over a period of time and I should know.

I am at an age (69) where most people who are that age can't bend and touch their toes wash their backs when taking a bath run a few miles up to about ten or more and I can go on and on. Ps I live in Trinidad & Tobago. And I wish could meet this Dark Cloud to show a thing or two about fitness.

[Bill Sonnemaker, MS]

Jonathan,

Once again you have done it my boy!

Great article and conclusion, you truly are a talented individual with much to share. My self and others are so proud that you are part of our industry!

Keep up the great work!

[Donna Hutchinson]

I'm actually speechless to understand why an article like this even gets published. It's like adding fuel to the "I don't want to exercise" fire. As fitness professionals we have a hard enough time attracting the inactive and diseased market without further barriers being offered by the media.

I commend all of your for being disturbed enough by this article to voice your opinions. I think it's extremely important as an industry that we speak up to refute these claims when they arise and protect our professional image.

[Bluu]

I just want to thank you for refuting that horrific Time Mag article. I honestly don't understand how Time felt it was okay to publish such a blatantly biased and faulty article.

[Ryan]

Hi Jonathan, thanks so much for this post. I was at the IDEA conference last week and agree about 100% with what you write.
Of course we're biased, but then again so is the author of the article.
I work for Australian Fitness Network in Sydney, and we recently wrote a response to the article and we quote yours as well.
Feel free to have a look here: http://www.fitnessnetwork.com.au/BlogRetrieve.aspx?BlogID=182&PostID=43933
Keep up the good work!

Ryan Hogan
Australian Fitness Network

[Jonathan]

Mike – I’m very glad to hear that you have a pattern of activity/exercise that works for you and has you feeling great. It sounds like neither the Time article nor my response would apply to someone in your situation.

And you’ll note in my response that I freely admit to my bias. I’m not inclined to give equal weight to both sides of an argument when one side is childish and silly and the other is plainly correct.

My attitudes about exercise have nothing at all to do with the fact that I work in the fitness industry as they existed in me long before my livelihood came from fitness. The Time article’s use of emotionally charged, explicitly negative language about exercise betrays an infantile logic about the topic by the author and his need to "pick the low hanging fruit" to build support for a weak premise.

And to clarify – our ancestors actually almost NEVER did moderate physical activity – they either hunted or escaped prey themselves (high-intensity activity), or were foraging or tending to their shelters (low-intensity activity throughout the day). They didn’t “jog” anywhere.

[Jonathan]

Michelle - Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments. I read your post about it and you have a great perspective on exercise. However, I believe you may have misread my comments about ice cream. My humorous presentation of a simple example is in no way intended to blame anyone for enjoying it. I will have ice cream again sometime, and I’ll likely enjoy it when I do. But my eyes don’t roll back in my head in pleasure when I eat it, I’m not fighting daily urges to eat it, and I’m certainly not thinking about when the next time I can have it is going to be. Note that I’m not against having it – just an unhealthy obsession with having it. The correct approach is to have a take it or leave it attitude.

The unhealthy obsession and love of unhealthy food is a destructive and deleterious perspective on food. I've met many people who have an unhealthy love of an unhealthy food and seen the disastrous consequences in their lives.

And the message that there is no such thing as a bad food is one of the more successful and insidious marketing/brainwash tactics by the big food manufacturers. Give the books I mention in my original article a read if you disagree and after reading them, you won’t. “Everything in moderation” is really “Denial in Abundance.”

All of the cells of our bodies are made from what we eat so the idea that there are no bad foods is offensive to anyone with self-respect.

Our brains and willpower don’t stand a chance against the powerful chemistry used to manipulate us into getting addicted to junk foods and overeating them. This truth needs shouting from the rooftops and I know that sometimes the truth hurts, but I’ve seen too many lives ruined by glossing over the realities of what barely qualifies as food to stop so I'll shout on.

As I mentioned in my article, the cover of the article says it all…we’ve traded colors of fruits and vegetables for colors of icing and sprinkles. This mindset needs to change and the cupcake recognized for what it is – junk. It's not a treat, it's junk.

And again, thanks for your thoughtful and valuable contributions - I love to hear from and connect with - people that have similar goals. And I especially like your part about disconnecting exercise/activity from any connection to weight loss. It has inherent value independent of any result we are attempting to connect it to.

[Coach Nic]

Jonathan,

Your point is well taken and so is Amanda's. What are you changing when your appetite increases? How do you manage the cravings? And, what are your goals?

Mr. Cloud states he hates exercise and has the same ill feelings for his personal trainer. He may want to discontinue his working like a farm animal and instead consider farm animal grazing; this may be more fitting for him. At least it will give him the comfort of being with his pals in the "I hate exercise Pen".

Mr. Cloud only heightens the intimidation most people feel when they join a gym or sign up with a trainer. It takes a great deal of courage for most people to take the step to exercise. Mr. Cloud only makes it that much harder for them to achieve their goal of becoming a healthier happier person.

Coach Nic

[Michelle May MD]

Jonathan, you did a fabulous job of pointing out the many flaws in the Time article; I particularly agree with your points about all of the negative language and attitudes about exercise expressed in the article and so prevalent today. For many of the people I work with, exercise has become punishment for eating or for earning the right to eat (see my blog post on the article at http://www.eatwhatyoulovelovewhatyoueat.com/2009/08/why-i-dont-care-about-the-time-article-why-exercise-wont-make-you-thin.html).

However, I was surprised to then see you do EXACTLY the same thing to food! The negative, blaming language doesn't inspire people to eat healthier. Let's face it, Ben and Jerry's tastes great so shaming women for enjoying it is just wrong. Ice cream in moderation can be part of a balanced diet - especially when you don't ruin it with a topping of guilt and a serving of exercise to pay penance.

[Mike]

The author of the Time article points out several times that exercise is VERY important for the heart, bones, and general health. Some of you are claiming he is dissing exercise. He clearly is not.

[Mike]

The author is merely pointing out that exercise alone, without modifying diet, will probably not result in weight loss. You agree with this in your post.
Some exercise IS dreary, boring, etc. Even Jack LaLanne and Jillian Michaels have both admitted that they hate exercise.
It's harder to burn off 500 calories than it is to just not eat the 500 calories!
Gyms and exercise equipment are a recent development, along with high obesity rates. Most of our ancestors were slim, not because of gym exercise routines, but because they ate real food and did moderate exercise in their daily work, not heart-rate training and running long distances around the villages.
For the record, I'm 5'10", 138 lbs. and do functional weight bearing exercise 30 min. 3x per week, with blood pressure of 92 over 59. I've lost 12 lbs of fat after giving up long distance running and cycling, which made me very hungy. I now feel better than ever.
Keep in mind YOUR bias: Exercise is part of your livelihood.

[lori patterson]

Jonathan, perfectly said! LOVED your response.

[Amanda Vogel]

Jonathan,

Beautiful conclusion to your post above.

And of course exercise makes you hungry! It's what you do about that hunger that makes the difference.

I like how you wrote that just as you eat more on days you exercise, your car uses more gas on the days you drive.

Great way to put it into perspective--and it made me laugh, too!

As a certifed fitness pro and a health/fitness journalist, I suspect this Time writer pitched a mouth-watering idea. Then, of course, he had to deliver the promised angle somehow. That perhaps explains the bias you felt he had.

Amanda

[Sparky]

The Time article is completely false. Yes, exercise requires us to fuel up our bodies. But who told you to drink a sugary drink or eat a cupcake? Try following up exercise with whole grains, lean protein and natural fruits and vegetables. I'm sure the exercise will have a different effect on your weight loss. And the paragraph about "converting" fat to muscle? Physically impossible. Exercise may reduce fat and increase muscle mass, but nothing short of alchemy can change one type of cell into a different type of cell. Just ask my triceps. I swear, under the bat wings, they're in there somewhere.
BTW, I have a journalism degree, and after a couple of decades in the biz, I can assure you that true journalism is completely dead. What passes for "news" is a camera following some talentless "celebrity" out of a coffee shop to her car. Where she probably ordered a sugary coffee drink and ate a muffin.

[Margaret]

Excellent rebuttal! What a disservice Time has committed against Americans publishing such a biased, poorly researched editorial against exercise in order to sell magazines.