Why Training Less And Eating Better Yields More Results

Today's topic is "Why Training Less And Eating Better Yields More Results". Is this true? How could this be? Yes, it is true. Your body is a machine that needs fuel to accomplish it's varied tasks. Muscle building and fat burning require fuel - the right amount of the right stuff at the right time to achieve optimal results. When you train too much and don't eat right, your body can only go so far before it stalls out. Then bad things start happening. 

I did 2-3 workouts a day for most of my adult life. Did I get in great shape - kinda, my performance was really good but I could have done so much better if I had my nutrition plan tightened up. Performance enhancement training and body composition training can be two very different animals or they can be combined together. Together is the hard part. Many don't get this and think it's all the same. If I run 5 miles everyday and try to increase my performance, I'm invariably gonna lose weight and get toned right? - not usually, maybe a little at first or if you are very overweight, you could lose alot but it will stop at some point. Your body adapts to the stress you place on it and optimizes your operating systems to run efficiently on what you give it. That's fancy talk for plateau. 

When you workout hard, your body is placed in a catabolic state where it needs fuel and will sacrifice lean body mass to produce more glycogen for fuel. After about 30 minutes of intense exercise, your blood sugar levels are depleted and you start going down hill. And if you don't get a good pre and post workout meal in, the catabolic effects are amplified. Part of this catabolic nightmare includes producing and storing more body fat while burning lean body mass for fuel conversion. Then if you go on to workout again without enough good food, you further add to the madness. The calorie expenditure is too high and the intake is too low. Your body can't effectively burn fat and build muscle like this. 

Progress will eventually grind to a halt and you may even start regressing and you could experience fatigue, soreness, lack of motivation, injuries, frustration and even depression.  This is your body telling you that you are overtraining and under eating. The simple fix= cut back on your 18 workouts a day, do one good workout and spend the other time eating good, hydrating, stretching and resting. 

Plus the change in routine will help bust the plateau and get you back on track for progress. Your body will react positively to the change and good things will start happening again.

You should notice a dramatic improvement and may even see progress fairly quickly. So if you are a workout addict, give that a try for a couple weeks and see what happens. You can always crank the workouts back up if desired although unnecessary. I recommend one good workout a day with at least one rest day a week and more time spent on nutrition planning and good eating. It has worked for me over the span of 30 years and I know better now that more is not always better. Train hard and eat right - give your body the fuel to achieve your goals. 

You can never out train a poor nutrition plan and win long term.

Eric

Dempsey's Resolution Fitness