Careful with exercise
Too much, too soon will hurt you
“Why are you against exercise?” we’ve been asked repeatedly since last week’s post recommending everyone start with only walking 10,000 steps a day.
We’re not. Exercise is fantastic. Everyone should do it. If you already have an exercise routine you’re comfortable with, keep doing it.
But the danger of injuring yourself is also very real, especially in the hands of a badly trained coach who pushes you too far, too soon. Exercise injuries can be life debilitating. If you are an older person (30+), you also have years of built up damage that must be worked on before you attempt anything else.
Exercise progression must be gradual, building up over time. Don’t just take our word for it. Peruse the wisdom of former US National Coach Christopher Sommer. Pay attention to the bits on the difference between muscle and connective tissue and how to structure exercise for them:
If you’re starting from scratch, set an easy target and achieve it consistently, day after day. The true gains of exercise come from that consistency, not from isolated achievement. If you’ve managed to walk 10,000 steps for a week, move up to the 7 minute workout and also do that for a full week. It’s incredibly intense despite the short duration, but it will get easier with time. Keep at it.
If the 10 second rest period between exercises is too short, start with 30 second breaks, but not longer, as the technique it depends on—high-intensity interval training—only works if you continue exercising before your body gets too much rest.
When you get into an advanced routine, such as preparing to run a marathon (or even a 10k), you’ll need a “load-overload-underload” pattern, wherein you attempt to achieve the target, then push yourself beyond it, and finally taper down as you approach the big day.
Modern society has conditioned us to eat as much as we like. An exercise plan that increases your appetite will push you further down that path, negating the benefits of exercise. We believe diet should come first. Exercise accelerates the benefits of a proper diet, which is why we’re going to examine food in greater detail over the next several posts, before returning focus to exercise. If you haven’t read these yet, here are our posts so far:
Kilter is HasGeek’s humble attempt to provide a space for reasoned debate on how your body actually works, and how you can find your own path to good health via better nutrition, fitness and habits.
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