4 ms·

This article’s title is a little misleading, because the whole thesis seems to be “you can’t build enough muscle to compensate for a bad diet.” This is probabl

by jm20 6y ago

This article’s title is a little misleading, because the whole thesis seems to be “you can’t build enough muscle to compensate for a bad diet.” This is probably true, however you absolutely can out-train all but the worst diets, if you’re crazy/fit enough. It would mostly happen through cardio, HIIT, and sports however, not pure weightlifting. If you were to play two hours of full court basketball a day (with intensity, not walking up and down the court), and combine that with a weightlifting routine, you could probably eat whatever you want without gaining much weight. The problem is most people’s bodies would break down with that kind of activity level.

jmnicolas 6y ago
Yes, there are no fat guys in special forces units even though they probably eat 10k calories every day (I'm speaking of the 'intensive' training phase).
- qayxc 6y ago
  It'snot the calories that count - it's the kind of nutrition you get from them. You can easily starve yourself to death by only consuming "empty" calories - you'd get fat and fatter but eventually die from undernourishment.
  - falcolas 6y ago
    You can also kill yourself by not consuming enough fat (aka Rabbit Starvation/Protein Poisoning). Nutrition isn't a simple thing.
watwut 6y ago
If you look at diet of construction workers (outside a lot of physical activity) they eat absurdly lot compared with office workers. And they are not all that fat as office worker would. We have a lot of construction around our office and they eat in same places. They eat a lot.
- inglor_cz 6y ago
  Oh yeah, I only spent several days as a construction worker back in my youth (like a week), but on those few days, I turned into a bottomless pit at the dining table. The burnt energy is real.
- falcolas 6y ago
  > And they are not all that fat as office worker would. Should check out the machine operators. Overweight (yet strong/having lots of endurance) construction workers aren't all that rare.
inglor_cz 6y ago
Not everything is about weight gain. Bad diet causes a lot of other, less visible damage. Like excess of urea leading to gout or effects of trans fats on arteries. Also, people who train too much (like long-distance runners), seem to be vulnerable to heart disease. [0] The theory behind this is that heart, just like other muscles, needs rest to heal microdamage resulting from vigorous exercise. If you do not let it heal and press on the next day, the damage accumulates to potentially lethal levels. [0] https://bcmj.org/articles/impact-excessive-endurance-exercise-heart https://bcmj.org/articles/impact-excessive-endurance-exercis...
alltakendamned 6y ago
> if you’re crazy/fit enough Here's where you hit the crux of the matter. Yes, it is possible to burn a lot of calories. No, it isn't possible for most overweight people. When people are overweight, they also can't play two hours of basketball, or do HIIT, or something else intensive. Most of them need to start with basic walking and build up from there, and it takes a looongg time for them to build up to a point where the calorie burn becomes sufficiently significant.
citiguy 6y ago
I've run multiple marathons in my life. When training and running > 20 miles / week, I could eat anything I wanted and still lose weight. I usually stayed around 170/lbs - about optimal for my frame. It didn't matter what I ate, and I've heard stories of people who just ate cheesecake or some such due to the calorie load. Unfortunately I can no longer run and have since ballooned up to 200lbs. You can definitely out-train a diet, it's sustaining it that's hard.
- raydev 6y ago
  Yeah, when I was regularly running long distance I seemed to naturally maintain a balanced caloric intake. Then I injured myself so badly that I needed to stop running for 5 months. Never fully got back to my ritual and then I gained 40lbs. A few years have passed and my attempts to restart my running all end with me taking a break nursing weird muscle and tendon pains that last for weeks. So I guess my point is: yes, it actually is possible to out-train your diet, but that's only a good plan as long as you never hurt yourself.

by jm20 6y ago

jmnicolas 6y ago

Yes, there are no fat guys in special forces units even though they probably eat 10k calories every day (I'm speaking of the 'intensive' training phase).

qayxc 6y ago
It'snot the calories that count - it's the kind of nutrition you get from them. You can easily starve yourself to death by only consuming "empty" calories - you'd get fat and fatter but eventually die from undernourishment.
- falcolas 6y ago
  You can also kill yourself by not consuming enough fat (aka Rabbit Starvation/Protein Poisoning). Nutrition isn't a simple thing.

watwut 6y ago

If you look at diet of construction workers (outside a lot of physical activity) they eat absurdly lot compared with office workers. And they are not all that fat as office worker would. We have a lot of construction around our office and they eat in same places. They eat a lot.

inglor_cz 6y ago
Oh yeah, I only spent several days as a construction worker back in my youth (like a week), but on those few days, I turned into a bottomless pit at the dining table. The burnt energy is real.
falcolas 6y ago
> And they are not all that fat as office worker would. Should check out the machine operators. Overweight (yet strong/having lots of endurance) construction workers aren't all that rare.

inglor_cz 6y ago

Not everything is about weight gain. Bad diet causes a lot of other, less visible damage. Like excess of urea leading to gout or effects of trans fats on arteries. Also, people who train too much (like long-distance runners), seem to be vulnerable to heart disease. [0] The theory behind this is that heart, just like other muscles, needs rest to heal microdamage resulting from vigorous exercise. If you do not let it heal and press on the next day, the damage accumulates to potentially lethal levels. [0] https://bcmj.org/articles/impact-excessive-endurance-exercise-heart https://bcmj.org/articles/impact-excessive-endurance-exercis...

alltakendamned 6y ago

> if you’re crazy/fit enough Here's where you hit the crux of the matter. Yes, it is possible to burn a lot of calories. No, it isn't possible for most overweight people. When people are overweight, they also can't play two hours of basketball, or do HIIT, or something else intensive. Most of them need to start with basic walking and build up from there, and it takes a looongg time for them to build up to a point where the calorie burn becomes sufficiently significant.

citiguy 6y ago

I've run multiple marathons in my life. When training and running > 20 miles / week, I could eat anything I wanted and still lose weight. I usually stayed around 170/lbs - about optimal for my frame. It didn't matter what I ate, and I've heard stories of people who just ate cheesecake or some such due to the calorie load. Unfortunately I can no longer run and have since ballooned up to 200lbs. You can definitely out-train a diet, it's sustaining it that's hard.

raydev 6y ago
Yeah, when I was regularly running long distance I seemed to naturally maintain a balanced caloric intake. Then I injured myself so badly that I needed to stop running for 5 months. Never fully got back to my ritual and then I gained 40lbs. A few years have passed and my attempts to restart my running all end with me taking a break nursing weird muscle and tendon pains that last for weeks. So I guess my point is: yes, it actually is possible to out-train your diet, but that's only a good plan as long as you never hurt yourself.