Home Posts tagged "Alwyn Cosgrove" (Page 2)

CP Internship Blog by Sam Leahey – Appreciating Differences

Preface 1 If you're like me, you foster a great appreciation for the work Eric Cressey does both in cyberspace and in person through mediums like seminars, conferences, etc. However often times Eric's readers do not benefit from what goes on behind the scenes at Cressey Performance. In fact, I would venture to say that at most top notch Strength & Conditioning facilities around the country this privilege often falls upon interns, as they are learning day in and day out from the entire staff. So, my fellow Cressey disciples, never fear because there is a solution! Eric has asked me to write regular blog posts regarding my internship here at Cressey Performance. This will include many training epiphanies and revelations, "ah-ha" moments, coaching insights, and just flat-out Eric Cressey madness! Being able to get inside the mind of Eric Cressey and his staff is a tremendous honor and I would love to share all that comes out it. Hope you enjoy!

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Appreciating Differences We had a splendid seminar recently at Cressey Performance with Neil Rampe as the speaker. Beyond the actual shop talk I noticed a similar thread in his speech. He often would finish up a slide summary with the question "Can you appreciate that?" He'd present his knowledge and then ask the audience, "Can you appreciate that?" Notice what he did not say. Neil didn't present his rationale, science, and/or theory and ask attendees "Do you see how I'm right and so and so is wrong?" In fact, I don't recall him ever even using the words "right" or "wrong."  It was always "Can you appreciate this or that?"  In one such example he taught to appreciate asymmetries in the body. More specific to this discussion though, Neil discussed the appreciation of different schools of thought from Janda, Sahrmann, Kolar, Myers, PRI, and others.

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This concept of appreciating different perspectives, instead of trying to prove right or wrong, I find more and more useful the longer I coach. More practically, I find this coming into fruition over simple things in the Strength & Conditioning field. Take a simple exercise like the One-Arm Cable Row for example. Should you retract both shoulder blades when your row or just the side that is doing the rowing? Is one way right and the other is wrong? Really? A more noble argument I've found is which one is more optimal for what you're trying to accomplish. In reality neither one is wrong; they're just different! What about if you place certain components of your program in different spots than others. Is it "wrong" to put static stretching at the beginning or end of a workout? Is either way "right?" I don't think so. They both can be applied appropriately at either end of the session. What about a quadruped t-spine mobility drill. Should the arms and femurs be completely perpendicular to the ground or should you be sitting back slightly on your calves?

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Again, is either version wrong? Nope, just another example of different ways to skin a cat. Oftentimes, it's young up-and-coming coaches like myself that fall victim to training arguments. Alwyn Cosgrove talked about this once when he said something to the effect of: "If you put all the greatest coaches in a room they will agree on most things and disagree on few things. If you put all their students in one room they'll be arguing all day long over the differences." I hope I quoted Alwyn correctly, but either way, you get the point. In most cases, one perspective or difference may be more optimal than the other in terms of the goals it's trying to accomplish. Only in a few cases is either side wrong or right. So, the next time you're listening to someone give advice - be it for programming or just in general terms - appreciate where they're coming from. Understand WHY he is suggesting something. Is the person a powerlifter? Is he a physical therapist? Is the person a Strength & Condtioning coach, athletic trainer, doctor, chiropractor, or a professor? Does he work in group training settings, semi-private, or a one-on-one situation? Understanding all these different perspectives can allow you to APPRECIATE what the other person is saying without getting all indignant because you think he's "wrong." Thanks, Eric, for helping me realize this valuable lesson! You can contact Sam Leahey at sam.leahey@gmail.com.
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The Best of 2009: Product Reviews

In my last post, we covered the most popular articles here at EricCressey.com in 2009.  Today, we'll cover my top product reviews of 2009.  Several of these were interviews with authors that came in light of their launch of new products.  In addition to discussion of the products, most of these have a ton of good information you won't want to miss. Warpspeed Fat Loss Results Part 1 and Part 2 - Technically, this was the end of 2008, but had we done a November-to-November year, it would have blown the rest of these product reviews out of the water.  The reason?  Results!  Check out the before and after pictures of one CP client who kicked some serious butt with this program.  For a lot of you who are looking to get on track with your fat loss efforts in the new year, this would be a good product to check out. Strength and Conditioning Webinars - I think this product might be the most useful one of the year for fitness professionals, as Anthony Renna has made sure that there is awesome content coming out month after month.  It's cheaper than traveling to seminars, and you can get educated on YOUR schedule.  I highly recommend checking it out.

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The Best Baseball Resource Out There - This write-up discusses the DVDs of the 2008 Ultimate Pitching Coaches Boot Camp; I was one of eight presenters on the DVD. Accelerated Muscular Development - This product from Jim Smith was popular among folks who'd completed the Maximum Strength program and were looking for "The Next Step."

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The Evolution of Personal Training (with Alwyn Cosgrove) - In this interview, Alwyn covers some key concepts that every fitness professional should understand.

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Off-Ice Performance Training for Hockey (with Kevin Neeld) - This is an interview with Kevin that covers hockey training tips for both coaches and players. Tomorrow, we'll cover the most popular EricCressey.com exclusive videos on the year.
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Cool Stuff to Check Out: 12/28/09

I thought I'd use a quick blog post here to tell you about three of my holiday gifts this year that might interest a lot of you.  With it being a few days after Christmas, a lot of stores are running big sales, and you could probably pick these up at big discounts. Dragon Naturally Speaking Software - This is a speech recognition software that works with your computer to directly translate what you say into a microphone into a word processing document or email. My hope is that it'll make it easy for me to dictate blogs and emails while in the car on my 40-minute commute to and from Cressey Performance each day.

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Admittedly, I am still feeling this one out, as it takes some "calibrating" to learn how to interpret your voice correctly (I read John F. Kennedy's inaugural address into it the other night).  However, I'm really psyched about how this could improve my efficiency in 2010; check it out for yourself. What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures - Tony Gentilcore (and others) turned me on to Malcolm Gladwell's writing in 2009, and I absolutely loved it (including The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers).  This is his newest work, and it is actually a collection of his short pieces that were featured in The New Yorker, where Gladwell is a staff writer.

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Tony got me the audio CDs for this, and I listened to it on my hours and hours of driving to and from Maine for the holiday.  It's excellent: very entertaining, educational, and thought provoking. Something pretty cool: you can buy all four of these books from Gladwell on Amazon for under $40 right now (including free shipping).  That's a tremendous value. Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow - This book by Chip Conley was actually a gift to me from Alwyn Cosgrove about a month ago, and I'm about halfway through it.  As I've read, it's made me realize several reasons that we've been successful in our business model at Cressey Performance (including 15% growth this year in spite of the "recession").  Regardless of the industry in which you work, if you manage employees, I'd highly recommend it.

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Rollouts: Friend or Foe?

Q: I recently purchased Show and Go and noticed that you include barbell rollouts in the weight training program.  I did this exercise at the end of an aerobics class and was told by the fitness instructor not to do it, as it was a dangerous exercise. Given it's in your book, I gather you deem it a safe exercise. What is your opinion on this exercise? Do you know why some people say it's a dangerous exercise? A: As with just about everything, the devil is in the details.  For many individuals, this is a fantastic exercise.  For others, it may be too advanced.  And, for another group of folks, it just isn't good because it gets absolutely butchered technique-wise.  Let's attack this piece by piece with a rationale for its inclusion/exclusion, and then some training options and coaching cues:

(yes, I know I said "A" and then "2."  Gotta love live TV!) You can progress this exercise a bit more by either elevating the knees slightly or going to a band-resisted ab wheel rollout.  Just a heads-up: in this video, the athlete should have stopped a bit shorter in the top position to avoid the subtle lumbar rounding that took place; it's a good demonstration of technique that's good, but not quite perfect:

To learn more comparable exercises and see how they fit into a comprehensive weight training program, check out  Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better.  

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Two Sunday Night Freebies

Just a quick heads-up for my loyal weekend blog readers... 1. Alwyn Cosgrove and Mike Roussell just provided a free fat loss training session example using Alwyn's new 4x Method.  Check it out HERE.  With their updated Warpspeed Fat Loss program almost ready for release, these two give you a good taste of what's to come. 2. I did the Fitcast with Kevin Larrabee on Friday morning, and the full audio is available (also at no charge) HERE.  We talked about assessment, programming, whether squatting is "safe," my recent deadlifting specialization program, and our new product (Assess and Correct).  My portion kicks in about halfway through the episode. 3. Speaking of Assess and Correct, today is the last day for the early-bird price.  At midnight tonight, it'll be gone forever, so if you haven't taken advantage of this offer yet, now's the time!  www.AssessAndCorrect.com.

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Random Friday Thoughts: 10/2/09

1. You may recall that last Friday, I mentioned that my staff and I had Chris Frankel from TRX come in to do a mini-seminar at Cressey Performance.  This week, I'm just here to tell you that it was fantastic!  We picked up some excellent new exercises and techniques that'll definitely help out our athletes.  If you haven't picked up a TRX already, I'd highly recommend you check them out: TRX Suspension Training.

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2. As a follow-up to my interview with Alwyn Cosgrove on the business of personal training earlier this week, you absolutely HAVE to check out this blog post from Thomas Plummer, widely regarded as the authority on the business of fitness.  It's not only spot-on, but also absolutely hilarious: The Medical Community Doesn't Get What We Do (if you haven't read any of Thomas Plummer's stuff, I highly recommend The Business of Fitness) 3. I never realized that left-handed pants were such a life-changer. 4. The other day, I promised A's pitching prospect Shawn Haviland that I could get him above the 60 hits per day mark with a single link to his blog.  So, check him out; there is actually some excellent stuff in there if you're a baseball fan: Ivy League to MLB. 5. Enjoy the weekend; this kid's got a feeling it's going to be a good one.

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Alwyn Cosgrove on “The Evolution of Personal Training”

Alwyn Cosgrove has been a great friend and mentor to me for almost five years now.  I can directly attribute a lot of the success I've had to the fantastic advice he's given me on the business side of things.  Since Alwyn just released a DVD (of a seminar I had the privilege of attending), I thought it'd be the perfect time to chat with him about the new product and some other thoughts he has on the state of the fitness industry.  If you make a living training clients, this is must-view material.

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EC: In your experience, what are the biggest mistakes aspiring fitness professionals make? AC: Here are my top four: 1) They don't understand that they are running a business!!!! Most fitness professionals are running a hobby and trying to make money at it. That will never work long-term. Being a great trainer is imperative in today's market. You aren't going to succeed unless your skill-set is of a high enough level. However, it's not just training skills - that's only part of the big picture - the "client fulfillment "portion. It's also business skills. Michael Gerber - the author of The E-myth - calls this the seven essential skills: Leadership, Marketing, Money, Management, Lead Generation, Lead Conversion and Client Fulfillment.

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You have to understand how to lead and motivate your team: leadership. You have to understand marketing, which results in lead generation. You have to have good sales skills - which converts leads to customers. And you have to be able to understand cash flow and operating expenses before you can create a profit. You need to have mindset AND skill-set before you can be successful. But skill-set consists of seven areas. Make sure you are studying each area (not just training) equally. 2) They don't understand the client mindset. Ask yourself these questions if you're a trainer: Do you think a good fitness professional is a valuable investment? Do you think a good fitness professional can get someone to their goals faster than they can get there on their own? Are you personally in the greatest physical condition of your life right now? Are you ecstatic with your own strength levels and conditioning? I bet that 80-90% of those who answered will say - yes, yes, no, no. So - extrapolating from that - what is YOUR trainers name? Why did you hire him or her? I bet most trainers don't even have training partners - never mind a coach to help them with programming and getting to the next level. In other words - if you tell me right now that you DON'T have a trainer - despite not being in the best shape of your life, not being ecstatic at your own fitness, and believing that a good trainer can get you there faster than you can alone, and is valuable --- then deep down - you don't believe that a trainer IS valuable. What I'm getting at - is WHY, despite all the knowledge and beliefs and goals, most trainers haven't hired (or used) another trainer to help them? It's the same reason prospects aren't hiring you -- they aren't in great shape, and maybe don't know (as we do) how much a trainer can help? Lawyers hire other lawyers. Barbers hire other barbers. Doctors see other doctors. So list the reasons why you didn't hire a trainer personally. That's why people don't hire you.  And that's the WHY we need to figure out for your next career move: the client mindset. "If you can see John Smith through John Smith's eyes, you can sell John Smith what John Smith buys." 3) They Don't Create TOMA. Have you ever had a client tell you that "I'm definitely going to hire you as my trainer, but I am going to lose ten pounds first!" I'm sure you have. But while we think it's crazy, it's a sign that you don't have weight loss TOMA in your area. TOMA is Top Of Mind Awareness. Are you the first person or business that jumps into a client's mind when they think "weight loss?" Or "sports conditioning?" Quick, name a soft drink company. I bet it was either Coca-Cola or Pepsi. What is the number one sneaker brand? I bet you came up with one of three names: Nike, Adidas, or Reebok.

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Your goal with all of your marketing is to position yourself, in your area, for your target market as the "top of mind awareness" obvious choice for that particular topic. A lot of fitness businesses get hurt here by dividing their efforts and marketing to different demographics - and that's ok - but two demographics should mean two different campaigns - not two "half" campaigns. What do you want to be known for? This is something that you've actually done very well, Eric (probably before you actually had your business systems in place). Think baseball conditioning in Boston and Cressey Performance springs to mind. 4. They don't find mentors and coaches for the business side, and they don't mastermind with like-minded successful individuals. Okay, this is really two for one! Mentoring: "All successful individuals have coaches" - James Malinchak. Think about this: boxing and MMA are probably the ultimate "one-on-one" sports. Two guys, with no equipment (or even shirts!) face one another. But when you look back to the corner - there are usually three or more guys helping him. They include a coach (known as the "chief second") and several other teammates. To me, a mentor is nothing more than someone who is climbing or has climbed the mountain before you, and has reached back and is helping you up, way faster and easier than you can climb yourself. One of the fastest ways to success in any field is to find a mentor who will help you, and a "mastermind" group of likeminded people with whom to network. The key phrase there is "likeminded;" we've all had the situation of asking a family member or friend for feedback on a project and being shut down when they don't realize or understand the big picture. You need to be around people who are thinking the same way as you. Your mind is like a garden. Be careful what you plant in there. EC: That's fantastic stuff - and #4 certainly hits home for me, as you've been my primary mentor in getting my facility off the ground.  To that end, while all my education came via email exchanges between the two of us, you've now made it easier for folks to learn what's made you successful by introducing some products. Most recently, there is "The Evolution of Personal Training" DVD, and just a few months ago, you released "55 Fitness Business Tips for Success" book.  I've checked out each of them, and in my eyes, people should buy both!  However, can you go into a bit of detail on the difference between the two?

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AC: The DVD is a live shoot of a presentation I did for Perform Better this year where I really go into detail about how to evolve your business in today's economy. The old methods of one-on-one training, weight-training-only workouts, and charging people for a "ten-pack" of sessions are just inadequate or outdated practices. I cover a few things in more detail - like transitioning into a semi-private model, repositioning yourself as a consultant as opposed to a "rep counter," and understanding the client or prospect mindset. If you don't understand that, you're dead in the water as a business owner. The book "55 Fitness Business Tips for Success" should have been titled "55 things that we did wrong when we opened our facility and somehow managed to survive, but make sure you don't repeat these!" It's kind of like a "pocket guide" to basic business tips for fitness professionals. And when I say "basic," I mean stuff everyone NEEDS to know and practice but usually don't! I tell my business coaching group to keep that book in their office and read a couple of pages every day to make sure you don't ignore anything crucial. EC: Thanks for the time, Alwyn. I'd strongly encourage those readers of mine in the fitness industry to check out these resources, as Alwyn's stuff is fantastic.  You can find out more and order at Alwyn's site.
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The Opportunity Cost of Your Time

I'm sure a lot of you took economics back in the day - either in college or high school (or both).  I don't know about you, but one concept that stuck in my mind - besides the fact that one of my professors was a ridiculously annoying Yankees fan - was that of opportunity cost.  Rather than define it myself and risk missing an important component, I'll defer to Wikipedia: "Opportunity cost or economic opportunity loss is the value of the next best alternative forgone as the result of making a decision. Opportunity cost analysis is an important part of a company's decision-making processes but is not treated as an actual cost in any financial statement. The next best thing that a person can engage in is referred to as the opportunity cost of doing the best thing and ignoring the next best thing to be done. "Opportunity cost is a key concept in economic because it implies the choice between desirable, yet mutually exclusive results. It is a calculating factor used in mixed markets which favour social change in favour of purely individualistic economics. It has been described as expressing 'the basic relationship between scarcity and choice.' The notion of opportunity cost plays a crucial part in ensuring that scarce resources are used efficiently. Thus, opportunity costs are not restricted to monetary or financial costs: the real cost of output forgone, lost time, swag, pleasure or any other benefit that provides utility should also be considered opportunity costs." I see opportunity cost all the time in the world of training - both in clients/athletes and their trainers/coaches. On the fitness side of things, we know there are certainly exercise modalities that yield more effective results than others in the least amount of time.  In fact, this was the entire premise behind Alwyn Cosgrove's Hierarchy of Fat Loss article. If you want to get stronger, bigger, and more athletic, you're better off doing squats than you are leg extensions. If you only have an hour to exercise and your goal is to get stronger, drop body fat, and improve your overall fitness, then you're probably better off skipping the Hip-Hop class and instead going to the gym to do: 5 minutes foam rolling

5 minutes mobility/activation drills 30 minutes strength training 15 minutes interval training

5 minutes post-exercise flexibility

All of these modalities can be individualized, whereas a group exercise class is more one-size-fits-all.  So, if you have imbalances or injury concerns, the individualization is a major benefit.

Plus, the added benefit is that you're much less likely to get tortured on by your friends if you lift heavy stuff and push the sled than you are with Hip-Hop class. Just throwing it out there.  That's just a purely hypothetical example, though...

You'll see a lot of really business-savvy trainers who are always reading personal development books, but never actually pick up a book or attend a seminar to learn how to train people.  They are really just good salespeople in  revealing and/or tight workout clothes.  In fact, if you search Google Images for "personal trainer," photos like this are just about all that you get!

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The opportunity cost of their time is that they could have spent time becoming better trainers instead of just prioritizing something at which they're already effective.  Or, perhaps they're better off hiring a good trainer to take that duty over so that they can best leverage their selling.

Likewise, you'll see some trainers who are great at assessment, programming, coaching, and getting results, but clueless on the business side of things.  These people need to be reading more business books and attending seminars on how to run a business effectively.  And, as with the previous case, they should consider collaborating with someone who has good business know-how so that they can leverage their strengths.  I actually do a lot of this myself at Cressey Performance; while I'm about 80/20 training/business, having Pete as our full-time business guy allows me to spend more time specializing in various contexts to expand our market segment. Just some food for thought.  I'd encourage you to look at what you do on a daily basis, and consider the concept of opportunity cost as it relates to your fitness and professional development.  I know I do it all the time. New Blog Content Things I Learned from Smart People: Installment 1 Random Friday Thoughts Things I Learned from Smart People: Installment 2 Have a great week! EC
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Stuff You Should Read: 8/10/09

A few good reading recommendations for this week... Sucker Punch: Alwyn Cosgrove - This is a fantastic interview at T-Muscle with one of my best friends and mentors in the industry.  Alwyn calls it like he sees it (which is sadly becoming less and less common in this industry).  He even gives some schmuck named "Cressey" a shout-out in the interview. The Influence of Strength and Power on Muscular Endurance Test Performance - This recent study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research confirms what we already know - but also gives a quantifiable number for which we can shoot when training for something like the 225 bench test - or even in dealing with endurance athletes.  Here are the sentences I like the most: "...the current research suggests that the initial goal of a training program to enhance muscular endurance should be to increase maximum strength to a point that the specific load being lifted during repeated actions is less than 40% of the individuals' 1RM. Subsequent training should then focus on maintaining maximal strength levels and improving local muscular endurance in the specific task." So, if your goal is to get better on the 225 bench press test, unless you've got a 562.5-pound bench press, it's still going to help you to train for maximum strength. And, more significantly to what we see on a daily basis, you need to get fit to run, not run to get fit.  A 200+ pound woman who takes up jogging as her initial form of exercise to lose weight is just asking to get hurt because she is far too weak for the load (at least 800 pounds of ground reactive forces) that is imposed on each leg with each stride. Someone like this would be better off focusing on programs like Afterburn or Warp Speed Fat Loss - which focus on using resistance training, interval training, and nutritional modifications to get unwanted weight off folks.

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It's impressive how I brought this entire blog post back to Alwyn in a big circle, huh?
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Random Friday Thoughts: 8/7/09

Back to the Friday randomness... 1.  A few weeks ago, Matt Fitzgerald (my co-author from Maximum Strength) and I filmed a series of "Monday Minute" segements for Competitor.com.  Basically, it's a weekly one-minute exercise demonstration and description along with the rationale for that exercise.  Here's this week's: Wasn't that fun? 2. One of the resounding themes at this past weekend's Perform Better Summit in Long Beach was "invest in yourself."  It's no coincidence that all the presenters at this year's event agreed that devoting time, effort, and funds to continuing education was a huge part of their success.  In a dynamic field like fitness/strength and conditioning, if you're not getting better, you're falling behind. Alwyn Cosgrove wrote a good blog the other day about how he and his wife Rachel have used this mindset to establish one of the best staffs of trainers in the country.  Likewise, Mike Reinold published an essential list of the best titles in physical therapy, athletic training, strength and conditioning, manual therapy, etc. here last week. Just being around guys like Alwyn and the rest of the presenters makes you want to get better and better, and reading stuff like this from Mike reaffirms that mindset.  Not coincidentally, this weekend preceded my twice-a-year book buying shopping spree.  I purchased ten books online last night and can't wait to start devouring them. So, I guess the question for the weekend is, "What are you doing to get better?"  Let's hear what you are going to do in the next week to set yourself apart in your chosen field.  Are you going to read a book?  Attend a seminar?  Watch a colleague in practice or call him/her to talk shop?  If you're not getting better, you're falling behind. 3. This is the most flat-out atrocious piece of journalism I've seen in my entire life: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin Talk about skewing research to tell the story to which you're clearly biased  in order to generate some controversy!  There is no mention of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or the difference among different types of exercise (steady-state cardio, interval training, resistance training). There isn't any discussion of visceral versus subcanteous fat loss. And, it isn't that exercise won't make you thinner; it's that exercise combined with increased calories may not make you thinner. In other words, exercise is good, but morons are bad. This is a perfect example of a journalist who clearly knows NOTHING about exercise interviewing a bunch of experts and then presenting one side of a story without making some very important qualifying statements (trust me, I've seen this multiple times before when freelance writers have interviewed me for stories for mainstream magazines).  In this writer's case, those qualifying statements should be: a. "Research has shown that exercise in conjunction with a maintenance or reduction in calories does increase fat loss as compared to maintaining or reducing calories alone." b. "I really am in no way qualified to write this article.  In fact, I'm probably not even smart enough to turn on a treadmill, so they just put me on this hamster wheel in my cubicle to make me feel somewhat qualified to discuss exercise."

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Honestly, I could go on all day ranting and raving about this, but such rubbish journalism isn't even worth my time.  Instead, I'd just encourage you to give up Time Magazine altogether for publishing such crap.  I know I will be doing so. Have a good weekend.
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