Diet vs. exercise | Eating 101 | Forum

I just received 6X6X6 that came with a couple of bonus books; just advertised on my email acct.  Great value and great information!

Just a few weeks earlier, I had ordered and received Full Body Attack.  Darrin sent me an email with a chance for some feedback.  I asked some questions about the routine, but I meant to mention one critique I had on the book.

One paragraph of the ebook stirred up great debate at our house, and I somewhat take a position opposite Darrin on this.  I hope Darrin don't mind, but here is the paragraph that got our family debating:

While this program doesn't go into detail on eating habits, let me be clear: your eating habits are far more important than your exercise habits for your health and your appearance.  Exercise helps, and becomes critical once you are ready to move into the top 20% in terms of fitness, strength, and appearance.  But eating habits will always be more important. – Full body Attack p. 5 By Darrin Clement

I disagree, and I think it's the opposite of what Darrin states.  I think exercise is more important for the beginner and diet becomes more important for the top 20% of one's potential.  Here is my reasoning.  We could take four sedentary persons of the same sex, age and body type, fat percentage, etc.  One person would not change a thing and would be the control subject.  Another person would not change his/her diet but begin a total fitness regimen (resistance, flexibility, and cardio); the third subject would change his or her diet geared towards a perfect combination of macro and micro nutrients, timing, etc., but not change his or her activity level; and the fourth person would change both his or her diet and and begin the same exercise regiment.

It is clear that person four would get the most improvement, but I'd be willing to bet that subject two would get the second best results in a four to twelve month trial. While it is true that a person could get dramatic, immediate weight loss on a severe calorie deficit, such a plan would catch up with him or her as his or her  metabolism slowed, and this would not be the diet used in the trial anyway, since we're talking about eating right; not simply eating less.  In fact, some overweight people don't even eat too much; they're just too out of shape and don't burn enough calories each day.

 You can't get that furnace burning if you're not exercising no matter how good the diet is.  

I think that if a sedentary fat person simply diets, he or she will just be a more slender fat person (that is less overall weight and size but still too much body fat and poor body composition; better but not good), and if a too thin person simply eats more, he or she will go from a skinny person to a slender fat person; but if either of these body types begin a great workout program, he or she will start becoming more muscular, will get more of a v-shape appearance, will have better posture and confidence, and will start to look and feel better in general.  However, for someone to get beyond that initial improvement, he or she will have to improve his or her diet and that diet gets more important as one moves towards his or her potential.

My only alibi to my theory is regarding the extreme ectomorph, which is in the great minority.  If one is too thin or small, then muscle will not grow w/o enough calories, so it would depend on the calorie intake before the trial began.  If there is already a calorie deficit, then the deficit would become more pronounced once an exercise program began and would not allow one to gain any muscle; only lose more fat and become even more skinny.  But, at the same time, if this too-thin person only eats more, he or she will (at best) gain no more muscle than fat.  So, in this scenario, both are equally important, but diet becomes more important as the ectomorph progresses much sooner than for other body types.  

I think it makes for great debate.  I have my stance, but I admit there is a good argument for diet as well.

 My son says that you absolutely have to do both: eat right and exercise to be healthy and to look good.  I think his argument works better for health than for physique, because some folks genetics just don't require them to eat perfectly to grow muscle or to keep fat low.  You know–what they call mesomorphs.  Now me, I have to eat often and alot to hold any mass, or I look like a 10K runner no matter how much,  how heavy, or how basic I lift.  Since I'm a fairly experienced lifter, and I've tried it all, there is little more exercise can do for me than what it's already done, but if I keep packing in the calories, I can make slow progress.

The owner of the gym I attend (Joe) says he eats nothing but junk food.  He doesn't recommend it for others but he says it's a weakness of his.  He is thirty years old. You should see this guy.  He's about 5'9 and 185.  His body fat is moderately low and looks like a body builder (not bodybuilder).  He is super strong and has lots of mass and is involved in various, recreational sports.  

He does dips with 180 lbs; he benches around 340; and he does chins with two plates (90 lbs).   He does the Big 7 and a few other, explosive movements for sports. He lifts only for strength and explosion, mostly for functional purposes; not like a bodybuilder.  But if Joe ate perfectly and didn't workout, he would be a "regular Joe" that was just lean.  That's why I say, to take it to the next level, he would have to eat better, but he didn't get where he is now with regards to  physique and strength from a clean diet with ample nutrients.  Some is genetic, some is training, and the rest is just that he is getting enough macro nutrients to keep him growing, which isn't much for him.  Now, as far as his health goes, who knows.  If he's genetically inclined, that junk food is wreaking havoc on his heart and may one day lead to diabetes, but you can't tell it from the outside.

Both are necessary for maintaining weight. There is no comparison. Exercise requires strength and it comes only from a balanced and nutritious diet. If someone doing exercise regularly, but not taking proper diet, then after some time he looses his energy and weight as well.