It’s a good thing he’s wearing a hat. Plus it goes with his socks. Fashion AND function.It’s A Man’s World
At least when it comes to exercise anyhow. According to a new study put out by the American College of Sports Medicine, men just have it easier when it comes to getting in shape.
Any woman who has gone head-to-head with a man in a diet or workout regimen knows exactly how this works. All things being held equal, the men put on muscle, get leaner & lose weight faster than the women. Evolutionarily speaking, this probably made a lot of sense but in our super-slim culture it just seems cosmically unfair.
Men have two advantages: The ACSM says that men don’t need to work out as hard or as long to get in shape and they are less likely to get injured than women. So, what can we learn from all of this? Well, men learn that they really have no excuse now for not getting rid of that beer belly.
But women, before you throw your manicured hands up in the air, there’s also a lot that we can learn from the study.
1. Biology isn’t trying to punish you for liking ice cream. Our bodies were made to store more fat then men. Yes for the birthing of the babies but also, I’m thinking, we’d last longer in a famine. Not something to put on your resume exactly but half of life is surviving. (Okay, did I just say half of life? One hundred percent of life is surviving. Otherwise you’d be dead and we’d be Waiting For Godot in the literal sense.)
2. You have to stick with exercise to see results. The ACSM says, “a woman’s body reacts to exercise like a short term starvation and metabolism slows down to preserve weight, but only for about two to three weeks.” Hear that? You have to give it at least 3 weeks. Intermittent exercise won’t give you the results you are looking for.
3. In a rehash of the slow-and-steady cardio debate, this study reports that women burn more fat than men at a slower and steady pace. Which shouldn’t be taken as license to meander leisurely around the mall. Well you can, but just don’t count it as your exercise. Unless you find supercute shoes on clearance AND you have a coupon. And then all the jumping around and screaming will totally get your heart rate up. For the rest of us, pick a level of intensity that you can sustain for 30-45 minutes. You will sweat.
4. Since we’re more injury prone, we need to be more proactive about mixing up our workouts, doing strength training and taking care of any pain right when it starts.
5. Don’t forget that biology did give us some evolutionary advantages over the men – so work the fat, er, lady lumps, that nature gave you.
There’s just something awesome about foreign commercials. Diet humor is universal. Wait, how sad is that?
Okay, that second commercial with the spaghetti going to her belly button was kinda freaking me out. I’ve been to Japan, and you would have a field day with the images and messages they have about weight loss and body image. It’s really kinda heart breaking stuff. There is immense pressure for Asian women to maintain that tiny fragile doll look.
ooh, I had no idea about Japan/body stuff (another reason to add to my list to get there to visit: all in the name of research)
I swear Renaissance Man frustrates me in all this as he DOES gain 10 pouds or so when he gets on a NEW FLAVOR OF B&J ICE CREAM RAMPAGE and I swear that, by the time he has finished the sentence stating he is going to try and drop a few el bees, he’s down 3 pounds.
that said, my male training clients always had the same sorta success —and I didnt mind then 🙂 (and I DID tell them it wasnt *me*/my program. really I did…)
M.
See, we women need to be able to survive should the world need repopulating. You need lots of women, but not so many men for that, from an evolutionary standpoint.
Mizfit – my Dad would decide he needed to lose weight, and by the time he was done with the sentence it would be magically gone. All he would do is not have 3rds at dinner and his freakishly high metabolism would take care of the rest.
My dad used to eat crap after work – he had a weird schedule and would be starving, so he’d inhale bags of chips and cookies, then eat dinner, etc. He’d go lift a few weights in the garage and *poof* no weight gain. We calculated his calorie intake one day at 5,000. !!
Note: did my first AHW last night – only did each circuit twice because that is not so easy. I need to figure out my ValSlide substitute…
Steph – I had no idea about the Asian female body image issue either! You should do a post on it!
Miz & Gena – My husband is the same way. “Oops, I need to lose 10 lbs. Guess I’ll cut out my after-dessert snack of ice cream.” Then – poof – a week later it’s gone. Sigh.
AT22 – Yeah the AHW is tough. We’ve discovered that paper plates or those thick paper ad inserts in newspapers, used on carpet work the best. Washcloths are okay but not as good. We’re going to try plastic plates on monday!
I love the commercials – laughing my head off!
Will you please call my dear husband and tell him what you just wrote in your blog! He totally doesn’t believe me that his fat is falling off much quicker than mine simply because he’s a MAN!
I get early 6 days a week and huff & puff through all sorts of exercise, while my fiance eats fast food and barely does and strength training. Yet somehow he has a 6 pack! Freak of nature! If he put his mind to it and actually tried to be in tip top shape, I might just give up altogether because his results would put mine to shame.
Its certainly frustrating on the one hand, but on the other, at least there’s an explanation as to why all these guys can get rid of fat so quickly (“hurray, it’s NOT just because I have a love affair with chocolate!”).
And MizFit? I’m totally with you on the going to Japan for research purposes. Travelling = happy!
Yeah, the spaghetti in the naval thing was kinda freaky.
(And my Asian girlfriends who are still in “showbiz” feel TONS of pressure to be teeny-tiny. And get a lot of comments from casting directors if they’re not. Ugh!)
My husband is the same. Except he NEVER gets fat! Sometimes he’ll lose a little muscle tone, but after one hour at the rock climbing gym, BOOM! It’s back! Meanwhile, I’m working my butt off 6 days a week, eating salad and chicken and fruit, while he scarfs down dessert, and I still look like I just gave birth.
SO not fair,lol!
love that commercial! spewed my the skittles right out of my mouth!