I get this question quite a bit.
People want to know what the best exercise is for their particular goal.
Maybe that goal is to lose weight, burn fat, build muscle, or just be healthier.
Whatever the case, my answer is always the same – the exercise you enjoy most.
Most people have a hard time accepting that fact.
Why? Because many times what people enjoy is different than what studies show to be best, or what other people are saying or doing to achieve their results.
For example, there are studies that show HIIT is the best exercise for burning fat.
So what if you don’t like or can’t do HIIT? What if what you enjoy the most is walking?
Well… people tend to look at their situation and think – “I can either walk and get suboptimal results, or I can do what is scientifically proven and get the best results!”
But this is the wrong way to look at the situation, as you’re arguing for an outcome that isn’t probable to happen.
HIIT is only the best for fat loss IF you actually do it. But the problem is that you don’t like it (or can’t do it). So you’re not going to do it.
So let’s reframe the debate. What’s better?
Doing the walking that you enjoy? Or not doing the HIIT that you don’t enjoy?
Because that’s the real question. It’s not a matter of what’s best on paper. It’s a question of what you will actually do.
Remember… something you actually do because you like it will always burn more calories than something you don’t do because you hate it.
Walking for an hour a day for a year burns about 100,000 calories, or the equivalent of 30lbs.
Doing a 500 calorie HIIT workout 3 days per week for 3 months and then stopping because you hate it burns about 20,000 calories, or the equivalent of 6lbs.
So the best exercise for ___fill in the blank___ is always going to be based on what you enjoy, because it’s the one you’re going to do consistently over a prolonged period of time.
And that’s what gives you results in the end.
Talk soon…