It’s perfectly understandable to be a little bit confused when contemplating the benefits of diet versus exercise when embarking on a new fitness regimen. While some people firmly maintain that diet is the key component of achieving your fitness goals, others might more convinced that exercise plays a much larger role in sculpting your physique. With so much misunderstanding surrounding the importance of both diet and exercise, we here at Forge PT wanted to take a moment to explain the role of each in helping you get your ideal body compensation.
You Can’t Outrun a Bad Diet
One of the most important questions you need to ask yourself before starting a new fitness program is what your goals are. If you merely want to lose weight, then thermodynamics are in your favor. Simply put, if you want to lose weight, you need to eat less than you burn. However, if you want to get into shape and feel lean and fit, you need to take it one step further. You need recognize that food is fuel for your body.
Eating a variety of lean proteins, healthy carbs and healthy fats are also vital to getting slim and strong. If you’re eating nothing but junk food, you may lose the weight, but you may also feel soft and doughy. Of course, if you eat in excess of your calorie needs, you’ll continue to gain weight — even if your diet is healthy.
Muscles Aren’t Going to Build Themselves
You can’t simply eat a healthy diet and expect your body to sprout muscle mass without you actually doing the work, either. Sure, you can lose body fat with the right diet. You can lose body fat with the wrong diet, too, but nobody’s going to tell you that’s ideal. The process of building muscle is known as “hypertrophy,” and for it to occur, you need to do a few things first.
For starters, you need to eat the right diet to build muscle, one that is rich in bioavailable protein. You also need to make sure you’re providing your body with the right physical stimulus for the muscle generation to occur. You can stuff yourself silly with protein all day long, but without the right kind exercise, the muscle won’t spontaneously appear. In short, you need to actually do the work to get the results you desire.
Neither diet nor exercise are the exclusive route to travel when trying to reach peak physical fitness. You need to employ a combination of both: you need to move your body in a way to help build muscle, and you need to fuel it properly to help yourself become stronger and healthier. To learn more about how I can help you achieve these goals, please contact me today. I can help you come up with both the ideal nutrition plan — as well as the perfect fitness regimen — to help you get the body you’ve always dreamed of having!