The Truth about Exercise - SBS

[Aushiker]

Interesting look at exercise ... don't jump to conclusions but

Only available on SBS for 13 more days.

Andrew

[clackers]

I saw it when it screened. I think the General Public (not scholarly types like the members of this forum) could be misled into thinking that twelve minutes of high intensity exercise each month will make them lose weight in a way that a high volume of low intensity activity won't.

[Kenzo]

I don't think it promised twelve minutes would help to lose or even maintain weight?
I think the most important thing to take from the doco was to keep active through the day.

[clackers]

I don't think it promised twelve minutes would help to lose or even maintain weight?

No, it certainly didn't, but the program and presenter's lack of focus (they began with weight loss then shifted to Intervals for athletic performance) could confuse the viewing public.

[dynamictiger]

I don't think it promised twelve minutes would help to lose or even maintain weight?

No, it certainly didn't, but the program and presenter's lack of focus (they began with weight loss then shifted to Intervals for athletic performance) could confuse the viewing public.

Interesting how different people take different things from the same content. My take on this program was that people were often drawn towards exercise with some intent towards weight loss or management, the presenter then proceeded to explain this often didn't happen and as such many people became disillusioned with it and gave up.

He was then showing that 12 minutes a week would provide some of the benefits of exercise being a reduction in blood glucose levels etc and a possible increase in VO2 max in some people. I didn't think it was confusing, but perhaps I paid more attention than the average punter?

[clackers]

I don't think it promised twelve minutes would help to lose or even maintain weight?

No, it certainly didn't, but the program and presenter's lack of focus (they began with weight loss then shifted to Intervals for athletic performance) could confuse the viewing public.

Interesting how different people take different things from the same content. My take on this program was that people were often drawn towards exercise with some intent towards weight loss or management, the presenter then proceeded to explain this often didn't happen and as such many people became disillusioned with it and gave up.

He was then showing that 12 minutes a week would provide some of the benefits of exercise being a reduction in blood glucose levels etc and a possible increase in VO2 max in some people. I didn't think it was confusing, but perhaps I paid more attention than the average punter?

I think it was a mistake to show the first section, since weight loss may be the main reason for many people in the community to do aerobic exercise.

The transition monologue where he says his thinking on the subject has been radically changed could leave many thinking he was now about to show something better, when in effect he went on to show something different.

[wombatK]

Why would anyone want to lose weight if it's not for health reasons ? Mosley's program is suggesting that
if you focus on the health outcomes, like insulin resistance, blood fat levels, and V02max, the weight outcome isn't so
important.

It's a bit misleading to represent HIT as just 12 minutes of exercise per week. Unfortunately the program did not
spell out exactly what the recipe was - it seemed to be 3 x 20 second max efforts, with a 40 second rest in between
(to give 3 minutes per session), and 4 sessions per week.

The benefits of HIT training have been advocated elsewhere in recent years e.g. the Garvan Institute in Sydney
has been active in researching it and publishing results. And elite athletes have been using it for decades, at
least in longer training programs.

A more interesting point the program made was that exercise needs to be tailored to the individual because some
people don't respond as well as others to particular forms of exercise (even HIT). Mosley himself was a VO2max non-responder - and got almost no VO2max improvement. It turned out that the Uni of Nottingham's Jamie Timmins had a genetic test that predicted the VO2max lack of response. Mosley did get a very significant insulin resistance
improvement, which was important given his family history of type II diabetes.

This is an important advance for those with yo-yo-ing weight loss efforts - genetic testing could be very helpful
in guiding them to the right form of exercise. Mosley's HIT schedule shouldn't be seen as a one-size-fits-all, but
rather an indication that having a tailor-made evidence-based program would be worth investing in.

Can't wait for clinics here to start offering this kind of testing and tailoring of exercise programs.

[ILMB]

Good summary WombatK!