Why Exercise and Diet Programs Can Be Bad

 

In reviewing home fitness products for my blog, I have probably undertook dozens of exercise and weight loss programs to help me prepare content.  Generally, my lifeline depends on the idea that structured programs are always superior to simply finding your own way in fitness or dieting. However, this doesn’t mean that the generally accepted maxim in the industry is correct.

In a recent article I talked about the many advantages of being part of a structured workout program. The foremost among these being the comfort of knowing exactly what to do and when to do it to achieve maximum results.  I also love the sense of community and accountability a program provides.  When you take on the six week body makeover, you get the thousands of users online who are sharing the experience and providing help, guidance, support and advanced warnings of what to look out for.  This is a super hedge against quitting early

My most recent program study was the aforementioned six week body makeover program by Michael Thurmond.  The results overall have been good. They have actually been very good for certain users. The dividing line between good and not so good centered almost exclusively on the user experience and how that effected the user’s compliance.

This leads into some of the downsides to a structured workout or nutrition/weight loss program. One of the biggest is the structure can cross over into too strict. This brings up the issue of whether the effort you put into the program for say 6 weeks or 90 days is sustainable over a long enough period of time to matter.  What can often happen is a user takes on a challenge like this, finishes, but then is so happy to just be done because the endeavor took so much will, that they slide right back to their prior way of doing things.  Although I love having things laid out in a sequential order with time limits and calendared benchmarks, this approach is absolutely not for everyone. I would also say that structure is good but overly strict can problematic. We have seen this phenomenon at work with six week body makeover.

The other downside of structured systems is that they can deny you the ability to apply general concepts in your life that would otherwise work. In other words, they can be too constraining and too rigid which can deny the individual the opportunity to make the ideas something that can work practically for the long haul.

 

1. Prev:Some Attitude Keys for Success in the Six Week Body Makeover
2. Next:Apart From Changing The Way I Eat, What Else Can I Do To Lose Weight?