The simple answer is ‘yes’, you can out-exercise a poor diet, however, most don’t have the time or inclination to want to do so.

Anyone who’s ever tracked their calories ian and calories out will know that the trade-off isn’t fair.

Taking in an extra 1,000 calories from our favourite yummy treats takes absolutely no time at all, yet moving to burn off an extra 1,000 calories is soul-sucking.

So, yes, you can out-exercise a bad diet but we will have to exercise for so long each day that most will not have the time or inclination to want to do so.

Unless you’re a paid athlete or movie star who can be paid to exercise for several hours a day, most simply need to control their calorie intake and balance it against their output.

In this ‘usually’ time-poor world we live in, it is far more time-efficient to reduce intake than trying to massively increase output.

In fact, as a personal trainer and coach, my initial goal with anyone wanting to lose weight or reduce body-fat is to identify where they can reduce calories through portion control, healthier food substitutes or simply increasing their water intake, which helps with staying in control of making healthier choices.

By all means increase your exercise/output – it will only help – but don’t assume that exercise is the key to weight loss as it can become highly demotivating and unsustainable.

JOE NEWBOLD

Personal trainer at mypremcoach,

Premier Fitness Training