There are numerous blogs that discuss nutrition and fitness. Many of which fall into the same camp as me, which is a lower carbohydrate mostly paleo approach. If I had to name one thing that was different about me is that I first and foremost take the Minimal Effort approach.
Minimal Effort means discovering what is the least effort, least time commitment and least cost one can invest to achieve their health goals. This is why I diss cardio and the “go big or go home” attitude. Can you get super healthy and lean training like a triathlete? Absolutely. But what happens when you get injured or you’re forced to work longer hours or family commitments increase? You know what happens. The walking population is full of once athletic young people who can no longer devote the time to getting healthy like they did when they were younger.
Hiking in San Diego (Mt. Woodson)
I am interested in discovering the minimal effort it takes to achieve optimal health goals. Most of the experts peddle too much complexity.Too much exercise, too much equipment and too many supplements. Instead of empowering people to make slow gradual permanent steps toward better health, the fitness industry attacks their insecurities and converts them into consumers of programs that just yield short term gains. Then they let them fail and then sell them again.
You can be lean and healthy with minimal exercise, gear and supplements. Moving toward simplicity will yield greater results than complexity. It may or may not take longer, but the results will be permanent. The is the core message of my fitness and nutrition posts.
TigerAl
Mar 11, 2010 — 1:19 pm
Completely agree. It’s about a sustainable lifestyle rather than the quick results.
Scott
Mar 11, 2010 — 3:56 pm
Awesome – I am not a big commentor but find your exercise and nutrition post really inspiring and realistic.
I always love to see a new post from you 🙂
Joe Crawford
Mar 11, 2010 — 4:46 pm
This made me think of Why Good Programmers Are Lazy and Dumb.
It also reminds me of the aphorism “Work smarter, not harder.”
And, the KISS principle — “Keep it simple, stupid.”
Good stuff MAS.
Winters
Jul 10, 2013 — 11:11 am
Hi MAS,
What do you think about swimming? I do quite a bit of cardio such as running because this is where I see the most results Mind you, they are short-term benefits and requires upkeep at least once a week. So I do actually believe running is not the best approach for long term fat loss. I just don’t know what active activities to replace it with. I know diet is one of the best approaches however, I would like to add an active activity such as swimming, or dancing.. I enjoy walking but it doesn’t work up my muscles or make me sweat.
MAS
Jul 10, 2013 — 9:06 pm
@Winter – I like swimming. DO what you enjoy.
Winters
Jul 10, 2013 — 11:11 pm
True. Just wondering how to implement one of your intense spurts of exercise in a short time frame, such as your uphill exercise, in perhaps another form. Wondering how one does it with swimming or perhaps another activity. If you have any advice and/or have tried/tested it out.
MAS
Jul 11, 2013 — 6:28 am
@Winter – Try a Tabata style swim. 20 second sprint – 10 second rest – repeated 8 times. Of course be safe about it, you don’t want to drown from exhaustion.
I haven’t tried a swimming Tabata out, but it should absolutely work.