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Only if you are defining being in shape only as not being overweight.

No shit, but he said it doesn't matter if you work out if you're not eating right. All I'm saying is that you can improve your strength and cardiovascular condition even if you are still overweight.

McCheese_sl said:

I define "in shape" as having an overall healthy body, which includes not being grossly overweight, underweight, having some moderate muscle mass, and good internal health. Exercise helps to a point, but if you're still pounding horribly unhealthy foods and destroying your body internally, I don't consider you "in shape." The people I referred to do this; sure, they can do some pushups and jog for a mile or two, but I don't consider them "in shape" as long as they are taking in huge amounts of trans fats, sugars, and chemicals. Are they more "in shape" than someone who eats the same and doesn't exercise? Sure, I guess.

If a person had to choose between either changing their diet or moderate exercise in order to improve their overall health, I'd advise cleaning up their diet 100% of the time.

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So you're mostly basing your assessment on appearance rather than what you are capable of doing? In my book if you have a beer gut and a subpar diet but you can run a marathon your overall health is much better than someone that has a perfect diet and ideal body fat but a sedentary lifestyle.

The point I've been trying to get at is that people make health way more complicated than it needs to be. I know this is a board full of nerds that want to min/max everything and figure out the perfect exercise, but I think that actually keeps people from doing anything. Thinking you will get in shape once you remodel your house to put in your home gym or once you read the latest book on dieting is just another form of procrastination. We (for the most part) are a bunch of middle-aged flabby dudes and not professional athletes. Fitness is a massive industry. There is almost always a diet book on the New York Times best seller list and there has been for the last 50 years. There are 100 magazines and 100 late night infomercials and 100 videos and 100,000 "experts" selling their services on this topic when the real answer is this:

Eat less, move more.

Everyone knows it, everyone can do it, everyone is looking for a way to cheat on it. Just go jogging or go for a bike ride and do some pushups when you get up in the morning and then do it every day. Once you're 6 months in you can start worrying about whether things are optimal or not, but 99% of people never make it 1 month, let alone 6 with whatever they're doing. The real obstacle is doing anything and sticking with it, not figuring out a bunch of bullshit that might be relevant to a pro athlete but doesn't really matter to your average fat guy.

I'm talking to myself here as much as anyone. I have done the transformational exercise and weight loss thing twice now. The longest I have kept it going was for like 2 years. I thought I had it down after the second time but then completely changed my career and lifestyle and haven't figured out how to make it work in my new life. Not because I can't, just because I haven't.

People were getting in shape for hundreds of years before some marketing dude invented the term "muscle confusion".

Of course, but that doesn't mean you need to be at the cutting edge of training to get in shape. If you are a professional athlete or bodybuilder then sure, go for it. I don't think that is what most of the people reading this are interested in and all you need to do to get in shape is do pretty much any kind of exercise and stick to it.