Although I avoid talking about nutrition and exercise during party setting, so both I and others can enjoy party, yet, people still want to ask questions. Common question that I get from people recently is:
Is it true that in order to get fit, we should focus on 80% nutrition and 20% exercise?
I think this is a very good question, since many people seem to be concern about it.
Phrase “80% nutrition and 20% exercise” is complete garbage.
Where did this come from anyway? To be honest, I do not know. Perhaps someone thought it was cool phrase for marketing their fitness business so they came up with phrase that attracts their audience. Did it work? I don’t know.
It does sound profound when someone tells you “You should focus on your nutrition 80% and exercise 20% to be fit!”. When I first heard of this phrase, many years ago, I even thought, “wow, sounds intelligent! So nutrition is more important than exercise!!”
Funny thing is there is no scientific evidence that supports ratio between nutrition and exercise. What does it mean to focus one thing for 80% and other for 20%? Is it talking about preparation time or level of importance?
Here is something that I have learned over the decades. Whether you are dieting and exercising for weight loss, performance enhancement, or health improvement, nutrition and exercise are both equally important and you should be putting 100% effort on both of them. You cannot cheat on any of them and expect miraculous results. However, based on your goal and situation ratio of time spent may be different.
For example, if you are busy executive or staying home mom with 2 kids, whom barely have time to exercise but still want to maintain or improve their physique and health, then time you can spend is more towards nutrition than exercise. However, if you are an athlete who are thinking about improving your performance then wager may be about even.
So more than thinking about ratio, what goals you have and what situation you are in is more important. Even when you are busy and has limited amount of time to do exercise, when you are able to exercise, the effort must be 100%.
I'm not putting down nutrition or overrating exercise. But I am putting down the mindset behind one if more important than other. If your nutritional habit is off, then you should put more effort to it. However, that does not mean you should minimize your exercise effort.
People love reading statistical analysis because it gives reason to make excuse for not able to accomplish their goals. If you are serious about your fitness goals, get ready to put some effort. Trash the mindset that would lead you to nowhere.
Kota Shimada
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