When Bob was almost 30 years old, he was the tightest in his own skin. “I ate healthy and could be found in the gym about three times a week or even more often. Family life is now swallowing me up and I am a lot of kilos overweight. I am certainly not tight anymore and that is not surprising : I hardly ever exercise anymore.”
Now Bob (now 39) would like to know which sport he should practice in order to lose weight – preferably within a short period of time. “I’m open to everything, but I really have no idea what works best and fastest.”
Dietitian and diet psychologist Eveline van de Waterlaat is regularly asked this question, because ‘if we want to lose weight or feel more toned, we would prefer to see results yesterday’. “I understand that very well. But my answer is initially disappointing for many people, although it ultimately provides the best result and the least effort. That answer is: the sport that works best is the sport that you play. longest. In other words, the sport you enjoy doing the most.”
If you only look at the amount of calories you burn during exercise, Van de Waterlaat would recommend running. Although it is difficult to say how many calories you burn, since it depends on several factors such as your weight, your speed and the temperature in which you run. On this website you can calculate approximately how many calories you burn with certain activities.
Strength training versus cardio
However, the dietitian recommends strength training if you want to see the fastest results. “With strength training you burn fewer calories than with cardio sports such as swimming, running or cycling. But the less muscle tissue you have, the lower the so-called ‘basal metabolism’ is. The basal metabolism is the energy that your body uses in rest mode (because even then you burn energy to keep your body at the right temperature and to keep your heart beating.) With strength training you increase your muscle mass, which also increases your basal metabolism.”
“That means that your burn during the day (and night) is higher and you burn more calories. Also, strength training makes you tighter than cardio training and that result can be motivating in the short and long term. That is why I would rather recommend strength training above cardio if you want to work on your figure. A combination of cardio and strength training is completely optimal,” says Van de Waterlaat.
“But the question that Bob has to ask himself is: do you want quick and short results or do you want to feel comfortable in your own skin in the long term? Because if you only do a sport for the result, you will come up with very convincing excuses at some point. to not have to exercise, such as ‘I’m tired and don’t have the energy to exercise right now’, ‘I’m too busy to exercise’, ‘tomorrow will be better’, ‘it’s raining’ or ‘I deserve a evening couch.
Greater chance of success
If you do a sport that you like or of which you like the social context, then according to the diet psychologist, the chance is much greater that you will actually start exercising and that you will last longer, which also increases the chance of results. “Have no idea where to start? Ask people in your area what they do about sports and suggest that you come along. Or do a few different trial lessons; these are often offered free of charge.”
Van de Waterlaat also advises Bob to check for himself whether he prefers a team sport or just sport. “The game element in a team sport can make the sport more fun. If you only exercise then you can keep track of your performance in an app such as Running with Evy or with the help of a sports watch.
Whatever Bob chooses, the dietitian advises him not to set the bar too high. “The saying ‘runners are dead runners’ certainly also applies to other sports. I regularly see that people start exercising a lot and for a long time. But the chance that you will keep this up for a long time is very small. You don’t have to do it six times a week right away. exercise for an hour and a half. Then you get injured faster, you don’t keep it up next to your busy schedule and then you miss your entire goal, because you throw in the towel and are back to square one.”
Only more sports = less results
Bob should also not only focus on sports, but also pay attention to his diet, says Van de Waterlaat. “Exercising alone often gives much less results. Moreover, there is a chance that you will eat more when you exercise. This means that you may see little or no result, because you compensate the extra calories consumed with the extra calories taken. is to use a nutrition app, such as MyFitnessPal or Eetmeter, or ask a dietitian for advice.”
Intense exercise also counts
If exercising does not fit into your schedule, you can also ensure that you exercise more in your daily life. That’s how you do that:
- Take a walk during lunch.
- Instead of sitting down to discuss with a colleague, go outside together for a walk.
- Schedule movement into your calendar.
- Find an exercise buddy.
- Participate in a different one every month challenge. For example, think of the plank challenge of de squat challenge.
- Put on a (used) exercise bike or cross trainer in front of the TV and your favorite series and before you know it your workout is over.
Source: Eveline van de Waterlaat
Rubriek: Asking for a friend
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