I agree with all of this. I’ll add the biggest drawback for a Smith Machine, much like ALL machines, is that over time their limitations start reflecting in you. As you overload certain muscles and not others those muscles worked become stronger while other muscles remain weak. Since the body is all connected this can…

It increases energy out, it also up regulates hunger which effects energy in. Its why exercise alone is bad for weight loss while exercise plus dietary intervention is very good for it. 

It doesn’t change on output. What changes is your bodies hunger signals. Basically, your body likes being at balance so in absence of a structured dietary protocol just adding in aerobic activity will tend to be “eaten back” over time. Exercise is very good at regulating body weight but its very bad at being the sole…

This isn’t just shifting goalposts we’re now playing a different game entirely lol.

Didn’t say anything about “getting ripped” I said your heart beating faster isn’t a good thing in and of itself. Being morbidly obese causes a faster heart rate at rest, its also profoundly unhealthy. 

Physics is bro science now lol

Is it working your heart more? Yes it is. Will that cause any notable physiological adaptations that will make you more fit? Nope.

with a 55 bpm resting heart rate requires more calories to maintain than someone with an 85 bpm resting heart rate.

This idea has been around since 2016 when he first published it, has been cited nearly 200 times in peer reviewed literature, and is generally accepted among most researchers as a the primarily theory on adaptive thermogenesis in the literature. This is hardly a “guy selling a book”, the book is an expansion on his…

On the opposite side of things those cryo pods that a bunch of Fitness influencers push are also BS and useless. There are literally only two ways of losing body fat.

Yes, which is why I said overweight not obese. If you are obese you are unhealthy, even with “healthy” blood tests as those can go south really quickly as you age.

I suggest reading my other comments in this thread to see there is literally no daylight between our positions. 

Okay, ya makes sense, but you’re still focusing on the least consequential part of that statement. Focus on the totality of the statement. There are better choices for fat loss than high intensity cardio.

I will also add muscle literally exists as a storage for carbohydrates as your muscle holds glycogen. When you eat carbohydrates it becomes glucose the fuel of your body. Glucose has four pathways after that.

Ponzers model has shown pretty conclusively I’d say most forms of “cardio” absence a structured nutritional approach gets washed out by the increase in hunger signaling. What is interesting though is activity is also strongly correlated with regulating hunger signaling.

People really don’t understand this. “The elliptical says I burned 400 calories, that’s a lot!” Yeah, but what the elliptical isn’t telling you is that 1) it’s probably grossly exaggerated, and 2) you probably would’ve burned 250 of those calories just lying at rest.

Ponzer and the constrained energy model is supremely fascinating and makes a lot of sense. Of course their are a lot of people twisting this to go way too far to say exercise doesn’t help with weight loss at all, which isn’t true. It does. Its just not AS GOOD as so folks claim.

The simplest way I put it is. A confident person doesn't need external validation for their skills or abilities. An arrogant person demands external validation.

This is actually a huge factor. My face changed A LOT when I lost weight. Some many of these rules are largely assuming lower body fats.

From a size and pure raw strength perspective calisthenics are never going to beat the old Barbell Back Squat, anyone saying otherwise is ignorant or lying. There comes a point where progressive overload is impossible with just bodyweight, its why lots of folks use weighted vests and other loads. However, I would say…