Diet vs Exercise - Which Is More Important?

While there are many common myths and questions surrounding weight loss and fitness, it seems whenever you go to a gym you will hear people asking is diet more important than exercise or is it the other way around. Today we will help you to get the the bottom of this conundrum and improve your own fitness results in the process.

The reason people tend to hear so many contradicting answers to this question comes down to the fact that many people base their final decision on what has worked for them in the past. While both aspects have proven benefits, the chances are if you pose this question to somebody who is always trying the latest trendy nutritional program they will heavily support eating habits as the most important factor.

Of course, if you pay a visit to the other end of the spectrum and speak to somebody who loves going to the gym you would hear the direct opposite answer. You'll be told that you can get away with eating your favorite snacks and junk foods providing you are able to put in the work in the weights room to burn them off. The big question is which approach is the right one?

Neither approach is correct if you are trying to achieve your best possible physique.

Rather than see the potential benefits of both areas, people tend to place a priority on one over the other. This ends up leading them down a path towards failure, of course. For instance, if you ever hear somebody telling another person that your diet makes up 80 percent of your results and exercise only accounts for the other twenty percent, try to avoid falling into the same mentality.

Following just one principle tends to make people fall into one of two potential categories. While everybody is different in build and stature, there are certain stereotypical features to watch out for here. The next time you are having a discussion about how to lose weight and this matter pops up, take a look at the individual in question and they will probably fit into one of two fields:

* Somebody who follows a new eating routine every 3 months and tries to keep up to date with whatever is being championed as the latest super food. Despite losing weight, they tend to have an unhealthy shape to their body because they haven't been exercising at all. Remember, your muscles won't grow or become leaner unless you force them to.

* Those who love training in the gym but hate watching their nutrition. Sure, they may down a protein shake after a tough workout, but that is as far as it goes. When outside the confines of the local gym they will happily consume junk food, takeaway meals and alcohol on a regular basis. While their workout sessions will lead this person to developing some shape and tone to the biggest muscles in their body, they tend to struggle when it comes to toning their abdominal area and achieve a stocky, square look.

Of course, it wouldn't make sense to knowingly put yourself into one of the two boxes shown above. If you want to build a better body you're going to have to learn how to apply both aspects to your lifestyle, otherwise you will not be very happy with your results.

This nonsense approach is something which could be compared to an individual trying to decide whether their DVR is more important than their television. Both would be pretty useless without the other as a companion. Exercise and nutrition are designed to work together in exactly the same way, so try not to put more effort into one than the other or neglect one completely. By learning how to make a few easy lifestyle changes you can get your diet on track incredibly quickly. Combine that move with a regular fitness routine and you are on course to see a major transformation for the better.

To sum up, listen to bodybuilder Jay Cutler's response when he was recently asked the question is diet more important than exercise or vice versa. Jay advised that placing importance on one over the other is a useless mentality which leads to long term failure and you should be focusing 100 percent on your workout routine as well as 100 percent on your eating habits. Most people aren't trying to become champion bodybuilders, of course, but if you apply a similar mentality to your fitness regime you will notice that discovering how to lose weight isn't rocket science after all.

By Howe Russ

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Next step: Find out how to lose weight with the UK's most followed Personal Trainer Russ Howe PTI today. So, is diet more important than exercise? Check out his fitness blog for more tips every week.