Exercise Quantity Versus Quality: Which is More Important?

Have you ever heard someone proudly say they exercised over an hour? Usually, they say it right before biting into a cinnamon bun or other decadent treat. A little voice told them they deserved it after exercising so hard. But according to the results of a new study, exercise quality counts more than quantity when it comes to staying healthy and fit.

The Importance of Exercise Quality and Doing a Diverse Workout

In a study published in The Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers recruited a group of 57 volunteers, both male and female, who were overweight and out of shape. None of the participants exercised on a regular basis. The researchers divided them into three groups. One group took part in an intense resistance training program for four weeks.

A second group participated in a diverse exercise program, alternating various forms of exercise including endurance exercise, resistance training, high-intensity interval training, and yoga. Each consumed 60 grams of whey protein daily.

The results? The group that did the “multidimensional” workout experienced greater improvements in health and body composition. They also had the greatest decrease in weight, body fat percentage, and waist size. They also showed greater improvements in blood glucose. Interestingly, the diverse workout group also showed larger gains in lean body mass, even more than the second group who did intense resistance training.

To show how important dietary protein is, even the sedentary group showed small improvements in body composition after consuming 60 grams of whey protein for a full month. Based on this study, creating a diverse, multidimensional workout program that encompasses a variety of training modalities offers more benefits than doing one form of exercise.

Researchers involved in this study even proposed an acronym to embody what people should be doing – “PRISE”. PRISE stands for protein, resistance, interval, stretching, and endurance. One form of exercise they didn’t include in the acronym is balance exercises. Balance training is also important for health and functional fitness. Balance skills decline with age. This increases the risk of falls. You can work on balance by resistance training on an unstable surface like a Bozu trainer and by doing one-legged squats and jumps.

You can also add power training to your workout. Some studies show power is equally, if not more, important than strength as we age. In fact, power becomes the limiting factor in terms of functional capacity earlier than strength. What is power anyway? It’s the amount of work you can do against resistance during a given time interval. Standard strength training only takes into account the amount of resistance you’re working against – not the time it takes to move it. Workouts that build power skills include plyometric training and kettlebell workouts.

How Diverse is Your Workout?

Does your workout routine include all of these components – endurance exercise, resistance training, flexibility, balance and mind-body exercise like yoga? If not, why not? Adding more variety can spice up your workout, make it more enjoyable AND give you more fitness benefits. The reality? Your body adapts over a six- to eight-week period to doing the same workout. So, a multidimensional workout helps you avoid those dreaded plateaus. Plus, when you only do one type of training, you’re only getting one type of benefit. Resistance train all the time and you’ll be strong, but lack cardiovascular endurance.

When you focus too much on endurance training, your muscle strength and body composition suffer because you lose lean body mass. Doing too much of one type of exercise also increases your risk for overuse injuries. Of all the workout modalities, flexibility and balance are two most people neglect. What are you doing to improve your balance and flexibility? Adding yoga to your routine is a good way to work on balance and flexibility and help your body relax and unwind after more intense forms of training.

Don’t be afraid to vary the intensity of your workouts. On days you feel capable of pushing yourself hard, do it. After a day of hard training or on days you’re not feeling your strongest, lighten up. It’s all about listening to your body and adapting. Fitness trainers have a word for this – autoregulatory training.

Here’s another reason to diversify your workout. A study showed exercise enthusiasts who changed their workout routine twice a month over an eight-week period were more enthusiastic about working out and were more likely to stick with it. It’s not just your muscles that thrive on variety – your brain does too.

Another training modality, cross-training, has variety built into it. Cross-training works multiple muscle groups in an integrative way, ideal for functional fitness. With no rest between exercises, it also meets the criteria for a cardiovascular workout in many cases. The key is to keep moving and keep the intensity up.

The Bottom Line?

How long you exercise is less important than the quality of the workout you do. Now research shows the benefits of doing a diversified and balanced workout. Don’t get stuck in a rut! Grab a new DVD and try something new. Just as importantly, don’t assume you have to work out an hour or more at a time. Emphasize workout quality over quantity. Then make sure you’re doing workouts that cover all aspects of fitness – strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance.

 

References:

Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2012;40(1):1-12.
Science Daily. “Quality, Not Quantity, Counts Most in Exercise, Diet”

 

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