Health and Fitness are poorly defined terms and can only really make sense when you apply your own personal definition. With that said there are general definitions that most people will accept as having at least something to do with both health and fitness.
Health seems to have something to do with reducing risk of premature death and disease, namely having favorable blood markers for disease such as total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, HDL/LDL ratio, Triglycerides, glucose, insulin, blood pressure and heart rate.
Beyond that, reduced stress and how you feel in general are probably the most important indicators of health.
Fitness on the other hand seems to refer to movement and capacity to be active.
So far there isn’t one measurement that indicates health AND fitness, until now.
I think the Adonis Index ratio might the one measurement that indicates both health and fitness.
In recent years height to waist ratio has gained favor over BMI as a better indicator of health and disease risk for lifestyle disorders such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes.
But height to waist ratio doesn’t say much about fitness. I think the addition of the shoulder measurement and thus the Adonis Index ratio is a more complete measurement of both health and fitness.
Having and healthy and fit body is synonymous with having a body that other people will admire.
In todays podcast we discuss:
1. What health means and how we measure it
2. What fitness means and how we measure it
3. What the look of a healthy body is
4. BMI vs Height to Waist Ratio vs Adonis Index Ratio as markers of health and fitness
5. A personal health perspective vs a global health perspective
6. What to do when you’ve made a big time change in your health and fitness
John
p.s. Here is the awesome thread in the forum that we talk about in the podcast (there are multiple pages, click through to the 2nd or 3rd page for the cool before and after’s).
p.p.s. (Brad edit) Something’s up with the comments, I’ll get them fixed today hopefully)
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Test comment.
I got lost on this one guys.
Global Warming is not caused by us, or the US. If we are the cause, then explain to me why other planets’ temperatures are increasing!!
Good info, except for the generalization that people that buy local have to be affluent. Why would you NOT want to support local farmers when possible?!?! Especially in this economy!
Anyhow, love the site, and thanks for the info when it comes to AI, and keep em comming.
Hey J… we’re not saying DON’T, after all that’s up to you.
What we’re saying is to not let an ideal get in the way of your personal results
B
Hey brad, other than the AI, I feel that other factors such as your performance in the vertical jump, number of pullups you can do and timing in a 1.5 mile run should be called into effect as well. It’s no good having a beautiful body when you can’t do much with it!
Having said that, I’m really impressed with the way you go about with your frank opinions. I also feel that the AI is a useful indicator of one’s physical attractiveness. At least, it’s the one we have control over. Keep it up!
The only problem with this approach is that you have to set some sort of performance “standard” and when you do that, most people lose track of the overall goal.
Also, all of the measurements you’ve proposed are “exercise specific”… in other words, if you want to be able to do more pullups, you have to do more pullups, vertical jump, you have to jump, run a 1.5 mile, train for 1.5 miles.
People would only do these things and neglect everything else just to “fit the measurement” because you can’t do lat pull downs in your program and expect it to translate into pullup strength… because it doesn’t.
You also have a genetic component here.
For example, today, before I came in… I went in the gym and did a “vertical test”. I can touch the rim at 5’11″ from a stand still… and I haven’t trained legs or jumped in a while.
I have ALWAYS been able to jump. I was dunking in 10th grade at 5’8″. Same thing with running… I have always been fast… and ran a 4.5ish 40 back then as well…
… with no weight training or specific training for those areas.
Genetically, my lower body is built for this type of explosiveness. In other words, I could train legs for 30 days, do some jumping and sprinting and be roughly 95% of where I was no problem.
(maybe I’ll do it over the next 30 days once this tweak in my low back disappears, few days max)
As an aside, this is why I also never give calf or leg workout advice… lol.
Basically, my potential in these areas of measurement is far higher than 99% of the population… it’s just always been this way.
B
Maybe we just don’t like facing how tenuous our justifications for our actions are?
Take Cross fit – very big on the ‘polymorphic’ fitness model of flexibility, strength and stamina, but I don’t know one Cross fitter who doesn’t know their ‘fran’ time.
I like the Tao mode of fitness: show me an old man/woman and I’ll show you a fit man/woman. Show me a happy man/woman and I’ll show you a healthy man/woman.
But if a woman turns my head I could care less how many situps she can do.
Rambled on a bit, but still some valid points;
Why would anybody listen to a so called expert if they do not walk the walk and talk the talk. Like going to a dentist who has bad teeth.
You guys really beat up on men achieving an AI to impress women. I could care less what chicks think. They are a dime a dozen and not worth getting stressed over at all. I do what I do for my personal benefit only, not for what chicks or anybody else thinks.
As far as being OK if your calories balance or are lower than your BMR, some of the statements were a little over simplified. I would not want to get all of my calories from chocolate cake and potato chips. Macronutrients are used for a variety of important functions and I consider this when I eat for a caloric deficit.
John,
Hey man I think you misconstrued some key points here.
1. They don’t exactly “beat up” on men trying to achieve an ideal AI just impress women, but, the point is that you should only ever do this for yourself and for no one else. Women are attracted to confidence which is one of the biggest benefits of having an adonis body, and if you do this for only that reason (getting chicks) well you’re not going to achieve much success with them, or with the system for that matter. An adonis body is not “for” getting chicks, that just seems to be one of the many perks
2. And, I don’t know how you missed this but, JB has only ever argued the whole “what you eat doesn’t matter” thing from a fat loss standpoint. It’s blatantly obvious that no one is going to get all of their daily caloric intake from chocolate cake and potato chips, and he’s even said that yes there would be health consequences with doing that. The point is that we all eat a varied diet to some degree, and from a fat loss standpoint it’s pointless to worry about macronutrient ratios, carb cycling, organic, whatever. The point is that to lose weight/fat, you need to eat less and achieve a caloric deficit, otherwise you’re violating the laws of physics (the conservation of energy), or you’re doing something totally unatural to your body that will probably kill you.
Hope this clears some of the fog for yah!
Come on now. Most people work out to look better, and I don’t really think you’re an expection from that. If not, hanging around blogs that are about working out to look better is a bit counterintuitive.
And believe it or not the adonis effect is very real. The closer you get, the more shocking results you get ANYWHERE. Not just with women. Everyone in pretty much every situation will judge you as more intelligent, socially smart, skilled, deemed with leadership qualities etc etc. This has been documented by experiments in social psychology as well. The opposite effect takes place with overweight people, did you know we are more prejudiced against overweight people then ANY other form of human beings?
People do it all the time.
They get financial advice from a financial planner that is broke.
Buy stocks from stockbrokers that don’t own stock.
Take relationship advice from friends that can’t keep a relationship.
Buy books on weight loss from guys that are CURRENTLY overweight (although many may not know it).
Buy muscle building products from guys on ‘roids.
Listening to an overweight doctor about “health”
Etc.
And yes, we acknowledged that we’ve kinda beat up the attract women phenomenon, that’s why we’re switching gears to admiration. Attraction is what all of the initial Adonis research was on though.
Oh, and if you’ve got women crawling all over you to the point where you can say women are a dime a dozen, bravo to you. I totally agree with this statement, although most men can’t relate to this… yet
B
So true. This is why the best way to learn something is to be mentored by someone who already has success with what you want to do. Most of us have learned this the hard way in life.
The points on Admiration and “Being on the Hook” are spot on, guys. Once we get to a good physique, it’s TOTALLY noticeable…especially if we’ve never had the experience before.
And the whole “Living up to expectations” topic: Man, once again, totally spot on.
Wish I had heard this a few weeks earlier…hahaha.
Jason
Hey, first time listening to your blog and I really enjoyed it.
One problem I had with it though is how it seems you guys are jumping to conclusions that achieving 1.6 also means you are healthy. So we have this very small sample of 2 individuals (John and Rich) that we are drawing this upon this conclusion? If we are to maintain the scientific integrity of the Adonis Effect program, I think the evidence we have at the moment is only at best suggestive.
However, if there have just been as many or more unhealthy 1.6ers that never spoke up, then the evidence we have at the moment is not only not suggestive, but null.
I think a proper study needs to be conducted before this correlation between health and 1.6 is “official.”
Of course, we’re starting by lining up what’s happening in society as measurements first and laying over our current data, although it’s pretty sparce yet extremely valuable.
John’s looking into a way to get this research done and I’ve been haggling with him about letting this be his Ph.D research but I don’t think he feels like going back to school – so we’re looking for another way.
In other words, we’re already ahead of you … lol.
B
Very nice, Brad!
I look forward to the research results, although to be honest, I secretly wish all this would be kept a secret so I have less competition out there.
“Hey Tim, how did you get such a beautiful body?”
“You really want to know my secret?”
“Hell yeah!”
“Okay, don’t tell anyone – donuts, bacon, and a lot of general lying around.”
It should be noted, however, that I do eat donuts and bacon, but with the help of ESE.
However, if there have just been as many or more unhealthy 1.6ers that never spoke up, then the evidence we have at the moment is not only not suggestive, but null.
Brad, awesome stuff you’ve got going on here. I’m 27 and I checked out your stuff one day when i got on the scale and realized i was at 196 (I am 5′ 11″ and wasn’t working out). That was January 26, 2010. Since then, I’ve used what you’ve been sharing in your podcasts as well as a healthier diet to get myself down to 168… My wife is all over me since I started dropping the pounds. Dude, What you’re doing is helping us “young professionals” who are working 45-70 hours a week get a handle on the one aspect of our lives we don’t have time to get a handle on. I’d love to spend all my time researching how to eat right or exercise right or become Mr. Universe, but I don’t have that time, I’ve got a wife, a daughter and job to take care of. You take the guess work out of it and continually make it interesting, thought provoking, and really, just fun to work at. Please keep providing the tools and resources you do. Much Appreciated
A HUGE x2 on this one!!!
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