If you like to exercise, you may have learned that high-intensity interval training is all the rage at the moment. There are also seven-minute and 20-minute workouts that promise results in just a short period of time.
But what is the best workout routine for you? Daniel Duane, a Men’s journal editor, recently wrote in The New York Times that there are in fact no cutting-edge scientific studies on workout routines. Duane talked to Martin Gibala, an exercise physiologist at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, who said there’s not a lot of research money out there to fund applied studies. On matters as simple as how many sets and reps best promote muscle growth, Gibala explained, “We can’t nail down the answer.”
Physiologists do research, but they only study questions of basic science, like the relationship between protein and muscle adaptation.
Of course, physiologists are not the problem. The problem, according to Duane, is that everybody in the fitness industry uses basic science and then twists the results to come up with something that sounds like a scientific recommendation for whatever they’re selling.
Few personal trainers or gym coaches teach their clients to train independently by showing them basic barbell lifts and telling them to add weight each time. Instead, they invent confusing routines, so the clients never leave them.
The truth about the best workout routine is simple, says Duane. The human body is an adaptation machine. If you force it to do something a little harder than it has done recently, it will respond — afterward, while you rest — by changing enough to be able to do that new hard task more competently next time. This is known as the progressive overload principle. All athletic training uses this principle through small, steady increases in weight, speed, or distance.
So if you run, run an extra 50 meters or a bit faster the next time. If you lift weight, add a half-kilo weight during the next workout. Always push yourself to your limits and you will be surprised at how strong you can become.
1. What is the real problem in fitness industry according to Daniel Duane?
A. It lacks a lot of research money to fund applied studies.
B. The trainers play trick on their clients by distorting the workout results.
C. Physiologists can only study questions of basic science.
D. The truth about the best workout routine is too simple for clients to train independently.
2. We can infer from the passage high-intensity interval training is prevailing at the moment because ______.
A. the clients believe that a short period of training time works
B. physiologists prove that it is simple to promote muscle growth in it
C. seven-minute or 20 minute workouts is scientific and effective
D. coaches invent progressive overload routines in it to meet clients’ needs
3. The underlined word “cutting-edge” probably refers to ______.
A. well-founded
B. general-accepted
C. authoritative
D. most advanced
4. When a person keeps the progressive overload principle, he should do the following things EXCEPT ______.
A. forcing himself to do something more interesting than he has done recently
B. always pushing himself to the limits
C. making sure new hard task more competent
D. training through small, steady increases
5. What type of writing is this text?
A. A health education announcement.
B. A fitness guide.
C. A research report.
D. A meeting review.
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