Working smarter not harder?

Work smarter not harder applies to almost every area of life. Granted, there are plenty of people who need to work harder as well. Can't do quarter squats with light weight expecting results, but that's also an element of working smarter.

"That's the classic nature of people, though. We'll skip the basics and get pissed when the sexy stuff doesn't work." - Martin Rooney

Does this apply to exercise? You hear this term a lot in the working world so people can be more efficient. Don't get me wrong, I'm for being efficient with using time and organization, but can one really "outsmart" the body when it comes to exercise?
The is such a thing as over exercising. One doesn't need to do 10 sets of 100 squats to get good results. But the only result I've seen when people work harder on their exercise is usually good results (especially if their diets are in check).

Opinions?

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Totally agree!

I didn't know what to do when I first started exercising and got confused by the different information. I have gotten a lot more results from 20-30 minute workouts than I did two years ago spending an hour a day on nonsense.

I guess maybe I have a skewed vision of this, but when it comes to excersize in general I really don't feel this applies. How can one improve if you don't continue to work harder. How do you get stronger? How do you beat a plateau? The idea is not to run the most efficient mile, but to run the fastest and to some people that may not be pretty or efficient... LOL! I do believe in correct form and doing the correct work for your ultimate goal, so I guess in a way that can be considered working smarter not harder. Hard work has provided me with nothing, but results... period!

hours of cardio and not effective workouts

What do you consider a "not effective workout"? And by whose standards?

I think work harder needs to be put into context- without context it is completely confusing at best and meaningless at worst.

coming in and doing more of the same- hours of cardio and not effective workouts could be considered working harder- but I wouldn't consider it working smarter (in terms of gains)

Getting on a program that suits your path to your goals is working smarters- and more efficiently- that being said- you need to work hard for your results- so even if you are on a program- you need to put your effort into the program- so it's smarter- and harder.

just like i like my men

hours of cardio and not effective workouts

What do you consider a "not effective workout"? And by whose standards?

I kinda think about this as people who get to goal weight and then are like WTF? My body doesn't look like I thought it would....BECAUSE they did hours of cardio and worked hard to lose weight but didn't think about the muscle and it's effect on physique.

Not bragging (because I my fat butt has weight to lose) but I am a pretty fit 179 lbs right now at 5'7".

My friend who does spin and zumba and complains about her lower back fat and love handles is trying to lose weight. She doesn't look fit. She is very soft and hardly any appreciable muscle. The body she wants in her mind will maybe never come to realization if she keeps the routine she has at this time.

True


My first 50ish pounds is when I started getting the "OMG" from folks about my weight loss. I still get "You are getting thinner every time I see you" from some co-workers and such, but I've been maintaining 190ish for almost a year now. No cardio, and have been a bit of a slacker in my lifting, but the work I have been doing is effective.

I have seen fat shift around my body, leaving one place, and then inexplicably reappearing elsewhere, only to disappear again. I attribute that to my inconsistency, but when I do the "smart" work (to me, compound lifts with progressive loads), then it makes a big difference in my appearance than when I was just jogging every day.

I'm totally w/ JoRocka, context is everything. For me working smarter not harder is definitively lifting on a good program ( progressive, tailored to MY goals) vs. trying to do more cardio to get "toned". And yes--I think work smarter not harder applies nicely in health and fitness.

Just today I was at the Y lifting. With me today were primarily men I have never seen swinging weights around ( read:****e form)--I have to believe that they are hoping to get all buff for summer. But naturally that is an assumption on my part. Down below in the gym--full to the brim of woman in a mad panic to get summer/bikini ready with cardio. Fine by me, I have the power rack to myself!

I also agree with 12by311---I have a friend that just lost 45lbs doing VLCD. She can't understand why her skin is saggy....boobs and butt are gone. Smarter? No. Harder. Yep.

It's a shame that wisdom is not collective (in fitness) like it is in a bee colony!

hours of cardio and not effective workouts

What do you consider a "not effective workout"? And by whose standards?

I think the standards are your own. To me, Couch to 5k was very effective in getting me off the couch (literally) and back to a beginner's level of fitness. But now, jogging doesn't help me change my appearance at all, but lifting, even inconsistently, has been more effective.

Not effective, I think, is self-explanatory. If you haven't improved by your own standards, then it wasn't effective.

hours of cardio and not effective workouts

What do you consider a "not effective workout"? And by whose standards?

For most people looking to "get into shape", intensity is more important than duration (to a certain degree).
Given you were quoting JoRocka, I'm going to guess she picked ineffective as having one or more of the following:
not challenging, unfocused, or not supporting your goals, and it would be by the standards of the individual. What's effective for one may be ineffective for another.

There are some days you get points for just making it to the gym. But not many. You get points for working hard.

Duration is key for anyone training for endurance. I don't think anyone will argue that point. But I also think that that is not a core audience for this site.

I prefer to just "wing it" and see what happens.

You know... just throw a whole pile of spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.

Seems to be working so far. :laugh:

Yay, thanks for not letting that gem die.

For me I have friends that do bro splits and don't get nearly the results in 1.5 hours/day 6 days/week that they could be getting in a 3 day/week full body workout. and by results I mean getting stronger, since they are dieting they are not going to put on size under either type of workout. So 3hours/week vs. 9 hours.

I use to workout more like that in Uni and find working out less I am getting better results, that probably also has to do with how important and underrated recovery is.

I guess maybe I have a skewed vision of this, but when it comes to excersize in general I really don't feel this applies. How can one improve if you don't continue to work harder. How do you get stronger? How do you beat a plateau? The idea is not to run the most efficient mile, but to run the fastest and to some people that may not be pretty or efficient... LOL! I do believe in correct form and doing the correct work for your ultimate goal, so I guess in a way that can be considered working smarter not harder. Hard work has provided me with nothing, but results... period!

If your goal is to run the fastest mile would you go running 3x a day? If your goal was to run a marathon would you go run 26 miles every day? That's part of working smarter. You train smart and you avoid injury. You train smart and you get to that point faster. Training smart also means putting the effort in. Not cheating reps is working smarter and harder. Running hills and running outside is working smarter and harder (vs running on a treadmill).

This I totally agree with in every aspect. Like I said doing the correct work for your ultimate goal is working smarter vs. coming and running 10 miles a day at a monster pace when you want to build muscle wouldn't be the smart way to train for that particular goal. So I can see where this all goes hand in hand.

I think it would defiantly be do able if proper form was the rule rather than the exception. unfortunately I see people constantly letting their form get sloppy in favor of going harder or seemingly unawear how poor their form is.

Would HIIT training be an example of smarter not harder? I mean, it IS hard IMO, but it's faster and more efficient than spending an hour on a treadmill like a rat. Far less boring.....

When I was doing it (not now cause I'm pregnant and not sure it's safe), I found that alternating longer, less intense cardio with HIIT cardio sessions worked better than all HIIT. I think it's too taxing if you do it all the time to your hormones (epinephrine, cortisol, etc., plus the lactic acid is probably bad if you don't take resting periods).

Forgive me if I sound like an ignoramus, I'm not a personal trainer or expert! Just going by what has worked for me in the past and stuff I've read.