What is the best exercise for ____________?

There's no such thing

The fitness industry is now estimated to be about 150 billion dollars. The success of all that advice is hard to quantify. Does most of it work? Much of that revenue comes from advertising. People are more easily driven to click on something with claims. “Learn these 5 best exercises for your abs.” That’s click bait, and once you hit it, that site is earning advertising revenue, whether the advice is good or not.

The problem is the “best” part. Best for who, what, when, under what circumstances? The article and advice don’t know you, what you need, what aches and pains you have, or how your posture looks. Some people have too much arch in their lower back. That’s hard to quantify. In my experience it’s roughly 5% of the population. What if you are performing more back arches, and you actually need less?

The other problem with “best”, is that what’s best for results is variety. Our bodies only respond to the same stimulus so many times. We plateau in progress, roughly after 2-3 months, and gradually start to decline in progress. Sport seasons, and nature’s seasons, automatically help us change our routines. If you go to the gym and perform the same weights and exercises all year long, you are not making as much progress as you could.

Maybe this does workout for some people. If you constantly search for new ideas, you can use the “best” ones for the moment, and then find new exercises later.

There are also discussions about the best time to exercise. There is research on this, however I think you may be splitting hairs. Most people have extremely busy schedules, and “when” may not be an option. Do we have more energy and better returns first thing in the morning? Probably yes. But if you can’t in the morning, whenever is better than nothing.

Another article we often see is, “Studies show that you can harden your abs in as little as 8 minutes.” That may be true, but our society has this constant crush for rushed time. The big picture, is that the stress of lack of time for everything, may be the problem. The lack of time for work, family, driving kids to sports, medical appts, dinner, walking the dog, social media, etc. When we rush to fit these things in, the results are dubious.

Doing something is better than nothing. If you are looking for big changes in your health and physique, it requires a lifestyle makeover. Ultimately, weight loss is an equation. The calories consumed, needs to be less than the calories burned. Calories burned is extremely difficult to quantify. There are many factors that equations don’t always account for; gender, body weight, elevation where you live, humidity, outside temp, hydration, stress. It is less stressful to eat less, than to try and fit everything in your day.

Unless you are a marathoner, large distance walker, or triathlete, you can not hide poor diet choices with exercises.