Robert Atkins, the late best-selling author of diet books, wrote that exercise is an essential part of his diet plan. “Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution” includes three exercise plans. The book emphasizes that you can exercise more if you’re on the Atkins diet because dieters are urged to eat foods with a lot of fat and protein and few carbohydrates. According to Atkins, fat and protein are good for your metabolism and energy, while carbohydrates slow your metabolism and don’t provide you with the energy for extensive exercise.
Starting Out
According to “Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution,” 60 percent of Americans don’t exercise regularly, but they should because exercise improves the body’s cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and respiratory systems. Exercise also meshes with his weight-loss plan, because he believed that body fat is caused by carbohydrates that are converted into blood glucose, and “regular exercise results in a more efficient use of glucose.”
“New Diet Revolution” cautions that you should consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. If your doctor gives you the go-ahead, you should perform at least one light exercise 10 minutes per day, two days per week. The light exercises Atkins suggests are basic stretching, beginner water aerobics, leisure bicycling, light swimming, walking on a flat surface and yoga.
Exercising More
Many exercise experts emphasize continuous aerobic exercises over stop-and-start anaerobic exercises, but Atkins wrote that “the best exercise programs combine aerobic and anaerobic activity.” He urged readers to comply with the American College of Sports Medicine’s recommendation to perform anaerobic weightlifting exercises two or three non-consecutive days per week. You should do eight to 12 repetitions of eight to 12 weightlifting exercises that address “most of the major muscles in the body,” according to “New Diet Revolution.”
Atkins’ list of anaerobic exercises for intermediate exercisers also includes golf, table tennis, tennis doubles, beginner martial arts, sit-ups, leg lifts, volleyball, touch football and shooting baskets.
Intensive Exercises
Marathoners frequently eat a lot of carbohydrates because they believe these foods provide energy for endurance events. Atkins calls this “the myth of carb-loading.” “Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution” reports that “fat-loading” helps endurance athletes more than carb-loading. According to Atkins, a study titled “Effect of a High or Low Fat Diet on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Male and Female Runners” reported that maximum endurance is achieved when 42 percent of your calories come from fat. The study’s results were published in “Medical Science and Sports Exercise” in 1997.
Atkins’ exercise plan for people in the best physical condition includes exercising up to 45 minutes daily almost every day. Atkins’ list of exercises for these people includes basketball, jogging, racquetball, squash, inline skating, jumping rope and cross-country skiing.
About this Author
Martin Zabell has had several thousand articles printed by the “Chicago Tribune,” “USA Today,” and many other publications since 1983. He’s covered business, real estate, government, features, sports and more. A Lafayette, Pa. college graduate, he’s also written for several Fortune 500 corporate publications and produced business newsletters.
