Most people are classically biased toward one of the three legs of the fitness triad: progressive resistance training, cardiovascular training or diet/nutrition. How many folks try and lose weight by dieting and dieting alone? A safe bet would be a majority of individuals. Ever wonder why people who lose a lot of bodyweight rapidly still look fat? Its because they are still fat.

When the human organism perceives starvation it reverts to a primordial hardwiring that seeks to preserve body fat (the last line of defense against starvation) at all costs. So dieting alone can results in weight loss but when more muscle than body fat is lost as a result of crash dieting, the end result is not all that impressive.

I had a self-indulgent buddy who balloon up from 200 to 350. He eventually went on some sort of weird diet and lost back down to 200. He looked terrible, loose skin, still fat and to make it all worse he was now a 'diet expert' and told me and anyone else within earshot how stupid they were to follow any diet other than the one he had used. Of course he still couldnt catch a ball or walk up a flight of stairs without getting totally gassed.

At the other extreme I knew a really good long distance runner who was thin as a rail, lived on carbs and eschewed lifting or protein. He became anemic and emaciated the combination of mega-miles and carbs and fruit in meager amounts produced a physique that resembled a famine victim. Lifting weights to his way of thinking would add muscle that he would have to haul around and would have the same impact as wearing a backpack with a 10 or 15-pound plate in it. Needless to say by the time he got to his mid-thirties he started experiencing the usual repetitive motion injuries knee arthroscopic surgery, ankle ligament damage, eternal shin-splints. He eventually had to give up running altogether.

My third example is a former national level powerlifter; a man who set regional records and grew gargantuan. Eventually he weighed 350 and was able to squat over 900-pounds. He ate everything in sight and had to quit lifting altogether when he developed terrible circulatory problems.

Each individual I referenced took one particular leg of the fitness triad and because of overemphasis turned the pursuit of their specialty into something opposite of fitness & health. Better to practice a little of each leg of the triad instead of emphasizing one aspect to the exclusion of the other two. It makes perfect sense when we are presented with extreme and obvious examples.

Marty Gallagher

WHO IS MARTY GALLAGHER?

Writer & Author Published articles

* Washington Post.com: 232 weekly and bi-weekly columns

* Muscle & Fitness, Flex: 54 feature and training articles

* Powerlifting USA : 34 articles on training & personalities

* Muscle Media: 14 articles including the 2003 training edition

* Parrillo Performance Press: 84 feature articles and interviews, co-editor

* Milo Magazine: 10 articles on training and athlete profiles

* Strength Review: 26 articles on all aspects of athletic training

Joe Weider called Gallagher's book, Coan: The Man, The Myth, The Method ?the best book on Powerlifting ever written.? Athlete

DCAAU Senior Men's weightlifting champion, National Junior Olympic weightlifting champion, national junior Olympic weightlifting record holder, seven-time national master powerlifting champion, five-time world master powerlifting champion, runner-up and third place winner IPF world masters championships.

Coach

* Black's Gym ? coach (along with Bob Fortenbaugh) for five time national powerlifting team champions, twice runner-up national powerlifting team champions

* United States of America ? co-coach, 1991 world powerlifting team champions

Marty Gallagher lives in a small powerlifting village in south central Pensylvania at the foot of the Catoctin Mountains.