A hot take that shouldn’t be…

Here’s a hot take that shouldn’t be controversial… but somehow is:

Stop training with a sole view to burn calories.

Because if the only reason you’re dragging yourself to the gym is to “undo” whatever you ate earlier, you’re fighting a losing battle that’ll leave you hungry and uninspired.

Let me paint you a quick (very real) picture.

I love muffins.
(Objectively superior to scones. Which my grandmother would be very disappointed by, and I know that’s borderline treason back at home in England, but it’s true.)

Now, one muffin could sit at roughly 400 kcal.

If I wanted to “earn” that muffin or enjoy it “guilt-free,” I’d apparently have to burn those 400 calories.

Which would take around:

80–90 minutes of brisk walking

or

40–50 minutes of aggressive spinning

Give or take. For a single muffin.

And here’s where the whole idea falls apart:

Not every calorie you eat goes straight to fat stores.
A huge portion gets shuttled into muscle and stored as glycogen, which is the fuel reserve your body uses to move, lift and generally not feel like a slug.

Food literally exists so you can:

Move better

Feel better

Build muscle

Fuel performance

Eat smart, yes. Don’t shovel down food all day and call it “fueling performance.” And yes, there’s absolutely a time and place for a calculated caloric defecit.
But stop treating food like a debt you need to repay with exercise.

Train for performance.
Train to get strong.
Train because moving well makes your entire life better.

And when you do enjoy the sweeter things in life, do it with the confidence that it’s not a moral failure. It’s energy.

Energy that’ll help you smash your next session instead of moping into it under-fed and over-worried.

Enjoy the muffin.
Then go train.

Talk soon