Stan Efferding, hailing from Oregon, continues to champion the cause of fitness and bodybuilding even post his competitive days. In a fresh dialogue with Chris Williamson, Efferding, often referred to as “The White Rhino,” delved into why sleep holds more significance than cardio in the weight loss journey.
“Sleep does affect insulin levels as well. We also find that people who don’t get sufficient sleep when they start losing weight, they might lose a disproportionate amount of muscle as opposed to fat. The body becomes stingy at preserving the fat,” Efferding shared.
Competing in the IFBB Pro League in the 2000s, Efferding knew how to command a crowd. His massive arms and conditioned legs made him a standout within the Men’s Open division. The highlight of his bodybuilding tenure came in 2010 when he was declared the “Mr. Olympia World’s Strongest Pro Bodybuilder.”
Holding a formidable reputation in powerlifting for his astounding strength, Efferding has etched his mark in dual realms. Transitioning from competitive feats, he’s now on a mission to foster health and wellness through tailored training methodologies. The brainchild of this quest is “The Vertical Diet”, devised as a pragmatic lifestyle choice for those with hefty caloric needs.
In an age increasingly alarmed by obesity, Efferding furnishes a holistic and insightful pathway to weight management. To many, his assertion might come as a surprise: according to him, prioritizing sound sleep can be more potent than rigorous cardio for weight shedding. He elucidates on this intriguing perspective below.
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Stan Efferding Prioritizes Sleep Over Cardio: “Be Wary of Banking Solely on Cardio for Weight Loss”
Kicking off the conversation, Efferding emphasized the consequences of sleep deprivation. He pinpointed that inadequate sleep can elevate ghrelin production and impair insulin responsiveness, subtly tilting the scales toward weight gain.
“When you don’t get sufficient sleep you have increased ghrelin release, which makes you hungrier, makes you want to eat more. You also have compromised insulin sensitivity which makes it a little easier for you to gain weight,” Stan Efferding explained.
“When you eat foods your blood sugars elevate and there’s no place to store them because you’re over fat, your fat stores are full so you can’t put those there. Your muscles maybe don’t have sufficient muscle mass to store there, and that stays elevated for an extended period of time.”
“Just being awake more hours in the day just gives you another opportunity to get hungry and eat. Sleep through one meal and you’re probably better off.”
Efferding’s Approach: Sustainability Over Intensity
Efferding highlighted that he typically steers clear of recommending cardio to his clients. His rationale? His program’s foundation lies in its long-term viability and sustainability.
“I did put it this way once: if you’re waking up at 4 a.m. to do your fasted cardio after only five hours of sleep, you’re stepping over one-hundred dollar bills to pick up nickels. That’s what I’ve said for many years.
To me, I would do the cardio later or I don’t even really recommend cardio at all to most of my clients because it’s a pretty significant departure from their standard lifestyle, it might not be something they enjoy, it might not be very sustainable and we see it has diminishing returns over time as your body adapts to that stimulus and becomes more efficient and reduces the calories it burns.”
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Sleep Over Sweat: Efferding’s Prescription for Better Health
Stan Efferding offers a counterintuitive approach, suggesting an extra hour of sleep could be more beneficial than an additional hour of heart-pounding cardio. Instead of intense workouts, Efferding leans towards advocating for 10-minute walks and activities classified under “non-exercise activity” to promote general well-being and sustainable health habits.
“Too much exercise activity, particularly aggressive exercise activities, I’m not shitting on any forms, the best exercise is the one you’ll do if you enjoy doing it, do it. But if somebody goes and starts crushing themselves, I call it battle ropes and burpees thinking they are going to burn calories for fat loss. A phenomenon called compensation takes over, where you just go home and sit more and eat more because you’re hungry, you’re tired.”
“I’m cautious about prescribing cardio for weight loss for all of those reasons. I’d prescribe an extra hour of sleep and more non-exercise activity. I just think the barriers to entry, having to come home get in your car, drive to the gym, do your cardio, we’re too busy, especially if you have a family and a career. That’s the first thing that gets sacrificed in that scenario. That’s why I like 10-minute walks.”
Stan Efferding’s Simple Solution: Walk More
Highlighting the underestimated benefits of walking, Stan Efferding emphasizes the substantial health improvements individuals can achieve by simply accumulating 5,000-6,000 steps daily. He advocates for the natural and low-impact nature of walking as an effective and sustainable way to enhance overall well-being.
“We see dramatic improvements in health span simply from going from 2,000 steps a day to 5,000 steps a day. We see a significant decline in blood pressure, intermittent heart rates, all the health markers, it also improves satiety, of all things.
Just walking somewhere in that 5 or 6,000 steps a day. You can get about 1,300 steps from a 10-minute walk. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest moving periodically throughout the day, say 10 minutes three times a day, is more effective than 30 minutes once a day on all-cause mortality as well.”
“The sitting for an extended period of time actually does some damage and moving more frequently throughout the day, getting your heart rate up, even if it’s five minutes every hour while you’re at work, they have those standing desks, bike things, just movement in general and getting sufficient steps in.”
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Walking: A Healing Exercise
The 55-year-old Stan Efferding not only promotes walking for its overall health benefits but also underscores its therapeutic advantages. Especially for individuals recovering from injuries or surgeries, he champions walking as an essential tool to aid in the healing process, providing a gentle yet effective way to regain strength and mobility.
“I find it helps with people a lot that are trying to recover from things, like hips and knees, getting lots of movement,” added Stan Efferding. “A lot of people think that posture contributes to soreness, back tightness, neck tightness.
They’ve studied people that use good posture and poor posture, they have similar outcomes. Some of the good posture people have worse outcomes in terms of pain. It was really the duration of time you stayed in one position; it wasn’t the position itself. So the movement becomes pretty critical.”
Stan Efferding and Arnold Schwarzenegger: Echoing the Power of Sleep and Walking
Stan Efferding, with his wealth of knowledge in the bodybuilding domain, isn’t alone in highlighting the virtues of proper sleep and walking. Recently, the bodybuilding titan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, voiced similar sentiments on these subjects.
Schwarzenegger, the legendary seven-time Mr. Olympia winner, emphasized the weight of sleep in one’s daily regimen. His observations resonated with Efferding’s, noting that individuals who clocked in fewer than five hours of sleep were generally heavier than their well-rested counterparts. Furthermore, Schwarzenegger, affectionately known as “The Austrian Oak,” lauded the merits of walking. In his view, a swift walking pace not only promises cardiovascular benefits but even correlates with increased longevity. He quantified this, suggesting that for every acceleration of one meter per second in walking speed, one might expect an augmentation in lifespan.
Stan Efferding’s credentials in the world of fitness lend significant weight to his opinions. With both him and Schwarzenegger pointing towards the virtues of sleep and walking, their shared wisdom serves as an invaluable resource for fitness enthusiasts worldwide. While carving out an extra hour for sleep might sound daunting, the benefits, as Efferding assures, are manifold and profound.
To delve deeper into Efferding’s perspective on this matter, viewers can tune into Chris Williamson’s YouTube channel for the comprehensive interview:
Overview
Stan Efferding, a former competitive bodybuilder from Oregon, emphasizes the critical importance of sleep and regular walking in the weight loss journey. Drawing from his extensive experience and knowledge, Efferding suggests that quality sleep and consistent, moderate exercise, such as walking, may be more effective for weight management than rigorous cardio routines. This perspective, echoed by bodybuilding icon Arnold Schwarzenegger, serves as a fresh and sustainable approach to fitness for enthusiasts everywhere.
Featured Image @stanefferding (Instagram)
