UPDATE: Why Losing Weight is so Difficult – The Workout Paradox
Added 2024-07-23 19:07:17 +0000 UTCUPDATE - 12. September:
Dear birbs,
The updated version of The Workout Paradox video is now live: https://kgs.link/WorkoutUpdate
After hearing your feedback on our initial video, we consulted experts, revised the script, and added more information to the parts that were too simplified. All changes and the link to the original video (now unlisted) are listed in the infobox over on YouTube for full transparency.
This experience was uncomfortable, but ultimately encouraging for us. It reminded us that it is a challenge to make ten-minute videos on complex topics without cutting too much and that we need to be constantly aware of this. Thanks again for your honest feedback and for helping us get better. We truly appreciate it.
Special thanks to Ben Carpenter for his support on the rework!
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UPDATE - 23. July:
Dear birbs,
After reading your feedback and looking into it, we have to say you are right: our video on the Workout Paradox was too simplified and didn't explain things clearly enough. Scripts start out more detailed and then get shortened, and this time we obviously overdid it. This is exactly the kind of stuff we try to avoid, but we went too far, and this hurt the message and the science we wanted to explain. What now? We are editing the script, adding more information, including more expert feedback, and will update the video as soon as possible. After this is set and done, we’ll do a review to see how we can avoid this in the future. We’ll keep you posted!
Much love from all of us!
✨🦆
Comments
Team, the animations are fantastic and I truly enjoyed watching with the pace and the great messaging. Now I am trying to make sense of it and I will likely wait until that next update. I.e. the video states: - 260 kcalories for walking hour - Pontzer 2012 stating Hunter Gatherers societies in africa walking 9km a day on average (weekly average? monthly? etc.) - As a city dweller, walking 1 hour is about 5 km, walking 2 hours is about 10km, walking about 2 hours a day (as average) doesnt sound like much? is it? There are other parts of the video where "body movement doesn't use more calories" min 6:41 but right before it was mentioned the body is able to 'reduce resources in other organs when needed' for example when over-reasources our auto-immune system becoming lazy/inefficient causing more inflamation (as it drags more resources but if you have over-abundance you can use it, like a Tech company using cash!); sounding like yes body movements will burn more calories but body will compensate elsewhere. I will be reading those papers from Pontzer later this week. I will no dig further until the newer video! and thank you for the great work
Angel Alberici
2024-08-14 11:56:03 +0000 UTCTo add to this, the phenomenon of your body finding ways to save calories is well known in the body building community. People will subconsciously get lazier when they’re on a cut. This is why bodybuilders usually keep a goal for step count for each day to force themselves to burn the required amount of calories. Like sure, hunter-gatherer bodies may adapt over time, but there’s also hard thermodynamics involved here and there’s a limit to how much your body can do to cut corners on energy consumption. I think this wasn’t emphasized enough in the video and will result in it being framed without the requisite nuance.
ParadoxFox
2024-07-29 18:48:13 +0000 UTCOn this people may of course have differing views. But I don't need or want this black hole channel or you telling me what to feed my kid. You can start a different channel to dispense nutrition cult advice, rather than slide it into an outer space channel like it belongs there.
Karl W
2024-07-27 16:44:18 +0000 UTCAnd why exactly does a 12 year old need to drink milk?
prancer
2024-07-27 14:07:27 +0000 UTCLooking forward to the update.
Michael
2024-07-25 20:06:39 +0000 UTCVery excited to see the updates! I also felt this video was too simplified. Would love to see explanations of the variance in calories burned by people (because obviously there is Michael Phelps and his diet). And curious to know about age affects on that as well
Olga
2024-07-25 20:02:07 +0000 UTCI found the video interesting but my biggest gripe was indeed that some stuff got oversimplified showing a wrong image of exercise. For example the fact that if you do more exercise "you won't burn more calories" was the problem to me. While yeah the body will adjust over time how it burns calories, it still doesn't take into account some types of typical cardio exercises like cycling. I cycle several times a week and one of those rides is a long 4 hours 100km ride. During this ride I burn around 3000 calories. And whatever the metabolic adaptations, I would have still burned around 4000-4500 calories on that day. Much more than a typical day. It's just physical, and I need to fuel regularly on the bike or I would bonk badly. Of course the diet is still the most important point to lose weight.
Zrat
2024-07-25 03:41:25 +0000 UTCI really liked the video and as a scientist, I feel it i's based on solid science, presented as digestible as can be. I agree it needs a 2nd part or more information as the concepts are difficult to grasp and explain in simple words in little time. From a scientific point of view, videos like yours should encourage people to read more, do research on their own and even contribute if you are able to do so. This is what the scientific community does. Amplify others ideas, do testing, compare research etc.. People throw critical opinions based on their own thinking, which is anecdotal, and this should not be used to judge your work, which is always referenced. If you want to debate scientifically, show your analysis with unbiased proof, not beliefs. Keep the good work. You are doing a wonderful job. Thank you.
Rene Dietrich
2024-07-24 17:42:07 +0000 UTCYou guys need to remember your main target audience with the animations is a bunch of kids. They take these vids as gospel even though they are frequently extreme, weird or incorrect. Sometimes I feel like there is some sort of homeopathy cult funding this channel. You can give kids lifelong incorrect attitudes. I have a 12yo who refused to drink milk for 6 months after seeing one of your vids. Do yourselves a favor and stick to outer space. You are better at it, it is far less controversial, and you won't give anyone an eating disorder.
Karl W
2024-07-24 17:03:06 +0000 UTCThanks for the update! I didn't dislike the video, but I couldn't really take away much from it because other medical experts also said that diets aren't an effective way to lose weight. And it can't mean that overweight people are just doomed to die early. Without having these negations contrasted in the same video, it's very difficult to draw any correct conclusions, so I chose to reserve judgement. But yeah... Instead of two videos on sensitive personal topics, it might be best to go with a single longer video.
Reno
2024-07-24 16:09:31 +0000 UTCI think I’m more worried about how the upcoming weight loss video will be framed: there’s so much anti-fat bias that’s sold as “just facts”, so hope you’re engaging with fat activists to get their perspective and ensure that the content is sensitive and appropriate.
James Hultgren
2024-07-24 07:50:15 +0000 UTCYour video was educational for me. I've always felt my body had a certain image of itself and stubbornly stuck to it no matter what I did. Now I know why.
Paul Lenoue
2024-07-24 04:36:48 +0000 UTCWhen will the fixed video be available? Or will the changes be made to the original video?
Bartosz Błaszkiewicz
2024-07-24 03:31:47 +0000 UTCJust as a data point, it made sense to me. [shrug]
Angie Penrose
2024-07-23 23:09:56 +0000 UTCThank you for checking out the feedback and looking into it more! So many people struggle with weight and health. For so many, there's a sense of learned helplessness, because they tried so hard to do the things they were told were "good", but despite their best efforts, nothing working. And it was never that they weren't trying hard. It was just that the goals and milestones they were told to pay attention to were always self-sabotaging. Our understanding of what actually works vs. what is self-sabotage has changed so much, in the evidence-based community. Yet I still hear so many people repeating the beliefs of the 1970s, that we now know lead to long term failure and rebound. I'm grateful to Kurzgesagt for spreading the good info, and going back and editing when the message doesn't come out quite right.
Thornhenge
2024-07-23 22:20:15 +0000 UTCI think it was a great examination for the average person, but the Hunter/Gatherer tribes used as an example are doing way less exercise than a lot of people who are big on fitness, and I don’t think it was clearly stated how quickly an exercise regimen can put you outside of the “normal” evolutionary conditions that were discussed. I’m curious what the updates will be.
Tactical Bagels
2024-07-23 21:30:47 +0000 UTCI'm not sure who counts as an expert, but I thought the video was reasonably accurate for the length. I know the topic challenges many conventional wisdoms, and many people want the nuance to slant in their behaviors favor; but that doesn't change our latest understanding of the science. I sent the video to a slew of people, several who would be qualified to disagree if it was bordering on inaccurate, and heard no negative feedback. I would be very careful in soliciting criticism around this topic, doubly so because people don't want it to be true.
Chris Stone
2024-07-23 21:26:35 +0000 UTCI'm not sure I've seen much negative feedback, perhaps this has been privately received? This video made sense to me, it reinforces what I've been taught and your sources doc proves you've done your research to back it all up. Could this be differences in opinion? I'd love you to share where conflict has come up - perhaps this could highlight some of the issues in the health and fitness sector (everyone seems to have an opinion with very little education to back it up)
James Tunnell
2024-07-23 20:58:45 +0000 UTCBro almost got cooked
Riker Charlson
2024-07-23 20:04:46 +0000 UTCYes i’m looking forward to the edits! The topics discussed really challenged a lot of our conventional notions of exercise and I found myself skeptical and not fully confident in telling my friends my new insight (which never happens with kurzgezart videos) I assumed the reason was because I was a competition athlete my whole life and many of the ideas about calories and building muscle were ingrained and seemingly proven by years of experience and coaching. Really looking forward to the new upload.
Megan Geer
2024-07-23 19:37:17 +0000 UTCthanks for clarifying and making an update to the video. imho you can never truly avoid mistakes, but you can reduce it by asking experts (what you already do) show it to small communities who have that topic as a hobby. or even show it to your patreons a day early or so (which if i recall correctly you didnt want to do). just dont feel discouraged in the end even if not the best, correcting yourself and clarifying it is one step in the right direction =3
martin leske
2024-07-23 19:30:23 +0000 UTCSide comment.. think your video said you'd tackle diet next time? If so, I hope you'll do it in a way that's considerate to eating disorders 💜
Yoreki
2024-07-23 19:25:31 +0000 UTCAll hail buff bird. Looking forward to the updated vid!
Tombfyre
2024-07-23 19:21:21 +0000 UTCI thought it was just me. It took me two watches to fully understand what was being said. Thank you for all the hard work you do. I'm looking forward to seeing the updated video.
Gamertara
2024-07-23 19:17:06 +0000 UTC
