You've probably seen hundreds of these type of before-and-after photos.
You the photos that show the skinny/fat guy and the fat/unfit gal after just a few weeks of training, or dieting or lifting, or running, or all of the above.
Inevitably the subject of these photos goes from being unhealthy and unfit to a superman or perhaps superwomen of human physic.
An exercise physiologist at the University of Wisconsin decided to test how real such results can be when put to the test.
According to the New York Times:
"The plan was to photograph volunteers wearing skimpy bathing suits and then randomly assign them to one of three groups: cardiovascular exercise, weight lifting or control. Six weeks later, they would be photographed again.
Results were not surprising. The subjects rated themselves more highly than anyone else rated them, and female panelists rated the subjects lower than the male subjects or panelists rated them. But, over all, the subjects’ ratings barely changed, if at all, after their exercise program. And neither did objective measures, like weight or percentage of body fat, or waist size or the size of the bicep or thigh.
Exercise physiologists approach the whole new year, new you, total body transformation mania with a jaundiced eye. Yes, they said, people can change the way they look. But not overnight."