BIGGEST LOSER "12" STARTS THIS FRIDAY!

This week we’re taking a break between the last Biggest Loser groups and Biggest Loser “12” which starts this Friday, April 16th at 6:30 pm. There was much more participation in the Friday night group, so we’re going to drop the Saturday morning group for the time being.

If you want to participate Friday night, you need to come in and get registered right away. The administration fee is just $50.00 to participate in the 12-week community-wide Biggest Loser program.

It’s not necessary to belong to a gym, but it’s probably a good idea. There are several in the area to choose from, including the Y, Curves, and Tom’s. Some people have gotten good results working out at home, but they had enough equipment to get the job done: treadmill, elliptical, some free weights, and an exercise ball.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that people tend to do better losing weight in groups than on their own though, even if it’s a group as small as you and a friend. I think there are several reasons why.

There’s more accountability in groups. You know everyone else is going to show up, so there’s a little more pressure on you to show up, too. It’s the same thing with the weekly weigh-in. Every one else is working hard to lose weight, so you’re more likely to do what you have to do too.

It takes a lot of motivation to workout hard enough to lose weight. But when you’re working with others, it’s a little easier to do it yourself when you see them doing it too. There’s a group dynamic that kicks in that results in everyone doing much more than they might have done on their own.

People working out in the Biggest Loser groups are also following a proven plan. It’s not necessary to re-invent the wheel here. Certain things work. Others don’t. The idea is to get people moving, and then teach them how to raise the intensity each week to keep their bodies burning fat and building muscle.

They’re also learning how to eat right. Diets usually don’t work, but learning how to eat right does. If you want to lose weight, you’ve got to master what you’re putting in your mouth every day. In the end, women usually need to eat more, and men usually need to eat smaller portions. It’s also important to eat the right things.

People in the groups are also working on building healthy habits that lead to lasting weight loss. Experts say it takes a minimum of 21 repetitions to build a habit. If you do it everyday, that would take 3 weeks.

I’ve found that it takes people about a month to start getting results that you can really see. It takes two months to really make a difference, and if you give yourself 3 months, you can transform your life.

Some people will need two 12 week cycles to get where they want to be. Others will only need one. A few might need 3 or 4 cycles before they’re at their ideal weight. That’s O.K. They’ll have learned everything they need to know, and they’ll have good habits in place, so it will be just a matter of time.

It doesn’t mean that you need to continue working in the groups after your first one. Once you’ve lost some weight, gotten stronger, and learned what to do, it’s much easier to maintain your momentum on your own if you want. Still, quite a few people choose to continue to use the groups to help keep them on track.

So, what’s your schedule like? If you’re free on Friday nights for an hour, and you want to learn how to get that body where it needs to be, once and for all, you might want to join us. The 12 weeks will pass pretty quickly, and you could just have a new you at the other end!

BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK TWELVE-- "FINAL RESULTS"

This week marked the end of our most recent twelve week Biggest Loser programs. Overall, I was very pleased with the results, even though the drop out rate was pretty steep, especially in the Saturday group.

We started the twelve weeks with 29 participants in the Friday night group. By week ten, we’d lost only three people, but picked up two that had switched from Fridays. In the end, 17 of 28 made the final weigh-in.

The Saturday morning group didn’t fare so well. They started with 24 people, and by the halfway point, about half the group had dropped out for one reason or another—not counting the two that moved to Fridays! In the end, only 6 of the original 24 made the final weigh-in.

So out of 53 participants total, just 23 made the final weigh-in, for a 57 percent drop out rate, which was a little higher than the usual 50%. I think on Saturdays, there were a lot more activities competing for attention, and that might help explain it. The results were pretty good though, for those who were able to stick it out.

The Biggest Loser for week twelve from the Friday night group was Scot Grimes, who lost 1.6% of his body weight and 4.0 lbs. Penny Spinner, Scott Block, and Shawn Bowers, all tied for second place, losing 1.1%. Penny lost 1.8 lbs, Scott lost 2.2 lbs, and Shawn dropped 3.0 lbs. In the Saturday morning group, the winner for week twelve was Dale Rasmussen, who lost 1.4% of his body weight, and 3.4 lbs.

The overall Biggest Loser for Friday nights was Scott Block, who lost 18.4% of his body weight and a total of 44.0 lbs in the twelve weeks. His goal was to lose 40 lbs, so he’s quite happy with the results. Here’s how the rest of the Friday night group came out.

Name % lbs
1. Scott Block 18.4 44.0
2. Donnie Bartos 13.3 27.6
3. Scot Grimes 12.5 34.2
4. Jessica Trover 11.4 18.4
5. Nicole Clodfelter 11.1 34.2
6. Shawn Bowers 10.5 32.4
7. Sheri Tyler 8.7 19.4
8. Penny Spinner 8.7 15.0
9. Brett Block 7.3 11.1
10. Judy Rush 7.1 13.6
11. Melissa White 7.1 9.8
12. Tisha Brinkley 6.1 12.2
13. Karen Brown 5.6 13.2
14. Jackie Tyler 5.1 8.7
15. Brenda Lilley 5.1 8.0
16. Leslie Rush 3.6 6.2
17. Jamie Wheeler 2.7 4.2

The overall Biggest Loser for the Saturday morning group was Scott Dosch, who lost 13.8% of his body weight and 36.4 lbs during the twelve weeks. He said his next goal is to get down to 200 lbs by June, which would be another 26 lbs in eight weeks. I’m pretty sure he’ll do it. Here’s how the rest of the group fared.

Name % lbs
1. Scott Dosch 13.8 36.4
2. Brad Adams 12.5 30.1
3. Cheri Dosch 11.3 17.4
4. Dale Rasmussen 11.1 29.8
5. Shirley Fiscus 4.0 8.0
6. Cathy Kemper 3.1 5.8

All told, the 23 finishers lost a total of 440 lbs during the twelve weeks. That works out to an average weight loss of just over 19 lbs per person. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, ideal weight loss is 1-2 lbs a week, which works out to 12-24 lbs in twelve weeks. That puts the group average right square in the middle.

As we wrapped things up, we talked about the importance of keeping the weight off. While it’s a lot easier to maintain weight than lose it, it’s even easier to put it back on, so they’ll need to be vigilant with their diet and exercise program.

Another good strategy is to set new goals, whether it’s weight loss goals, running a 5K, or just buying some new clothing. One of the participants told me over the twelve weeks, she dropped from a size 12 to a size 4. Another lost 4 inches off his waist. That’s pretty motivating.

How about you? What motivates you? The next community Biggest Loser groups are forming now, and kick off in two weeks. The Friday night group will start on April 16th, and the Saturday morning group starts on the 17th.

You’ll need to get registered in advance and the administration fee is $50. You don’t need a membership to participate, but it’s recommended that you have one somewhere, like at Curves, at the Y, or here. Some people have success working out at home if they have enough equipment.

Whatever you decide, remember that whatever happens, time is going to pass anyway. You might as well get started now, so you can enjoy it. This could be the summer you get your body back!

BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK ELEVEN-- "WALL-E WORLD--OR IS THIS WHAT YOUR LIFE LOOKS LIKE?"

This week I had to chance to see a PIXAR movie called WALL-E. Placed somewhere in between Toy Story, Nemo, and Cars, somehow I missed it. Turns out it was one of the largest grossing opening movies, and a big one for Pixar, but I must have been out running somewhere.

There wasn’t a lot of dialogue which was pretty surprising for a kid’s movie. Usually, it’s non-stop. In the case of WALL-E, the lead character didn’t even talk, except for one word, which is pretty normal for a robot. The one word was his love interest’s name: EVE, who happened to also be a robot.

WALL-E was left behind on planet Earth to clean up the mess after everyone else left on a luxury space liner. I’m not quite sure how they fit everyone on there, but hey, it works. The sales pitch to humans to get them to leave Earth was pretty simple: “Enjoy your time away and let us (the corporation) clean it up.”

They were also told they wouldn’t have to do anything—just basically lounge around. That must have worked, because most people left. Meanwhile, WALL-E’s doing his job crushing trash and stacking it up into skyscraper size and shaped junk piles. He also saves assorted knick knacks that interest him, including an old shoe which happens to have a green plant growing inside of it.

One day, a space ship lands and he comes across a probe (EVE) out looking for life. After some interesting exchanges where he just about gets blasted, they meet each other and develop an interest in each other. But then, she finds the shoe with the green plant growing in it.

Immediately, she goes into lock down mode and apparently summons the space ship back. WALL-E tries to take care of her, but she just stays in lock down until the ship comes back to pick her up, and WALL-E too, as a stow-away. It turns out the ship travels to the space liner where the humans are, but it’s now 700 years since they’ve left Earth.

The people have robot servants and even robot chairs that take them everywhere they need to go. They never move—even the babies. Guess what. They’re all quite fat. So morbidly obese that they basically just sit in lounge chairs.

In the Captain’s cabin they show pictures of each captain’s tenure and the pictures tell the story. The first captain was in great shape, but each subsequent captain was bigger than the one before. No real surprise, since they don’t even get up and walk around.

Well, many of you might know the ending. The captain realizes that they should have been taking care of Earth and tries to go back, but the evil automatic pilot tries to stop him. Only WALL-E and EVE’s intervention save the day, and they all go back to Earth.

In the end, the people are seen planting and watering seeds so they can grow pizza (I know), and WALL-E and EVE go off happily ever after. It looks like everyone’s going to get some exercise, because they have quite a job in front of them. I love movies that have messages like this—especially kid’s movies.

Take B-Movie, for example. In that story, a bee sues humans for “stealing their honey” in a case on behalf of all the bees. They win their case, and none of the bees have to work anymore. But once they quit working, there’s an unanticipated effect—things quit growing because of the lack of pollination. So they take dramatic action to change things so the bees can go back to work!

I wonder how many parents talk to their kids about the movies. Or how many grandparents use the themes as lessons to educate their grandkids? Or do most of us just say, “Oh, that’s nice” and just go on with our business?

WALL-E had such a strong message that I was pretty surprised because it wasn’t all that politically correct. You’re not supposed to tell people that they’re fat, but guess what? Lounge around and quit moving and you’re going to get fat—just like in the movie!

It’s the same thing with B-Movie. Everything we do has consequences, and we reap what we sow. Work is important, and we all have a job to do. These things are just as true in real life as they were in the movies.

I wish I’d have seen the movies when they first came out because I would have taken their messages into my Karate for Kids classes. We’re trying to keep them moving, and it would have given me something they could relate to. But I’ll bet the kids will remember, so I’m going to use those examples anyway, just like I’m doing here. I figure some of you have seen WALL-E with your kids, but maybe some of you haven’t.

So I’ll say it again. Lounge around and quit moving and you’re going to get fat—just like in WALL-E’s world. It’s something our Biggest Losers need to think about too. It’s a lot easier to put the pounds back on than it was to take them off.

After eleven weeks, these guys and gals know what to do and how to do it. Some of them have really figured it out and by now have had some awesome results. Most of them are still working at it, but are making pretty good progress. If they quit moving, though, they run the risk of putting it ALL back on! I’ve seen it happen more times than you might imagine.

The Friday night Biggest Loser was Scott Block, who’s definitely not been lounging around. He lost 1.7% of his body weight and 3.4 lbs this week. All told, he’s lost 41.8 lbs, and 17.5% of his body weight in just 11 weeks, and he told me he doesn’t plan on putting any of it back on!

Second place went to Nicole Clodfelter, who lost 1.0% and 2.8 lbs and was the only Biggest Loser to show up for the 5K challenge in Charleston! It was really cold, windy, and she even had to run through some really wet grass. Nicole’s lost 32.4 lbs overall.

Third place went to Jackie Tyler, who ran her 5K back in the gym and pushed herself pretty hard, too, getting a time of 31:53. She also lost about half a percent and a pound, and has lost 10.0 lbs overall.

The Saturday morning Biggest Loser was once again Melissa White, who lost 1.7% and 2.2 lbs. Dale Rasmussen also placed second again, losing 1.5% and 3.8 lbs. Melissa’s lost just about 10.0 lbs so far, and Dale’s lost 26.4 lbs total.

Don’t forget to get signed up for our next community wide Biggest Loser groups which start on either Friday, April 16th or Saturday, April 17th. The administration fee is just $50 and you don’t have to be a member to participate—although you should probably be a member somewhere. Remember, if you just lounge around and quit moving, you’re going to get fat!

BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK TEN-- "CHALLENGE YOURSELF"

This week let’s look at the benefits of challenging yourself. During the 12 weeks of Biggest Loser, the goal is to provide ever-increasing challenges to the group. By the end of the cycle, most of them are doing things they never thought they could do.

On the first day, during the fitness test, the 1 mile walk/run, a minute of pushups and a minute of sit-ups just about did them in. Most of them felt like that was a workout. But it wasn’t. It was just a fitness test.

Since then, they’ve done a month on machines, a month with free weights, with a bunch of cardio thrown in between. Then they did a Level III circuit workout with Wall Ball, Dumbbell cleans, Medicine Ball exercises, and Kettle Ball swings. That was an eye-opener. Last week, they did High Intensity Interval Training.

This week, the goal was to show them how to combine the interval training with the Level III workouts to make an even more fun and interesting workout. To that end, they walked/ran a quarter mile, and then did 25 pushups, 25 body squats, and 25 sit-ups—four times! That means they ran a mile, and did 100 pushups, body squats and sit-ups.

Like everything else, when they heard what they were going to do, they were a little nervous, because it sounds tough. It’s more than that. This type of workout is very deceptive. You start out thinking it’s not too bad, but by the time you get halfway through it, you realize you’re in for quite a challenge. By the third round, you wonder if you are going to be able to finish. In the last round, you’re just trying to hang on.

What makes it so difficult is that you’re caught between energy systems. It’s not completely anaerobic (without oxygen), but it’s not really aerobic either (with oxygen). The first several minutes of exercise are performed mainly by using energy stored directly in the muscles. This fuel is called glycogen, and is basically carbohydrates bound with water.

If you take off sprinting, you’ll use up glycogen until it runs out, and then you’ll feel like you’re gassed out. But if the workload isn’t too strenuous, you can keep going by using some free fatty acids already present in the blood, until your body starts using fats for fuel. It takes several minutes for this to kick in.

As time goes on, glycogen gets depleted, as do the free fatty acids in the blood. That leaves just fat for fuel, which burns in the presence of oxygen. That’s fortunate, because you’re probably breathing a little harder than normal to maintain the levels of oxygen needed to burn the fat.

If the workout gets too hard, you have to back off, because you can’t get enough oxygen in to burn enough fuel to keep it going. That’s why it’s good for people just starting out, to do walk/run intervals, rather than just try to take off running.

The other thing that made this workout difficult was the sheer amount of large muscles being used. It’s not just the running, but also the pushups hitting the upper body; the sit-ups working the core; and those body squats depleting all that glycogen from the lower body.

All that muscle requires even more oxygen to keep moving. Add it to the running demands and it becomes one tough form of high intensity interval training. If you want a challenge, and think you’re ready for it, give it a try.

It’s doing things like this and the workouts over the last couple weeks that are showing these guys and gals what they’re really made of. That’s why I want them to do the 5K walk/run in Charleston next weekend, in place of our usual workout.

Once they’ve made it through the 12 weeks, then they need to try to continue to find new challenges. Some of them will find more 5K runs and try to improve their times. Some might even try a half marathon (13.1 mi). Some will even tackle a full 26.2 mile marathon!

The main thing is to keep active and the best way to keep active is to find activities you like to do. If you can set a challenging goal a few months away, it will keep you training, and that will help keep the weight off.

It was a tough week for weigh-ins. A lot of people hit a plateau, and more than a few even gained some weight. That’s what happens when you get this many weeks into a weight loss program. It will be important for them to try and figure out what happened, and get off to a fresh start.

This week’s Biggest Loser from the Friday night group was Sheri Tyler, who lost 2.4% of her body weight and 5.0 lbs. Leslie Rush placed second, losing 2.2% and 3.6 lbs. Third place went to Scot Grimes who lost 1.1% and 2.6 lbs. Nicole Clodfelter placed fourth, losing about 1.0% and 2.4 lbs.

Scott Dosch was the Biggest Loser from the Saturday morning group, losing 1.5% of his body weight and 3.6 lbs. Jennifer Bowers placed second, losing 1.2% and 2.4 lbs. Dale Rasmussen lost 1.0% and 2.6 lbs to take third, and Cheri Dosch was fourth, losing about 1.0% and 1.0 lb.

BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK NINE-- "THE POWER OF FOCUSED INTENSITY"

I always like the week where we teach the groups how to do high intensity interval training (HIIT). Since they’ve been learning how to turn it up with the Level III training in the weight room, it was time to teach them how to turn it up in the cardio room.

It’s always fun to watch them do something that they were pretty sure they couldn’t do. Once they learn they can hang through the Biggest Loser workouts, they realize they could have been doing much more in their workouts all along. Then it’s just a matter of working it in to their regular routines.

Here’s how HIIT works. Whatever kind of cardio machine you have available, hop on and get going at an easy pace. We’re going to use a scale of “perceived exertion” created by a doctor named Borg. Now stay with me, resistance is futile. OK, enough of the Star Trek jokes.

The scale Dr. Borg put together was based on how you feel during the exercise. Not everyone has access to heart rate monitoring, so this is pretty useful, especially with high intensity intervals.

Scale of Perceived Exertion:
0 This is like doing nothing. (Coach Potato Zone)
1 This is almost like doing nothing.
2 This still feels pretty light. (Not much Benefit Zone)
3 This finally feels like light exercise.
4 This feels like moderate exercise—no big deal. (Low Intensity Zone)
5 This is getting a little harder but still pretty easy.
6 This is getting harder but still pretty doable. (Cardio Zone)
7 This is harder and I’m breathing harder, too.
8 This feels very hard and talking is tough. (High Intensity Zone)
9 This is extremely hard—I can’t talk!
10 This is MAXIMAL—I have to stop!!! (Have to Quit Zone)

Once you’ve warmed up for a few minutes in the Low Intensity Zone (on a scale of 1-10, what feels like about a 4 or 5), take it up to the Cardio Zone (what feels like a 6 or 7) for a minute. Then back it off to the Low Zone for a minute. Then do another minute in the Cardio Zone, and another minute of rest in the Low Zone.

Now take it up to the High Intensity Zone for a minute (what feels like an 8). Remember, it’s based on what it feels like—not actual levels or miles per hour—it’s totally subjective. What feels like an 8 to you might feel like a 6 to someone who’s been doing it longer. Don’t worry about that.

After a minute in the High Zone, back off to the Cardio Zone for a minute. Then hit it again. After another minute in the High Zone, slow it down to the Cardio or Low Zone to catch your breath.

What’s going on there is a condition called oxygen debt. During the vigorous exercise, your body was making more demands than your heart and lungs could—basically you can’t breathe in and deliver enough oxygen to cover the demands being placed on your body.

So, after the vigorous exercise stops, you’ll have increased respiration for a while. Once your breathing slows down, your oxygen demands have been met, and your heart rate will return to normal too. This is actually a mark of fitness. The quicker your heart rate and breathing return to normal, the more fit you are.

Finally, after a minute of rest, take the workload up to the top of the High Zone—to what feels like a 9 on a scale of 1-10. Remember, a 10 would mean you have to stop, so don’t go there—just get it up to a 9. Try to do the exercise for a minute. Then take it back down to the Low Zone for a minute to recover.

In my experience, most people underestimate what they are capable of, and in our group workouts, it was no different. So we did another minute at what felt like a 9, so they’d push it even closer to the limit. For it to really be a 9, you’ve got to be thinking about quitting at 30 seconds, and really wanting to jump off around 45 seconds. It takes all your will to just stay on the thing until a minute has passed, but you can do it. That’s a nine.

After a minute of rest, I had them do one more interval at what felt like a 9, because I still didn’t think they were there. This time, they were all dying—a few actually had to jump off. The rest were able to hang, but it was tough. That’s when I knew it truly was a 9.

For the ones who had to stop for a moment, there was no shame in that, because they’d actually pulled a 10. Now they know their limits. The interesting thing is that next time, there’s a very good chance they’ll be able to do it, because their bodies will adapt to the increased workload. They’ll come back with more strength and endurance, and likely be able to hang for the entire minute.

Once we finished the last interval, we rotated machines so people on the treadmill could try some intervals on the bikes, or elliptical machines and so on. All told, they did about a half an hour of exercise between the different machines. It was obvious that it was one of the toughest—for some it was the toughest—workouts they’d ever experienced.

This weeks Biggest Loser from the Friday night group was once again Scott Block, who lost 1.9% of his body weight and another 3.8 lbs. This brings him to 38.0 lbs overall, in just nine weeks! Second place was a tie between Jessica Trover and Lori Marietta, both losing 1.5%. Jess lost 2.2 lbs and Lori lost 4.2 lbs. Casie High placed fourth, losing 1.3% and 2.2 lbs, and Judy Rush finished fifth, losing 1.2% and 2.2 lbs.

In the Saturday morning group, our Biggest Loser was Jamie Wheeler who lost 1.4% and 2.2 lbs. Dale Rasmussen was second, losing about 1.0% and 2.0 lbs. Only six people made the weigh-in due to other activities and conflicts, but quite a few have also dropped. While the Friday night group is mostly intact, about half the Saturday people have fallen off along the way.

With nine weeks down, and just three to go, it’s time to start thinking about Biggest Loser and the summer groups. Once again, we’re going to do a Friday night group, and a Saturday morning group to give people some flexibility. Sign-ups start in a couple weeks, and the first meetings will be Friday, April 16th, and Saturday, April 17th.

If you’ve been looking for something to help you make a change this summer, you need to think about joining in. And just like the current groups, there will be no prizes—the only prize to win, is really the best prize of all—the chance to get your body back!

BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK EIGHT -- "TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL"

This week marked the end of their second month, and it was time for something different. They spent the first month working on the machines (Level I), and the second month getting comfortable using free weights, primarily dumbbells (Level II).

Now that they know their way around the weight room, it’s time to take it up a notch and find something to bring them to the next level. Typically, if someone keeps doing the same thing, their results will start to slow, sometimes even grinding to a halt—that dreaded plateau in weight loss.

At that time, the thing to do is to change it up and find things that the body isn’t used to. Remember, if you can already do it, your body has no reason to change. That’s why you can walk several miles a day and not lose weight. Your body is already used to it.

That was the reason for the Level III workout this week. Where before each exercise consisted of performing one movement and using one muscle group, Level III workouts are made up of compound exercises. These are exercises that have two or more movements at a time, and use more than one muscle group to get the job done.

I split the group up into four stations that rotated between four exercises. Each group stayed with one exercise for a minute, and then moved on to the next exercise as the group rotated. When each group got through all four exercises they’d completed one round. The total workout consisted of five rounds of the circuit, for a total of twenty minutes.

It sounds pretty easy, but it’s not. By the time the Biggest Losers made it into the third round, most everyone was huffing and puffing, and sweat was flowing freely. In the fourth round, they were looking forward to finishing. By the time they got through the last four minutes, they were ready to stop. Here’s what they did.

Station One was “Wall Ball”, where they squat holding a 10-20 lb ball, depending on their size, as they come back up from the squat, they throw the ball up above them and bounce it off the wall, catching it when it comes back down. Then they squat again, doing the entire exercise again for a minute.

Station Two was “Single Arm Cleans” with a dumbbell. From a squatting position, they hold the dumbbell in one hand, between their feet. With an explosive pulling movement, they kind of jump up a bit while jerking the weight from the ground, all the way in a straight line up their body until they are holding it straight over head. Then they put the weight back down between their feet and repeat the exercise. After doing several, they switched arms, continuing for a minute.

Station Three was the “Ball Station.” Here, they partnered up back-to back, and passed a medicine ball back and forth by twisting from side to side. In later rounds they switched the direction that they handed off the ball, even catching it over one person’s head while the other one hiked it like a football. The final round consisted of “woodchoppers” where one person holds the ball on the floor between their feet, and then lifts it overhead while twisting to the side, before bringing it back down, and then back up to the other side.

The fourth and final station was “Kettle Ball Swings.” A kettle ball is basically a steel ball with a handle sticking out, that’s large enough to hold on to. Here they held it with two hands and brought it back between their legs while squatting down. As their arms bounce off the inside of the legs, they brought their arms and the kettle ball back up by using their hips and shoulders, continuing the movement until the kettle ball was straight overhead. It was important to keep a tight grip so the kettle ball wouldn’t swing down and bonk their noodles—but everyone survived!

All four exercises required a great deal of core activity to keep their bodies straight and in position, especially when holding the weights overhead. They also required both their upper and lower bodies to be active throughout the movements, which meant the core was working as well to help them transfer energy from one area to the other.

Another benefit is that the weight training almost becomes cardio, as evidence by all the huffing and puffing in the later rounds. By the time you get 15 or 20 minutes in, you’re pretty gassed, because using all those different muscles at the same time increases your energy demands significantly. That means you need more oxygen to keep things going, and that means you’ll get a cardio workout too.

1. Wall Ball
2. Single Arm DB Cleans
3. Partner Drills with Medicine Ball (Back and forth, side to side, over and under), and Wood Choppers
4. Kettle Ball Swings

All in all, I think the workout was a real hit. Even though they were all pretty tired after just 20 minutes, there was quite a bit of laughter throughout—always a good sign that a workout’s a success. You might give it a try yourself. Make sure you get with someone who knows how to perform the movements correctly, and try them with fairly light weights until you feel pretty comfortable with them.

Next week we’ll teach them another way to boost the intensity with some high intensity interval training. They’ll also get some more information about the required 5 K walk/run over in Charleston on Saturday, March 27th.

This week’s Friday night Biggest Loser was Donnie Bartos, who lost 2.4% of his body weight and 4.4 lbs. Second place went to Karen Brown, who lost 2.1% and 4.8 lbs. Scott Block placed third, losing 2.0% and 4.2 lbs. Leslie Rush and Scot Grimes tied for fourth place, losing 1.4%. Leslie lost 2.4 lbs and Scot lost 3.4 lbs.

For the Saturday morning group, the Biggest Loser was Brad Adams, who lost 1.6% of his body weight and 3.6 lbs. Scott Dosch placed second, losing 1.4% and 3.4 lbs while Dawn Stewart was third, losing 1.2% and 2.4 lbs. Fourth place went to Cheri Dosch, who lost 1.0% and 1.4 lbs and Shirley Fiscus placed fifth, losing around 1.0% and 1.6 lbs.

BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK SEVEN -- "FAMILIES"

The Biggest Loser from the Friday night group was a tie between Scott and Brett Block, who both lost 2.2% of their body weight. Scott lost 4.8 lbs and Brett lost 3.2 lbs. Now that’s a family who sticks together!

Scott’s a farmer who gets a lot of exercise every day taking care of the cows and all the other things that farmer’s do. But even with that daily grind, over time, he put on some weight that he wanted to take off.

Brett’s a science teacher who’d been pretty active working out while her kids were in Taekwondo. Even with working out regularly, she also had a little extra that she was hoping to make disappear.

So we have a couple of pretty active people (who are actually a couple), that wanted to lose some weight together. To all outward appearances, they didn’t look overweight—they both carried their weight well. But they weren’t satisfied.

Some people have a lot of weight to lose; for others, the journey will be much quicker. We have people that need to lose 100 lbs, and while it can be done in six months if they’re extremely dedicated and disciplined, it’s better to take a year doing it.

For others like Brett and Scott, almost the entire journey can be done in 12 weeks of focused effort. We just finished week seven, so we’re just a little more than half way through, and Scott has lost a total of 30.0 lbs. That’s a little over four pounds a week! His total weight loss percentage is 12.5% of his body weight, which is enough to put him in the lead so far.

While Brett wanted to lose a little weight, she primarily joined the group to support her husband, and do it together, as a family. While her total weight loss is only 8.2 lbs, that’s pretty impressive too, because it’s over a pound a week! Her total weight loss percentage is 5.4%.

You have to remember, that as weight loss goes, the American College of Sports Medicine says healthy weight loss is between 1-2 lbs a week. Our mantra here is “One pound is good; two pounds is great; and three or more is fantastic.”

The Blocks aren’t the only couple doing Biggest Loser together. You may recall from earlier weeks, Scott and Cheri Dosch from the Saturday morning group have also put up some great numbers.

Scott says that he’d just let himself go over the years. Active in coaching, and keeping up with his kids, he felt that this Biggest Loser was his chance to get his body back. Cheri had been active and working out, and when Scott decided to join BL 11, she joined with him to show her support.

Scott got started the week before Biggest Loser, and lost 9 lbs! Over the last seven weeks, he’s lost an additional 20.8! His percentage of weight loss (in BL 11) is 7.9%, and he’s doing and feeling great. Cheri’s lost a total of 14.0 lbs in the seven weeks, with a percentage of weight loss of 9.1%, leading the Saturday morning group that weighed in this week.

Shawn and Jennifer Bowers are another couple of Biggest Loser Veterans, with several sessions behind them. Shawn does Friday nights while Jennifer does the Saturday morning group. They’ve found a way to work around their work schedules.

Shawn’s in second place overall on Friday nights, having lost 30.3 lbs and 9.9% of his body weight! Jennifer’s lost 15.2 lbs in the seven weeks, which amounts to 7.2% of her body weight. What makes this work is their commitment to their goal, in spite of scheduling difficulties—which are many.

Another couple is Jim and Tammy Huxford from the Friday night group. Jim’s lost 12.4 lbs in seven weeks, while Tammy has lost 4.8 lbs. They’re regulars in the gym and it’s easy to spot them—they’re the couple over their doing the workouts together!

While Donnie Bartos and Jessica catch their workouts in their home gym, they’ve had some great results too: Donnie’s lost 23.0 lbs and Jess has lost 15.0 lbs. Even Donnie’s mom is involved. An avid runner, and after a lengthy illness, Penny Spinner is glad to be back in action, losing 11.8 lbs in the seven weeks.

And there are some other families training together too. Sheri Tyler has lost 16.2 lbs while her daughter Jackie’s taken off 11.0 lbs. Judy Rush has lost 13.2 lbs and her daughter Leslie has dropped 3.8 lbs.

Quite a few friends have gotten involved as well. While there are always some stars doing it solo, I think the best situation is where participants bring someone with them for support. That way they can measure their work against their partner, and regardless who wins that week, they’re both the better for it.

Like I said earlier, we had a two-way tie for first place. Scott and Brett Block both lost 2.2% of their body weight, with Scott losing 4.8 lbs and Brett losing 3.2 lbs. Third place went to Jackie Tyler, who lost 2.0 and 3.2 lbs. Scot Grimes came in fourth, losing 1.6% and 4.0 lbs. Keeping it in the family again, Sheri Tyler came in fifth, losing 1.3% and 2.8 lbs.

For the Saturday morning group, Dawn Stewart placed first, losing 3.4% and an amazing 7.0 lbs. Second place went to Melissa White, who lost 1.1% and 1.4 lbs. Dale Rasmussen was third, losing about 1.0% and 1.4 lbs.

BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK SIX -- FREE WEIGHT ROUTINE #2

This week the groups learned their second free weight routine. If you recall, free weights have several advantages over machines:

1. Since they aren’t guided, you have to use more stabilizer muscles when lifting free weights.
2. Since there are no pads to press against for support, you have to use your core more to keep your body in the right position.
3. Finally, there is no leverage advantage with dumbbells (DB) or barbells—you have to lift the entire weight yourself.

At first glance, these may seem like a negative, giving machines the edge. In reality, these are all good things. Using more muscles, using your core, and doing all the work mean it’s a more effective workout. That means you’ll burn more calories in the same amount of time, and also get a stronger, healthier body.

During the first four weeks, both groups used the machines to get things started. It let them build some base strength, and got them used to working out. For the last two weeks, they’ve been doing the first free weight routine.

But even with free weights, your body quickly adapts to a routine, with diminishing results. That’s why it’s important to change things up. It’s a simple matter to swap out the exercises they’ve been doing with others that still hit the same body parts, but are a little different.

Free Weight Routine #2

DB Pec Flys
Walking Lunges
DB Pullovers on Ball
DB Dead-Lifts
DB Arnold Press
DB Double Bicep Curl
DB Kick-Backs
Ab Routine #1-5:
Side Twists with Ball Obliques Crunches (bent knees)
Crunches (legs up in air)
Side Crunches (L knee bent)
Side Crunches (R knee bent)
Leg Lifts

Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your routine:

1. Use proper form. If you don’t know how to do the exercise, find someone who does.
2. Do the movements slowly. This can help protect you from injury, and also makes it a more intense workout. I like to teach what I call the 1-2 rule: 1 second raising the weight, and 2 seconds lowering it.
3. Remember to keep breathing. Don’t hold your breath.
4. Shoot for a total of three sets of each exercise and 10-12 repetitions each set.
5. Try to keep moving. While traditional bodybuilders will rest 30 seconds, a minute, or even up to two minutes between sets, that isn’t as productive if your goal is toning, or losing weight.

Here’s how I teach them to do routine #2. Do the Pec Flys and then go right to the Walking Lunges. Once you’ve done them both, do them both again back to back, and then again for a third time.

Now, do the Pullovers and Dead-Lifts back to back without a break, and then repeat the combo twice. After that, do the Arnold Press, Double Biceps Curl, and Tricep Kick-Backs all back to back without a break, then repeat each of those twice more times.

Finally, do Ab Routine #1-5. You can do each ab exercise say 10, 15 or 20 times, and then move on to the next one. Then, you can go back and repeat them all two more times. Or, an alternative method would be to just do as many as you could of the first one, or say 50 reps, before moving on to the next one. Good luck.

Last week the two groups also got a new goal: to walk/run a 5 K in Charleston, IL on Saturday, March 27th. I like to have each group do a 5 K sometime before the end of the twelve weeks. They’ve had six weeks of workouts already, and now just a month left to prepare. Come out and join us.

One person that impressed me this week was Karen Brown. She’s lost 50 lbs, but hasn’t been able to run lately. Finally, she took matters into her own hands (or feet), walking 7 miles on Sat and Sun and then 6 miles on Mon through Friday. That was 44 miles total and enough to put her in the top five.

This week’s Friday night Biggest Loser was Shawn Bowers who lost 2.8% of his body weight and an amazing 7.9 lbs. He attributed it to his running schedule and racquetball. Second place went to Tina Cooper who lost 2.0% and 3.6 lbs.

Karen placed third by losing 1.9% and that 4.4 lbs. Sheri Tyler took fourth with a loss of 1.5% and 2.0 lbs, and Jessica Trover was fifth with a loss of 1.3% and 2.0 lbs. Halfway through the 12 weeks, we’ve only lost one person from the Friday night group!

We’ve not fared so well in the Saturday morning group. Only half of the 24 made this week’s weigh-in. While I’m pretty sure a few have quit, I know some of the others are still active—it’s just been a matter of convenience for them. Saturdays are tough sometimes.

The Biggest Loser from that group was Shelly Harper, who lost 2.0% of her body weight and 4.0 lbs. Melissa White placed second, losing 1.2% and 1.6 lbs. Dale Rasmussen and Danielle Keys tied for third, losing 1.1% and 2.8 lbs, and Brad Adams finished fifth, losing around 1.0% and 2.1 lbs.

BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- KICKS, HOTELS & TRAVEL TIPS

This Saturday our Karate Kids had a Taekwondo tournament over in Bloomington, IN so we had combined the Saturday morning BL group with the Friday night group for a kickboxing workout. It’s a fun class, very practical, and it burns a lot of calories.

Once someone takes the regular kickboxing class, they usually pick up some 12 or 16 oz boxing gloves so their hands will be more protected. Then they can hit the heavy bags, and that’s an absolute blast!

For this introductory class to our Biggest Losers, we did mostly partner drills, where the partner held the pads, while they practiced the 1-2 combination (Jab-Cross). Then we added ducking (1, 2, duck, duck), where the partner then swings the pad at their head after they punch. Finally, we added movement toward the targets to hit it, and back away, after the combination.

Then we worked on the back leg round kick to a low target in the same fashion. Finally, we put the kick together with the punches (1, 2 to the head, angle kick to the leg). This is probably the most realistic and effect combination you can do, from a self-defense perspective.

It’s always fun watching groups have fun with the timing and coordination. At first it’s awkward, moving in ways they’re not used to. Once they’ve had a chance to practice the timing, things smooth out a lot. By the end of the class, they were bobbing and weaving, and putting some pretty effective hands on target!

From a calorie standpoint, vigorous exercise burns about 10 calories a minute. So if the kickboxing class was 45 minutes, that’s about 450 calories. If it’s an hour, that’s about 600 calories.

I told you we had to reschedule the Saturday group because I was at the Taekwondo tournament with our Karate Kids. Now that’s some exercise. They all competed in forms, which are a predetermined series of movements—almost like a dance, except for the martial arts techniques. Some have said it’s a “dance of death.”

The kids (and a few adults) also competed in sparring, which is a match between two people where they’re both trying to hit or kick each other in specified target areas. They all wear a bunch of protective gear, plus they’re trying to “pull” their techniques, or just touch the other person, instead of just pounding on the other person.

The kids especially are encouraged to just lightly tap their opponent on the head with their feet, and they’re wearing foam headgear with a plastic face plate that covers the front of the face. They also wear a thick chest protector, and foam hands and feet.

The primary benefit of competition is learning. In forms, it’s all about making yourself do exactly what you want to do, without being distracted or losing focus. That’s tough to do. For kids, it’s a priceless lesson, because if they can learn to concentrate on that, other things become easier.

During sparring, the goal is to hit your opponent (who’s trying to hit you), without getting hit. It takes a good sense of distance and timing, and the ability to react instinctively—all important self defense skills. For kids especially, it’s a fun, safe environment where they can learn these skills without much risk of getting hurt.

Sometimes you do well, sometimes you don’t. The main thing is to learn something. I love it when the kids do well, but it’s when things don’t go as well, that the real lessons are learned. Things like perseverance and self-control.

At times like that, I try to get them to focus on something they did well that they’d been working on. Then, we try to pick one thing to work on that might help them do better next time.

If they can learn to overcome the disappointments, that to is training for life, because there will always be disappointments—it’s how you handle it that makes the difference. If a kid (or adult) can come back and try to improve, and then go back and take another shot at it, that’s priceless.

Finally, I thought I’d tell you a little bit about how I roll when I travel. Just because you’re on the road and away from your usual gym doesn’t mean you have to leave all the things you’ve learned behind.

After the tournament (which meant a night in the hotel Fri), I turned around and left for Nashville to work on some new songs. That meant another couple of nights in the hotel. I was lucky on the way down there because there’s a gym I like to stop and get a workout at, just about halfway.

Once I was there, though, it didn’t work out to find a local gym (the one I’d always used had closed down), and the other ones weren’t open on Sunday. It was too cold to go out for a run. So, I did the next best thing—I made up a hotel routine:

• Handstand pushups on the wall (you could do regular pushups)
• Body Squats
• Arm curls—with a hotel chair
• Sit-ups (variety)
• (5 rounds)

The workout was fast and furious, and over in about 15 minutes—I don’t have much patience with people that tell me they don’t have time to work out. Each exercise hit a different area of the body, and they all worked the core very well.

As far as eating, I followed the normal routine (except for the Oreo Blizzard on the way back home): a nice salad, some kind of chicken, some veggies, and I just ate some of the starch (potatoes, pasta, etc…). I even took some yogurt, cheese, and grapes with me so I’d have some healthy snacks.

The main thing is to just be mindful of the portions—especially with restaurants, because they give you way too much food. If you combine good sense and moderation with some workouts, it’s easy to maintain your weight, even when you’re traveling.

This week’s Biggest Loser from the Friday group was Donnie Bartos, who lost 2.4% of his body weight and 4.6 lbs. Second place went to Danielle Foley, who lost 2.1% and 3.2 lbs. Jackie Tyler placed third, losing 2.0% and 3.2 lbs. Lorie Marietta was fourth, losing 1.8% and 5.2.Casie High was fifth, losing 2.0% and 2.7.

The winner from the Saturday group was Jennifer Bowers, who lost 2.0% of her body weight and 4.0 lbs. Cheri Dosch was second, losing 1.5% and 2.2 lbs. Vicki Riggen was third, losing around 1.0% and 1.2 lbs. Brad Adams placed fourth losing 1.9 lbs, and Jamie Wheeler was fifth, losing 1.2 lbs.

BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" WEEK THREE "HAVE A BALL"

This week we showed them how to “have a ball” in their training by using an exercise stability ball for their entire workout. Stability balls can be used for a wide variety of exercises, and are always a great addition to any exercise program.

They did three exercises, while their partner did jogged three laps around the outside of the room. Then they rotated. After everyone finished round one, they learned another three exercises while their partner jogged, and so on. Before they knew it, they’d completed four rounds, and learned 12 new exercises. I’ve included the routine here in case you’d like to try it.

Here’s what you do. To perform a crunch on the ball, you start by lying down backwards with the center of the ball around the small of your back. Be careful not to get to far back beyond the ball because you could flip backward over the ball. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen—and it happens quite quickly!

But you also have to be far enough back on the ball to use your core. If your upper back is on the ball, you won’t be working your core enough, so you have to find that perfect balance point. Since the ball will want to roll, you have to use more abdominal muscles along with your other stabilizer muscles to try and keep the ball from moving while you rise up to a sitting position. That’s why they call it a stability ball.

Once you get comfortable with regular crunches, I like to start on the pushups. This time, get on the ball face down, and roll out until your hands are on the floor in front of the ball, and your shins or feet are on the ball. Just doing that can be a challenge.

Once you’re comfortable with that, it’s time to hold that plank-like position while doing pushups. The ball will want to roll to the side, so you’ll have to tighten your core, especially your oblique muscles (sides). It takes concentration to hold that ball steady, especially when you’re doing pushups!

The next exercise is a squat while holding the ball out in front of you. It provides a good counter-balance during the squatting motion, and also requires you to keep your upper body nice and straight. This also works a lot of core and stabilizer muscles.

Once you’ve done the crunch, the pushup, and the squat with the ball, you can learn some other exercises to get you through another 2 or 3 rounds. This time, instead of just a crunch, lean backwards and try to touch the floor with your hands. Then, sit-up all the way forward, and cross over your hands to touch the opposite foot. Repeat on the other side.

This time, instead of a pushup, you’ll maintain the pushup position but try to bring your knees into your chest. You’ll basically be rolling the ball in toward you. These are pretty tough, but doable.

For the squat, this time, hold the ball directly overhead and then squat. It’s much tougher than the other way. Remember to try to always keep your upper body upright, with good posture.

For the third round, lay on the ball again, but at the same time, try lifting one foot off the ground. Then do the other foot. Once you can maintain your balance, try doing the crunch like that.

In the pushup position, instead of doing the knee-in, you’ll be trying for a pike on the ball. While keeping your legs straight, lift your hips up in the air as high as possible. These are called pikes.

For the squat movement, do sumo squats this time. While holding the ball to your chest, lift one leg up in the air and then put it down in a wide stance. Then lift the other leg up high and put it down in a wide stance, and so on.

For the fourth and final round, you perform the exercise on your back on the floor, holding the ball with your feet, between your legs. Bring the ball up by lifting your legs, and grab the ball with both hands. Touch the ball to the floor behind your head with your arms outstretched while putting your feet back down on the floor. Then bring the ball back so you can grab it with your feet again, and so on.

In the pushup position on the ball, this time you’ll combine all three movements by doing a pushup, then bringing your knees in, and finishing with a pike. Repeat. This is pretty tasking.

The last lower body exercise is to do walking lunges while holding the ball overhead. Step far enough in front of you where your knee is bent but you can still see your toes. Make sure you bend your back leg, and come off your heel so that only the ball of your back foot is touching. Then step forward again with a walking lunge with the other leg.

These 12 exercises will definitely help you develop a strong core, and you’ll be working your whole body at the same time. The goal is to start working some of these exercises into your regular routine. Give them a try.

The Biggest Loser in the Friday night group was Chris Chapman, who lost 1.9% of his body weight and 3.8 lbs. Second place went to Shawn Bowers, who lost 1.8% and 5.2 lbs. Heather Gill took 3rd place, losing 1.6% and 2.4 lbs. Jim Huxford was 4th, losing 1.5% and 3.2 lbs, and Sheri Tyler and Scott Block tied for 5th, losing 1.4% and 3.0 and 3.2 lbs respectively.

In the Saturday morning group, the Biggest Loser was Jennifer Bowers, who lost 1.7% and 3.4 lbs. Cheri Dosch scored 2nd, by losing 1.6% and 2.4 lbs. Third place was a tie between Dale Rasmussen and Joan Brown, who both lost 1.2% and 3.2 lbs and 2.0 lbs respectively. Melissa White finished 5th, losing 1.0% of her body weight and 1.4 lbs.

BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" WEEK TWO "HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?"

Two weeks have come and gone for Biggest Losers “10” and “11” as well as most of January. Have you gotten started with your own program yet? With the Biggest Losers, our whole focus last week was simply to get everyone moving, and I think that went pretty well.

All but two of the 53 participants made the 1st weigh-in, and most everyone also made the workout. After a week of getting familiar with the machines and cardio equipment, their weekly workout was still pretty tough: 5 sets of 10 pushups, 10 body squats, and 10 sit-ups.

After finishing all 50 of those, they did three rounds of 30 seconds of grappling (trying to muscle their partner around), partner pushups, and partner sit-ups. This was definitely the most fun, and there were a lot of laughs during those rounds.

This week, we lost one, and four others missed the weigh-in. In the workout, they did 4 rounds of 15 pushups, sit-ups and squats, for a total of 60 reps. They also did walking lunges, side-stepping squats, and the monkey walk, finishing with partner sit-ups, partner squats, and the dreaded one minute plank!

They were also supposed to focus on how much they were eating. They used a calorie log to track everything they ate during the day. If they didn’t know the calories from the box or packages, they looked it up on the internet at sites like www.calorieking.com .

They were also supposed to go to www.tomdolanfitness.com and plug in their height, weight, age, gender, and body fat. Then it would calculate their minimum number of calories they needed to get through the day. It also helped them set a target number.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that women never go below 1,200 calories. But we’ve found that most women do better if they eat just a little more. If they can stay between 1,500 and 1,650 calories/day, they’ll usually feel better—and still lose the weight.

Men need to stay above 1,800 calories for their minimum, but they usually feel better if they’ll stick around 2,400 calories/day. That’s usually more than enough food to satisfy them, but just about the right amount to lose weight if they’re active.

We also talked about how to eat right. It sounds silly, but eating right is almost a lost art these days. With all the junk food, fast food, and goofy diet’s out there, it’s tough putting the right foods into our bodies.

Good Protein sources include: Fish, Poultry (chicken & turkey), Meat (beef & pork), Low-fat Dairy (Milk, Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, Eggs, and Cheese), some Beans, and Nuts. Most people don’t get enough protein in their diet. Women need about 3-4 oz at every meal; men need 5-6 oz.

Good sources of Starch include Whole Grain Breads & Cereals, Pasta, Rice, Regular Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Corn, some Beans, and Oats & Oatmeal. We typically eat too much starch at our meals, and whatever we don’t burn for energy will be stored as fat. Try to limit yourself to one starch per meal. If you’re diabetic, be extra careful with these, and check with your doctor.

The last category is Fruits & Greens, and they’re naturally low in calories—even bananas top out around at only 130 calories. Greens (vegetables) are low in calories due to their high fiber content. We don’t eat nearly enough of either, which is too bad because they’re so high in vitamins and minerals and we get a great quick energy boost from the fruits!

The one category not covered already, is fats. These are easy to deal with. If you’re avoiding junk foods, and eating low fat dairy, fish, nuts, and trimming the fat off meat & poultry, all you really need to do is add an Omega-3 and Omega-6 supplement. These are easy to find. I like the Omega Complex which has Omega-3, -6 and -9 in good proportions, and it’s pretty inexpensive.

The winner this week for the Friday night group in Biggest Loser “10” was Scott Block, who lost 2.4% of his body weight and 5.6 lbs. Heather Gill was 2nd, losing 2.3% and 3.4 lbs. Donnie Bartos and Danielle Foley tied for 3rd place, losing 2.2% and 4.4 lbs, and 3.4 lbs, respectively. Sheri Tyler and Shawn Bowers tied for 5th place, losing 2.1%. Sheri lost 4.6 lbs and Shawn dropped 6.2 lbs.

The winner for the Saturday group in Biggest Loser “11” was Scott Dosch, who lost 3.3% of his body weight and 8.8 lbs. Brad Adams was 2nd, losing 2.3% and 5.5 lbs. Jennifer Bowers lost 1.5% and 3.0 lbs for 3rd place. Dawn Stewart scored 4th, losing 1.4% and 2.9 lbs, and Melissa White placed 5th, losing 1.3% and 1.8 lbs.

BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" WEEK ONE "CARRY ON"

Well we’re at it again. After a couple week layoff, 28 people started Biggest Loser “10” on Friday nights, and 24 people started Biggest Loser “11” on Saturday mornings. I think having two different groups is going to prove to be interesting.

After the initial weigh-in last week, the goal this week was to get them moving. I always get excited to start with a large group, even though I know that half of them probably won’t be there at the end. Perhaps with the New Year and resolutions and all that, we’ll keep more of them.

It’s just that so many people start things that they don’t finish. I think it’s cultural. Kids these days have so many activities and it’s good to let them try different things. There’s something to be said, though, for letting them focus on something and get really good at it. And also to keep trying, until you get what you want.

If I can use myself as an example, when I was young, I had severe asthma (still do) and my parents put me in music lessons (piano, violin, and drums) because I was unable to participate in sports or P.E. classes. Back then they didn’t have the medicines that they have now.

I did classical piano from a very early age, and added some jazz and lots of pop/rock later. My parents sent me to jazz camps for piano, and even orchestra camps for violin. My life pretty much revolved around music.

Later in life, I started writing songs and going to song-writing seminars. After writing some clunkers, I started getting some good results and even got two songs in the finals up in Canada back in 2004.

That was cool because I got to go up to a college up in Alberta in the dead of winter (man was it cold), and sing both songs in front of a bunch of other wannabees like me, and some industry professionals who were there to critique us. I came in second, but less than a year later, was recording my first “real” set of songs down in Nashville, TN in a “real” studio with some top musicians and engineers. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

In 2005, we released “Leaving Egypt” and three songs went to radio for a little while. One, called “Don’t Turn Away” actually did pretty well in Canada, and I’m still getting some royalties from up there, and believe it or not, South Africa.

By the way, if you’d like to hear the three songs that went to radio, “Don’t Turn Away”, “Someday”, and “Calling”, you can get them free. They’re available for free download, along with all the other ten tracks from “Leaving Egypt” and the follow-up group of ten songs from “Canaan” on my website: www.tomdolanmusic.com .

There’s also a fitness calculator that tells you how much you need to eat, along with my blog, which is basically these weekly articles, going back several years. Feel free to check them out.

I have to admit that I was pretty disappointed when the songs didn’t stick around long enough to “chart” so we weren’t able to push them into stores. After “Leaving Egypt” I was thinking that would be the last time.

Not only was it expensive, but it was an emotional roller coaster. Even though 350 radio stations played the songs, it still felt like a failure. None of the songs charted, and after about 100 concerts for the CD, it ran its course. Since then, I’ve realized that’s pretty normal, especially for new independent artists.

But in the next two years, while I was focusing on teaching fitness and martial arts here at home, I started hearing some new music in my head. I’d see things and have to write about them, and then I’d get some melodies.

Sometimes I’d just be practicing the piano or guitar, and they’d come to me. After I had a bunch of songs, I finally had the urge to call my producer in TN and arranged to go down and let him hear the songs. He felt we had enough for a CD, so we put “Canaan” together.

I didn’t try to push any of those songs to radio because I was still trying to pay off the first mess. As a result, there weren’t many concerts either, but I’m still pretty happy with how the songs turned out. A couple of them really seemed to touch people when they heard them. Again, though, I really thought I was done with that part of my life.

As it turns out, I wasn’t. Something in me made me keep playing, if only in my office or in church on Sunday mornings. But every now and then I’d hear something—a melody, or a cool phrase would pop into my head. It’s almost like the pressure builds and then you finally just have to do something about it.

So, I started the process to track three new ones. This time, I’m going to do it differently. When they’re done, I’m going to put them up on the website free—I’m not even going to wait until I have enough for a CD. Heck, I might not even do a whole CD, but these three—they’re pretty good, and I just couldn’t wait to hear them.

The three songs are: “Carry On”, “Hiding Place”, and “It takes a Hero”, which is a great tribute to the folks of 9-1-1, and Iraq. The tracks sound great, and I’m hoping to go down and cut vocals sometime soon. Then, we’ll get them mixed, mastered, and put them up on the website.

What’s the point to all this, and how does it relate to fitness? Well, if you want to get your music out there, you’ve got to be pretty persistent, in light of all the obstacles (which are many). It’s the same thing with getting your body back. It’s hard, it takes time, there are disappointments along the way, but if you really work at it, you can get what you want.

That’s what these two new groups need to do as they begin the process in Biggest Loser “10” and “11.” They’ve gotten started. Now they need to learn how to stick with it. To make it something they get good at. It needs to become a lifestyle. If they can learn how to do that, not only will they last the twelve weeks, but their success can last a lifetime.

We had some great numbers at the end of Week One. There’s a lot of excitement, and I think the groups are highly motivated, but they need to remember that it’s the trend over time that matters. Hopefully, we’ll continue to see numbers like this next week.

The winner Friday night was Judy Rush, who lost 4.2% of her body weight and 8.0 lbs. 2nd place went to Whitney Stepp, who lost 3.8% of her body weight and an amazing 9.4 lbs. In 3rd place, was Sherry Carr, who lost 3.6% of her body weight and 8.0 lbs. Donnie Bartos took 4th place, losing 3.4% of his body weight and 7.0 lbs, and Scot Grimes finished in 5th place, losing 3.3% of his body weight and 9.0 lbs.

Saturday morning Jennifer Bowers and Dale Rasmussen tied for 1st place, losing 2.2% of their body weight. Jen lost 4.6 lbs and Dale lost 5.8 lbs. 3rd place went to Shelly Harper, who lost 2.1% of her body weight and 4.4 lbs. Cheri Dosch placed 4th, losing 1.9% of her body weight and 4.4 lbs. Kim Grimes finished 5th, losing 1.8% of her body weight and 4.2 lbs.

A NEW YEAR, A NEW YOU... OR WILL IT BE? PART THREE

This makes the second week of the New Year. So have you gotten started? Have you put your plans in motion yet? It’s amazing how quickly time passes. If you wait much longer, January will have come and gone.

We’ve seen the usual increase in people making those New Year’s resolutions. It’s always exciting to help people get started on a new health and wellness program. My advice to them is to spend the first week just getting moving.

If they can start creating some good habits and get in all their workouts, they’ll get off to a great start. One example is our local sportswriter and coach, and Biggest Loser participant, Scott Dosch, who’s posted a loss of 9.0 lbs in his first week, and that’s before we even started!

That’s the same goal we have for the 28 people who started Biggest Loser “10” which met for the first time Friday night. Another 22 more started Biggest Loser “11” which just met Saturday morning. All 50 are embarking on a 12 week program designed to get them moving the first week.

They did their initial weigh-in, and a couple fitness tests. First they did as many pushups as they could in a minute, and then they did a minute’s worth of sit-ups. Since it’s too cold to go outside and do a group run, they have to do their one mile walk/run on their own, and report their time. We’ll compare these scores with a post-test they’ll take on the last day, twelve weeks from now.

Next week, we’ll focus on the amount of food they eat—the quantity. Surprisingly, they’ll find that most women don’t eat enough. Not so surprisingly, they’ll learn that most men are eating too much. So, we’ll have everyone check it out with a daily calorie log, and then get their daily target dialed in.

In week three, we’ll focus on the quality of food—how to eat right. Once you’re eating the right amount of food, it’s time to make sure you’re getting the right things in your body to help you have quick energy, long-lasting fuels, lots of vitamins and minerals, and enough protein to build up your muscles and bones.

In week four, we look at other things, like water consumption, and vitamin and Omega 3 & 6 supplements. We’ll also talk about how protein shakes can help you lose fat while building muscle.

During the first month, they’ll be hitting the machine weight circuit three days a week, and using the cardio machines on the other days. They’re also going to try to work in an extra one mile walk every morning to help get things started. That extra 20 minutes is often the difference between losing one and two pounds a week.

Along the way, we’ll be getting together for weekly weigh-ins and workouts where I teach them new things designed to add intensity to their training. Then, when they’re doing their own workouts, they can sprinkle some of those things in, to keep it interesting.

The weekly weigh-in helps things out, too. Accountability is an important part of achieving any goal. In fact, the first thing I always do when I’m trying to accomplish something is tell someone what I want to do. Then I tell them when I start. That way, they’ll be curious to see how it’s going, and that means they’ll keep the pressure on me to perform.

Telling people helps ensure you’ll get it done. If you know you have to weigh in at the end of the week and tell someone else (in this case, they’re telling all 50 people), you’ll take it seriously. That gives you additional incentive to do what you have to do.

These things that we’re going to be doing with the Biggest Losers can be done by anyone, including you. It’s an effective strategy that’s been proven time and time again, so why not make believe that you’re in the process too? You can follow along and compete with them even if you’re doing your own thing.

Or, you can do exactly what they do. I’ll be writing about it each week, so you’ll know what’s been going on. Just make sure you’re accountable with someone, and have a weekly weigh-in there on your own.

It’s not hard to learn how to eat right and exercise smart. It is hard to keep doing it on a daily basis, until you make some serious lifestyle changes. Once they become habits, things get a little better.

Remember, half the people will quit before the end of 12 weeks. Which half are you going to be in? Do you have the ability to put yourself first at least once a day? Do you have the discipline to keep going, even when it isn’t easy? Can you stick with it until you get what you want?

Your mental toughness is more important than how you’re doing physically. We can always get the physical thing whipped into shape. What matters more, is how you think about things. If you think you’re going to succeed you probably will. If you think you’re going to quit, you’ll probably do that.

You’ve got to make a decision that no matter what, you’re going to stick. Whatever happens, you’re moving on. You’re going to keep going until you achieve your goals. That’s what it takes.

So are you ready? 2010 can be one heck of a year for you. Just get started, and don’t quit until you get what you want. A new year can result in a new you. It’s up to you.

A NEW YEAR, A NEW YOU... OR WILL IT BE? PART TWO

Well, 2010 is finally here. Before you look forward, it’s often a good thing to look back over the year and take a look at what’s happened. This is a time to give yourself props for things that you’ve accomplished. It’s also a time to be honest about the things that didn’t go quite so well.

Not that you’re going to beat yourself up about it—it’s just that you need to reflect a bit. Maybe you made some mistakes along the way. Perhaps there was something you meant to do, but it never quite got off the ground.

Exercise programs often fall into this category. People make a New Year’s Resolution. Maybe they even come in and join the gym, or a Biggest Loser program. But then, life intrudes, old habits are hard to break, and so on, and before you know it, they’ve fallen away.

It’s like that for lots of new things that people try. Experts say it takes 21 times to make a habit. That would be 21 workouts, or three weeks, if you’re going every day. If you were planning on going three times a week, then it would take seven weeks before it was really a habit.

That’s about right. I’ve said before that in every Biggest Loser program we do—regardless how or when we do it, just about half the people stop for one reason or another. We see the biggest fall-out right in the middle of the 12 week program—at the six or seven week mark.

It’s tough finding people with staying power. I think it’s partly because people expect big results in the shortest possible time. The television show doesn’t help with this, because the Biggest Losers on TV are losing 10, 14, even 20 pounds in a week!

But people forget that those guys and gals are living on a ranch designed to help them do one thing—lose weight. They get to work out 6-8 hours a day. They have exactly the right food around, and lots of help and coaching. No kids, no jobs, and no distractions.

Sound like your life? I didn’t think so. Back here in the real world, you’ve got to find a way to fit your workouts into a life that’s probably already pretty full, with lots of distractions. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to get to the gym for an hour, most days.

So we need a reality check when we’re watching those reality shows. Those are controlled environments with highly motivated people with few distractions, and that’s not really real.

Your life, on the other hand, is quite real, so how do you get there from here? How can you lose the weight and get in shape this year? What has to happen to make you successful?

The first thing you need to do is be realistic about your expectations. If you can give yourself a year, you can be totally transformed. I’ve not ever met anyone who couldn’t get to their ideal weight in a year, if they were totally committed to it—even right here in little Paris, IL. Give yourself the time to get it done right.

The second thing you need to do is recognize that you need some help. It can be done alone, but the odds aren’t in your favor. If you get with a buddy, or in a group that is like minded, all of a sudden it gets easier. If you can get in a program that has a track record of getting results like you want, you’ll be much better off. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.

It’s like when horses pulled a stagecoach. It was always much easier to pull the wagon with a team of horses. Otherwise, they’d fatigue, and you wouldn’t get very far. But with that whole team pulling together, they could get farther, faster. Get with a team and get yourself some help.

The third thing you need to do is set a reasonable goal. If you have something to shoot for, even if you don’t quite hit it, you’ll get a lot farther than you would have otherwise. It’s funny, but people that tried to lose 50 pounds always get a little disappointed when they come in at 43 or 45 lbs. But the fact remains—they lost over 40 lbs! You’ve got to set a goal.

The next thing is just get started. I say this one a lot. It’s kind of a mantra of ours around here. There’s huge power in just getting started. You see, unless you never start, you can never get there. “A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.”

There’s a lot of momentum that kicks in, once you get started. It’s a physical law too. Remember Newton’s laws? “An object at rest will remain at rest (read couch potato) unless acted on by an outside force.” This applies to you getting started, too.

It takes the greatest amount of effort to go in and get signed up, and then show up for your first workout. There’s a lot to overcome. You have to deal with fear of the unknown, fear of failing—perhaps you’ve tried things before.

Figuring out how to fit it into your schedule is often difficult too. That’s why I believe in the 24 hour concept, so that excuse is negated. Once you can get started, you’re on your way. After that, everything gets a little easier—and even if the workouts get harder later, you’ll continue to gain momentum.

I tell people that when they get started, their bodies are really working against them. They’re not as strong, and often carrying quite a bit of extra weight, which makes everything harder.
Once they get started, their body responds to the exercise by getting stronger and gaining endurance, making their exercise easier. As they start dropping a few pounds, that helps too, because they don’t have to move quite as much weight around.

Then as their body gets even stronger, it becomes an ally in the fight, because it lets them do even more work, which helps them burn even more calories, losing even more weight. It truly becomes a cycle of success—but you’ve got to last long enough for that to happen.

That brings me to the last thing you need to keep that cycle of success going: Be Consistent in your Approach. Another way of putting it is that you’ve got to be disciplined enough to keep doing it, even when you don’t feel like it or when things go wrong. You could also say you’re making a radical lifestyle change. This is critical.

I see it all the time. People will lose the weight, and then quit doing what they were doing, and gain most of it back. You have to make eating right and exercising smart part of your daily lifestyle for results to be permanent. But if you do, they’ll be spectacular.

We’re in the final week for registration for Biggest Loser “10” and “11.” One will run on Friday nights at 6:30 pm, and Saturday mornings at 10:00 am. When we did them only on Friday nights, people would tell me “if you only did it on Saturdays”… and when we did it on Saturday mornings, people would tell me “If we could just do it on Friday nights.”

Now, it’s up to you. Pick one, and get signed up before Friday. It’s $50 to participate. This train’s heading into 2010…with or without you. It might just be your chance to find a new you, this New Year!

A NEW YEAR, A NEW YOU... OR WILL IT BE?

What have you done with your time this past year? Have you accomplished all that you wanted? Did you do everything that you’d planned to do? How about your body? Did you get into shape, or out of shape?

Some remarkable things have happened here over the last year. Several people ran full marathons (26.2 miles) for the first time. Several more ran their first half marathon (13.1 miles). We took a group to Allerton Park for a 5.5 mile trail run through the woods.

A whole bunch of people went to several different 5 K runs (3.1 miles), and quite a few participated in the C.A.M.A. Park to Park bike rally and the Mill Creek Duathlon (2 mile run, 20 mile bike ride, 2 mile run). I also know of at least two others that did triathlons.

Lots of people started working out this last year, getting their cardio in and hitting the weights, whether it was with the machines, or with free-weights. Unfortunately, not everyone kept up with their workouts—but more on that later.

We put four more Biggest Loser programs in the books. A year ago this January, Biggest Loser “6” started with 58 people. The winner was Bill Lewis, who lost 62.0 lbs at the age of 68. Second place went to Randy Weir, 54, who lost 35 lbs. Gary Goodman, 62, lost 31.5 lbs for third place. Brian Bradley, 42, took fourth by losing 30.9 lbs at the age of 42, and John Sanchez, 41, came in fifth losing 31.4 lbs.

39 people started Biggest Loser “7” in the spring. The winner was Vince Porter, age 39, who lost 51.4 lbs. Second place went to Brittany Cline, age 24, who lost 27.2 lbs. Third place went to John Crow, 41, who lost 36.4 lbs.

Last summer, 24 people started Biggest Loser “8.” Tammi Hewitt, 42, won with 28.2 lbs. Shawn Bowers, 36, won 2nd place, losing 37.9 lbs. Vicki Riggen, 59, won 3rd place, losing 11.0 lbs.

After starting with 28 people, Biggest Loser “9” ended last week with a clean sweep by the women: Michelle Nugent, 30, won with 33.0 lbs. 2nd place went to Karen Brown, 50, who lost 42.8 lbs, becoming the highest losing lady here ever, in just 12 weeks. Nita Comstock, 53, lost 17.6 lbs, ending in 3rd place.

As you can see, they came in all shapes and sizes, and all ages too, and it wasn’t just the guys winning—the women won too. What you don’t often hear about is that really, everyone that finished, won.

My goal with Biggest Losers isn’t just helping people lose weight, although that’s what they do. My real goal is to turn couch potatoes into people that make fitness a lifestyle. They’ve learned how to work out and manage their eating and as a result, they look and feel better.

Not everyone makes it, because life intrudes. But when it does, something else suffers. Usually it’s their health, primarily because they start gaining their weight back. But it’s much easier to maintain your weight than it is to lose it in the first place.

Still, not everyone gets there. In every case, we finished with about half the people we started with. This held true, not just in the Biggest Losers, but also in the gym. It’s a real shame when someone quits because it’s really unlikely that they’ll get what they want.

What makes me sad, is when someone has finally decided they really need to do it, gotten up the courage to start, but then just can’t keep it going. They let little things like soreness, small injuries, and tight schedules keep them from going all the way.

It takes about a year to completely turn things around, but sometimes you just have to be patient. You need to be disciplined and keep working toward your goal. Plus, if you do something long enough, it will become a habit. That’s how you get what you want.

So what are you going to do this year? If you’re already in shape, how are you going to stay there? Quite a few of us are already thinking about the Illini marathon or half marathon on May 1st, or the Indy Mini, the week after.

Setting a goal like that is guaranteed to keep you training—and that keeps you thin. Now I know those goals might not be for everyone, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you set your own goals.

I have a friend who lost 100 lbs and then got lazy and gained 85 of them back. He’s been in the gym for the last two weeks and lost 10 lbs each week. He’s not doing Biggest Loser, because he already knows what to do. But he’s committed to losing the weight again, and this time, he’s determined to keep the weight off.

Another gal I’ve been helping has also just gotten started. She lost over 6.0 lbs the first week, and around 3.0 lbs the second. She’s pretty excited about what the next year has in store for her. She’s also committed to joining our next Biggest Loser group because she wants the extra help and accountability.

To make it even easier for people, we’re going to do two community wide Biggest Losers—one on Friday nights, and another on Saturday mornings. They’ll run concurrently and people will need to pick the one they weigh-in for. In a pinch, they can use the other one as an alternative, in case they have to miss.

We might even have some healthy competition between the two groups, which just might help them lose even more weight. Registration is underway, and the cost is $50 for the 12 week program. We start Friday, January 8th, or Saturday, January 9th. You don’t need to be a member to participate, but you should have a membership somewhere, or at least have enough stuff at home that you can get your workouts in.

So, whether you join Biggest Loser “10” or “11,” the gym, YMCA, Curves, or some other program, or you’re just planning to try it at home, I want to encourage you to get started doing something. Next week we’ll talk about setting goals and getting what you want. For now, I want to leave you with a couple questions.

What are you going to do this next year? Remember, the year is going to fly by, no matter what you do, so you might as well do something with it. This can be the year you get your body back! Will 2010 bring a new you?

BIGGEST LOSER "9" WEEK TWELVE "FINAL RESULTS"

This week marked the 12th and final week of Biggest Loser “9.” It was a pretty small group this time, and we started with 28, while 11 made the final weigh-in. Two didn’t make it to the weigh-in that I think are still involved, so that leaves us with 13 out of the original 28, so we lost just over half the people.

On the first day, I told them the same thing I tell every group: “Before this is over, half of you are going to quit. Which group are you going to be in? The half that quits or the half that sticks it out?” No one ever starts, thinking they’re going to be a quitter, but things happen, life intrudes, and it becomes easy to slip away.

If fitness hasn’t become a habit, a daily lifestyle, then it’s easy to slip back into the old ways of doing something. That’s why it’s critical to try to stick it out for at least 12 weeks. After that, if you’re still going, you’ve probably turned the corner and made it a lifestyle change.

That’s why once you start toward a goal the most important thing you can do afterward is simply choosing to continue. Or put another way, not stopping. Every day, you make a decision to keep going. That’s what will make the difference between making just another New Year’s resolution and getting a new life.

At the start of the twelve weeks, everyone walked or ran a mile for time, did pushups for a minute, and also did sit-ups for a minute. At the final workout, we had them do all three tests again. While not everyone had the chance to take the post-test, those that did showed nice improvements in all three areas.

For the twelve and final week, our winner was Cindy Irish, who lost 1.7% of her body weight and 2.8 lbs. Jennifer Bowers came in second, losing 1.6% of her body weight and 3.2 lbs. Third place was a tie between Rob Irish and Michelle Nugent who both lost 1.4% of their body weight. Rob lost 2.4 lbs and Michelle lost 1.8 lbs.

Since Rob wasn’t present at the final weigh-in, Michelle received the $15 gift card from Terry Elston and State Farm Insurance. At the start of the twelve weeks, State Farm provided pedometers to all the participants, and Terry Elston provided Walmart gift cards as prizes each week to all the weekly winners. Thanks Terry!

For Biggest Loser “9,” Michelle Nugent was the overall winner, losing 20.1% of her body weight and 33.0 lbs. Her original goal was to lose 35-40 lbs, and she got very close to it. Now she’s just seven lbs away from her original goal. Then she’ll need to slip into maintenance mode.

Significant weight loss means working out every day, some days twice a day. Once you’re where you want to be, it’s easier to maintain it. You just need to dial in your calories and can drop back to working out four to five days a week. If you feel you’re slipping backward, you can always adjust your calories a little, and add in a workout.

Michelle was also the only one to lose weight every week. Some weeks it was more than others, but that showed a very consistent approach. Some weeks she won, but in the weeks she didn’t, she was still up there in 3rd, 4th or 5th place. That accounts for her final result of losing 33.0 lbs.

Second place overall went to Karen Brown, who lost 15.4% of her body weight and an amazing 42.8 lbs. This gave her the distinction of being our first woman to lose more than 40 lbs in 12 weeks, and also the most weight overall. Previously, Erica Hollis had the record, losing 37.0 lbs in BL “5.” Karen has just raised the bar substantially. But she’s not done yet.

Karen is planning on continuing her routine in the next Biggest Loser and has set a new goal. That’s important. Now she knows what to do, and working with another group will help keep her motivated and accountable. I think it will also let her be an inspiration to others.

Third place overall went to Nita Comstock, who lost 11.1% of her body weight and 17.6 lbs. Nita learned that she likes running, and took 4 minutes off her 1 mile walk/run time. Fourth place overall went to Rob Irish, who lost 10.5% of his body weight and 19.4 lbs. Fifth place went to Tammi Hewitt, who won the last Biggest Loser. This time, she lost 7.4 % of her body weight and another 10.4 lbs.

Sixth place went to Renea Mullins, who lost 7.3% of her body weight and 20.4 lbs. She also took about 4 minutes off her 1 mile walk/run. Seventh place was a tie between Cindy Irish and Cathy Kemper, who both lost 5.3% of their body weight. Cindy lost 9.2 lbs and Cathy lost 10.0 lbs. Vicki Riggen ended with 6.2 lbs, and Jennifer Bowers finished with 5.8 lbs.

Our holiday strategy is pretty simple. Don’t gain any weight! If you watch what you eat and get most of your workouts in, it’s pretty easy to maintain your weight, even with all the extra temptations around. Just enjoy things in moderation. Remember, Vicki lost weight in BL “8” on a cruise ship!

Once the holidays are over, we’ll get back in the swing of things with Biggest Loser “10” and “11.” Yep, we’re going to try to run two different ones at the same time. One group will meet on Friday nights from 6:30-7:30, and the other will meet Saturday mornings from 10:00-11:00.

We might even have them compete against each other! You need to come in and reserve your space. The cost is still just $50 to participate, and you don’t have to be a member here, although you really need to be a member somewhere so you can get your workouts in. You’ve got to be working out.

Don’t miss this chance to make 2010 the year you get your body back! The year will come and go before you know it. Have a Merry Christmas and I’ll see you next week!

BIGGEST LOSER "9" WEEK ELEVEN "KICKBOXING"

This week the group did a kickboxing workout. I like to throw one of those in near the end, so each group can give it a try. You recall they walked/ran a 5K a couple of weeks ago, so a kickboxing workout gave them a taste of something different yet again.

The way I run my kickboxing classes is a little different. As a martial arts instructor, I’m interested in giving them some very practical, real world skills, should they ever need to use them.

As a result, even though I’m a fitness guy, I’ve never been interested in teaching a fitness kickboxing class, where the moves look almost like dance. I figure they can do aerobics.

If we’re going to be doing some kickboxing, we’re going to be hitting things, like targets and the heavy bag. We’re going to be doing drills where they learn how to duck and slip punches, and fire back strong counters. It will be high intensity, and because of that, it will also turn out to be awesome exercise.

The first step was to teach them how to make a proper fist, and then how to hold their hands and arms up in front of them. They also learned how to cover their head with their hands and arms, when someone’s trying to hit them with pads. Done properly, it’s a pretty good shield.

After that, they learned the jab and right cross, doing partner drills on the target pads. Then they learned how to bob and weave, following the two punches. Finally, they put it all together. At that point, their coordination was challenged a bit, but after a few minutes, things smoothed out pretty well.

Then, we added the knee strike. A devastating blow (especially to a guy), it follows the jab and right cross. Done in a sequence, it’s very hard to defend. By then, the group was looking pretty sharp, and putting a lot of power into their techniques.

Finally, they went to the heavy bags and learned how to do an angle kick, based on the martial art of Muay Thai—an extremely effective form of kickboxing. Also used by law enforcement to take down resisting offenders, the kick targets the outside of the thigh, about six inches about the knee.

The targeted area is called the common peroneal, and once an assailant has been struck there, it’s very difficult to stand, much less walk or run after their intended victim. That gives the defender time to get away.

The whole combination goes as follows: Left Jab, Right Cross, Right Knee Strike (s), and finally, after reloading your leg, a Right Low Kick to the leg. Done quickly, the sequence is very reliable, and almost impossible to stop.

After just 45 minutes of practice, the group not only was looking sharp, but they were also sweating, laughing, and having fun. As an added bonus, the concepts were something they can take with them and use, if the need should ever arise.

That’s why I like teaching a straight kickboxing class at least once a week (Monday nights), and also work it in to our regular group training classes on Friday nights. Kickboxing empowers the participant. Plus the rigorous workout can burn as many as 500-750 calories an hour, depending on how hard you’re working.

Finally, the sheer fun of hitting things like handheld targets and the heavy bag, are a great release from stress and the worries of the day. Doing drills with a partner develops timing and a sense of distance, as well as coordination.

While they didn’t wear gloves in this workout, in the regular class, they’re required to get some real boxing gloves. Not only do they soften the blow, should someone get hit by mistake, instead of the targets they were holding (almost never happens), but they also protect the wearers hands and wrists from the impact on the bags.

All in all, the group really seemed to enjoy the workout. As predicted, they also had a good time hitting things—everyone does!

This week’s winner was Karen Brown, who proved that sometimes, results lag behind the workouts. A little disappointed last week, after doing a last chance 10 mile walk/run workout, this week the numbers came in big time. She lost 2.7% of her body weight, and a whopping 6.6 lbs!

That tells you that sometimes, you just need to cut yourself some slack. Do the work, and it will all work out in the end. Karen got a $15 gift card from Terry Elston and State Farm Insurance for all of her hard work this and last week, including two more 7 mile walk/run sessions. Karen is now down exactly 40.0 lbs in just eleven weeks—right up there with the top gals from previous BL sessions.

Second place went to Michelle Nugent, who lost 1.9% of her body weight, and 2.6 lbs. She was also a little frustrated having to miss a few workouts, and with slight midweek gains, two weeks in a row.

Each time, though, just like with Karen, it worked out because she stayed focused and followed through the rest of the week. Michelle is now down 31.2 lbs and is quickly closing in on her goal weight.

Third place was a tie between Nita Comstock and Renea Mullins, who both lost 1.4% of their body weight. Nita lost 2.0 lbs and Renea lost 3.6 lbs. Nita’s been in the top three pretty much the whole session, and it looks like Renea has fallen in love with kickboxing!

Don’t forget about Biggest Loser “10 and 11” both of which will run concurrently—one on Friday nights, and the other on Saturday mornings, provided we get enough people. They’ll start on January 8th and 9th and we’ll help you get your New Year resolutions started off right!

BIGGEST LOSER "9" WEEK TEN "HIIT IT"

This week we did some interesting things. Thirteen of us from the center went over and participated in a 5K race, Sunday afternoon at Deming Park in Terre Haute, IN.

It was the first 5K race (3.1 miles) for one of the members, and she did fine. Most everyone else had an improved time over the last 5K they ran 2 weeks ago in Marshall, IL.

The weather was quite cold while standing around before and after the race, but just about perfect while running. In fact, we might have done a little better due to the cold weather. Much like an engine, you need to stay cool to avoid breaking down.

Sweating cools the body by bringing the heat out through the pores in the form of water which then evaporates. In cooler weather, you’ll still sweat, but it helps the process along, so you can typically push a little harder.

Outside of seeing everyone have a good race, the coolest thing was seeing the little kids do the half mile race. I mean there were four and five year olds running, along with their parents to keep them on track.

Talk about creating a lifestyle of fitness. These kids will grow up thinking that being in shape is normal, and running will help keep them that way. I’d like to find a way to bring a kids fitness event like that here to Paris sometime—perhaps in the spring.

On Saturday, during the Biggest Loser workout, the group learned how to do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Out of the original 28 people, about half are left, and eight made the workout. Those eight learned how to put more intensity into their workouts.

First they learned about Borg’s scale of “Perceived Exertion.” Basically you rank how tough the workload feels, on a scale of 1 to 10:

Perceived Exertion:
0 This is like doing nothing.
1 This is almost like doing nothing.
2 This still feels pretty light.
3 This finally feels like light exercise.
4 This feels like moderate exercise—no big deal.
5 This is getting a little harder but still pretty easy.
6 This is getting harder but still pretty doable.
7 This is harder and I’m breathing harder, too.
8 This feels very hard and talking is tough.
9 This is extremely hard—I can’t talk!
10 This is MAXIMAL—I have to stop!!!

They started with a fairly easy warm-up for a few minutes on either the treadmill, elliptical, or recumbent exercise bike. Then they did a minute at what felt like a “7” and then backed off for a minute to what felt like a “5” or a “6.” Then they took it up to an “8” before backing off again.

After another interval at what felt like an “8” and a minute of rest, they finally got up to what felt like a “9.” This is the big one. By then, I heard them breathing hard, and you could see them leaning in to the equipment to keep the pace.

Some wanted to quit before the minute was up, but the key is to last it out—it’s usually just a few seconds more. Once they got to the end of the minute, they backed it off to what felt like a “5” or a “6” to recover. Then they rotated machines and did the same thing again. After hitting a “9” on the new equipment, they rotated again, and did another series of intervals.

I hope they’ll implement HIIT workouts into their routines at least once a week. Not only will they burn more calories during their workouts, but HIIT workouts will give them a much longer after-burn as your body recovers over the next few hours.

The 5K was a different type of workout. More like a tempo run, the goal is to see how fast you can get through it. Most people pick a pace like say a 10 minute mile pace, and try to get through the 3.1 miles in just over 30 minutes. As your fitness level improves, you try to get down to 9 minute miles, or 8 minute miles, or even faster.

Once a week, you can even try to go either longer or further than usual. Karen did this again this week. Remember last week when she learned she could walk/jog 7 miles? This week she stayed on the treadmill for 10 miles!

In a perfect training scenario, it would be great to do all three types of workouts. You could do a tempo run one day, high intensity intervals the next time, and then on the weekend, you could go for distance.

One other thing to consider about weigh-ins, especially as you get 10 weeks into a weight loss routine, is that sometimes you hit a wall. Things slow down, even if you’ve been busting it big-time. Once in awhile, despite your best efforts, you just won’t lose any weight.

I usually don’t worry about those times, because the body is kind of quirky that way. Usually, it will just show up the following week. Of course, there are things to consider, too, like “time of the month,” whether you’ve eaten, or not, drank a 16 oz water, gone to the bathroom or not, and so on.

Sometimes the scale takes a little while to catch up, so I never look at any one weigh-in as all important. It’s the trend that matters, and that takes two in a row, or even better, three or more. Then you can tell what’s going on.

This week’s winner was Rob Irish, who lost 1.6% of his body weight and 2.6 lbs. Rob had to miss the workout, so the $15 prize, a gift card from Terry Elston and State Farm Insurance went to Cathy Kemper in 2nd place, who lost about 1.0% of her body weight and 1.6 lbs. Third place went to Michelle Nugent, who lost 0.8 lbs.

It’s time to start thinking about Biggest Loser “10” which is coming up before you know it. Something I’m considering is running two groups at the same time: one on Friday nights from 6:30-7:30, and a separate one on Saturday mornings from 10:00-11:00 like we do now. If there’s enough interest in the Friday night, we’ll add it.

The cost will be the same: $50.00 for the 12 weeks and you don’t have to be a member here, but you should probably have a fitness membership somewhere, like at the Y or Curves, or at least have some decent home equipment. We’ll start the weekend of January 8th & 9th to make the most of your New Year’s Resolutions. Get ready!