I’ve always heard that if one person is asking a question, more are thinking it, so it’s always good to encourage questions. In Biggest Losers, we’ve been talking about creating a daily calorie deficit. This is where you burn more calories than you take in, so your body will start burning fat to make up the difference.
One of our Biggest Losers picked up a new wristband called the fitbit™. It’s one of several products like it that hook up to a smart phone and help you track your calories, even while you’re sleeping. They run around $100 and can really give you an edge if you’re trying to lose weight.
After using her fitbit™ for a day, Brooke found that she’d burned over 3,000 calories. I told her this was awesome, because now she could start predicting how much weight she’d lose.
She asked me through Facebook if I could explain how the daily calorie deficit works with losing weight. By the way, social media is another great tool that has made it very easy for people to communicate about anything, including workouts and weight loss. So I got back to her on Facebook, through my iphone, while I was riding the exercise bike. Here’s what I told her.
Ok, you asked for it! Here goes.
So you have your minimum calories you need to live (BMR). That was the number on your sheet. Anything you eat over that has to cover your daily activities plus exercise.
If you get moving enough, though, you'll end up in a daily calorie deficit. This means you burned more than you took in. That energy has to come from somewhere so it comes from fat.
Say you need to take in 1,500 calories. But you burned 3,000 according to your fitbit. That means you had a calorie deficit of 1,500 calories. While the numbers don't work exactly like this, it's close enough.
Think of things in 500 calorie chunks. It takes 7 chunks to burn a pound of fat (3,500 calories). So if you have a 500 calorie deficit, it will take 7 days to burn that pound of fat (500 cal x 7 days = 3,500 cal).
In your case, the deficit was 1,500 cal (3 chunks). So you'll burn that pound of fat much quicker, in just a little more than two days.
In fact, if you can keep that rate up, you'll end up burning 3 lbs that week (1,500 cal x 7 days = 10,500 cal). Divide that weekly total by our 3,500 calorie magic number and you get 3 lbs of fat!
You may have seen that the number of 500 cal chunks burned each day corresponds to the number of pounds you'll burn each week.
1 chunk/day = 1 lb/wk
2 chunks/day = 2 lbs/wk
3 chunks/day = 3 lbs/wk
4 chunks/day = 4 lbs/wk
5 chunks/day = 5 lbs/wk
etc...
This is why I like each workout to burn at least one chunk of at least 500 cal. Sometimes, monster workouts can be twice that, burning two chunks, or 1,000 cal.
But those are hard to do, much less keep up over time. This is why the second workout is so important each day.
Now your FitBit will tell you where you are, compared to where you want to be, based on how much you want to burn each day!
Our Biggest Loser this week was Cheryl Redman, who lost an amazing 7.0 lbs, and 3.0% of her body weight. Lori Newlin was second, losing 5.2 lbs and 2.2%. Penny Spinner placed third, losing 3.6 lbs and 2.1%.
For more information, you can reach me via email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Saturday, January 25, 2014
BIGGEST LOSER '19" -- WEEK ONE
It’s not unusual for people to pick up 5-10 lbs over the holidays. But this can happen several times over the course of a few years, until one day, you realize you’re 40 or 50 lbs overweight. Left unchecked, you can get to the point where now you’re 80 to 100 lbs in the hole.
Now your body is forced to carry all that extra load, which makes everything harder, and can lead to knee and back trouble. Your heart has to work harder too, and you become at risk for other problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, and even heart disease.
But not everyone lets it go that far. Some people catch it halfway there, and just need to lose 40 or 50 lbs. Others catch it earlier and just want to lose 15 or 20 lbs. For some, it isn’t even about the weight. They’re just sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. So after a few weeks off, and a week delay due to the big winter storm, Biggest Loser “19” started a week ago.
The first step was weighing in, which isn’t a simple undertaking with 32 people. We got their weight and body fat, which tells us how much of them is fat, and how much is lean muscle and bone. We also got their water percentage, which tells us if they’re drinking enough water.
We also recorded their Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which tells us the minimum calories they need each day, and also their visceral (belly) fat, which helps define their risk for heart disease and other problems. They also got a homework assignment to take body measurements and pictures so they can track inches lost and other changes over the 12 weeks.
The group took a battery of physical tests, including a minute each of pushups, sit-ups, body squats, burpees, and mountain climbers. Even though it was only five total minutes of exercise, many thought it felt like a “workout” and were pretty sore over the next couple of days. They’ll be amazed at how much easier it is when we throw that test at them again in 12 weeks.
They also had some other tests to do on their own, including a 1 mile walk/run for time, and a minute on the battle rope, a minute of kettle bell swings, and a minute of medicine ball smack downs. There were just too many people to do these all at the same time.
For the first week, the goal was to get moving, twice a day if possible. They did some cardio like walking or riding the bike. Then later in the day, they went to the gym for a more vigorous workout with both the cardio and weight machines.
In times past, I’d tell everyone what to do all week, and then hope for the best. Now, with most everyone on Facebook, I can give them workouts everyday, along with other things that are good to know.
The other main goal was for them to learn how much they were eating, by starting a daily calorie log. Right now, it’s important for them to track their calories so they know if they’re eating too much or too little.
Surprisingly, 9 out of 10 women don’t eat enough (though they usually think they do). Not surprisingly, 9 out of 10 men are overeaters. Tracking it with a daily calorie log on their phone or computer (or even old fashioned paper) will show us the truth, and help them see where they are.
Our Week One Biggest Loser was Shawn Bowers who lost an astounding 12.1 lbs and 3.6 percent of his body weight. Second place went to Rhonda Arthur, who lost 6.8 lbs and 3.2%. Brooke Bishop was third, losing 7.6 lbs and 3.1%, and Sarah Mitchell placed fourth with 4.2 lbs and 2.8%. Chris Redmon finished in fifth, losing an amazing 8.8 lbs and 2.6%.
For more information, you can reach me via email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Now your body is forced to carry all that extra load, which makes everything harder, and can lead to knee and back trouble. Your heart has to work harder too, and you become at risk for other problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, and even heart disease.
But not everyone lets it go that far. Some people catch it halfway there, and just need to lose 40 or 50 lbs. Others catch it earlier and just want to lose 15 or 20 lbs. For some, it isn’t even about the weight. They’re just sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. So after a few weeks off, and a week delay due to the big winter storm, Biggest Loser “19” started a week ago.
The first step was weighing in, which isn’t a simple undertaking with 32 people. We got their weight and body fat, which tells us how much of them is fat, and how much is lean muscle and bone. We also got their water percentage, which tells us if they’re drinking enough water.
We also recorded their Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which tells us the minimum calories they need each day, and also their visceral (belly) fat, which helps define their risk for heart disease and other problems. They also got a homework assignment to take body measurements and pictures so they can track inches lost and other changes over the 12 weeks.
The group took a battery of physical tests, including a minute each of pushups, sit-ups, body squats, burpees, and mountain climbers. Even though it was only five total minutes of exercise, many thought it felt like a “workout” and were pretty sore over the next couple of days. They’ll be amazed at how much easier it is when we throw that test at them again in 12 weeks.
They also had some other tests to do on their own, including a 1 mile walk/run for time, and a minute on the battle rope, a minute of kettle bell swings, and a minute of medicine ball smack downs. There were just too many people to do these all at the same time.
For the first week, the goal was to get moving, twice a day if possible. They did some cardio like walking or riding the bike. Then later in the day, they went to the gym for a more vigorous workout with both the cardio and weight machines.
In times past, I’d tell everyone what to do all week, and then hope for the best. Now, with most everyone on Facebook, I can give them workouts everyday, along with other things that are good to know.
The other main goal was for them to learn how much they were eating, by starting a daily calorie log. Right now, it’s important for them to track their calories so they know if they’re eating too much or too little.
Surprisingly, 9 out of 10 women don’t eat enough (though they usually think they do). Not surprisingly, 9 out of 10 men are overeaters. Tracking it with a daily calorie log on their phone or computer (or even old fashioned paper) will show us the truth, and help them see where they are.
Our Week One Biggest Loser was Shawn Bowers who lost an astounding 12.1 lbs and 3.6 percent of his body weight. Second place went to Rhonda Arthur, who lost 6.8 lbs and 3.2%. Brooke Bishop was third, losing 7.6 lbs and 3.1%, and Sarah Mitchell placed fourth with 4.2 lbs and 2.8%. Chris Redmon finished in fifth, losing an amazing 8.8 lbs and 2.6%.
For more information, you can reach me via email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
THE WINTER STORM
It was quite a storm. Especially for us, here in Edgar County. You know it’s rare when you start hearing comparisons to the “Blizzard of 78.”
To me, it starts getting “cold” in the 30’s. Single digits make me start thinking fondly about just freezing temperatures. But when you get below zero, with these crazy wind chills, now we’re talking some serious weather.
How do people deal with this kind of stuff day in and day out, year after year? Imagine living in North Dakota or somewhere else up there? I guess they learn to deal with it, or move.
They dress warm, and live and work smart. They understand how to keep their vehicles running and keep them moving too. They have to, because their lives depend on it. But every now and then, we get a little glimpse into their world.
I took a trip to the store today, to get a few things we missed when we stocked up before the storm. The shelves looked pretty empty. Imagine if the storm had gone on longer. It makes me think we need to stock a little more food in our pantry, just in case.
Remember those folks in the North East last year? Some of them were without power for days. Think of it. No power. No heat. No work. No food. No gas. We were pretty lucky.
Big props to our Edgar County Highway Department, especially their updates. They were the best source of information through the worst of it.
I also admire all the ECHD, IDOT, Ameren, and Enerstar crews, local police, fire, deputies, and other emergency services personnel who got the job done in pretty tough conditions. You know it’s bad, when even they can’t get through!
Perhaps the most impressive to me, though, were the volunteers who didn’t have any affiliation, but did happen to have a truck, a plow, or a snowmobile, and the willingness to use it. There were lots of stories on Facebook that make me proud to be part of this community!
So because of the storm, we had to delay the start of Biggest Loser “19” a week, but finally got underway last week. It's tough sometimes. Things don’t always come easily. But you can get through it. Just like a winter storm.
For more information, you can reach by email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
To me, it starts getting “cold” in the 30’s. Single digits make me start thinking fondly about just freezing temperatures. But when you get below zero, with these crazy wind chills, now we’re talking some serious weather.
How do people deal with this kind of stuff day in and day out, year after year? Imagine living in North Dakota or somewhere else up there? I guess they learn to deal with it, or move.
They dress warm, and live and work smart. They understand how to keep their vehicles running and keep them moving too. They have to, because their lives depend on it. But every now and then, we get a little glimpse into their world.
I took a trip to the store today, to get a few things we missed when we stocked up before the storm. The shelves looked pretty empty. Imagine if the storm had gone on longer. It makes me think we need to stock a little more food in our pantry, just in case.
Remember those folks in the North East last year? Some of them were without power for days. Think of it. No power. No heat. No work. No food. No gas. We were pretty lucky.
Big props to our Edgar County Highway Department, especially their updates. They were the best source of information through the worst of it.
I also admire all the ECHD, IDOT, Ameren, and Enerstar crews, local police, fire, deputies, and other emergency services personnel who got the job done in pretty tough conditions. You know it’s bad, when even they can’t get through!
Perhaps the most impressive to me, though, were the volunteers who didn’t have any affiliation, but did happen to have a truck, a plow, or a snowmobile, and the willingness to use it. There were lots of stories on Facebook that make me proud to be part of this community!
So because of the storm, we had to delay the start of Biggest Loser “19” a week, but finally got underway last week. It's tough sometimes. Things don’t always come easily. But you can get through it. Just like a winter storm.
For more information, you can reach by email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Saturday, January 04, 2014
REAL AND LASTING CHANGE!
At first glance, that almost seems like an oxymoron: words that seem to suggest just the opposite. The words change and lasting don’t seem to go together very well, do they? But look at it this way. If you make an important change, you want it to last, right?
All too often, this is exactly what happens. You’ve probably heard of the yo-yo syndrome. This is where someone loses weight, then puts it back on, loses it again, gains it back, and so on. The problem is we like being lazier and eating whatever we want, more than we want to be thin.
How many of us have worked hard to eliminate our debt, maybe even followed Dave Ramsey’s debt reduction program, only to start using credit cards again when things tightened up. The problem was that we wanted stuff more than we wanted to stay debt free.
In the end, it always comes down to the choices we make. You’re going to do what matters most to you. Good or bad.
Last week we looked at 10 tips to help you keep your New Year’s resolutions. But first you actually have to be resolute about something. That means you have to really want it.
If you don’t want it more than you want what you’re already doing, you’ll keep doing what you’re doing. But if you want it more than what you’re doing, then, and only then, will you start making changes. But you have to do something else first.
You’ve got to change your state of mind before you can change your state of being. You’ve probably heard the saying, “If you think you can, you’re right. If you think you can’t, you’re also right.” Either way, what you think, is what you’ll get.
You’ve got to believe that doing something new will be good for you, good for the people you care about, and good for your situation. So to be really effective, you’ve got to really believe it. You’ve got to have buy-in.
Once you make up your mind, then, get to work. Soon, you’ll start seeing changes. Stay with it long enough and you’ll see more changes. But if you quit, or just do half measures, or a half-hearted effort, the changes will only be temporary. Stay with it, though, and the sky’s the limit.
What changes do you want to make this year? Write it down. Tell your friends. Get started, and don’t quit. That’s how you get real and lasting change! To help you with the changes, Biggest Loser “19” starts this Monday at 6:00 pm. Let us know if you want to participate!
For more information, you can reach me via email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
All too often, this is exactly what happens. You’ve probably heard of the yo-yo syndrome. This is where someone loses weight, then puts it back on, loses it again, gains it back, and so on. The problem is we like being lazier and eating whatever we want, more than we want to be thin.
How many of us have worked hard to eliminate our debt, maybe even followed Dave Ramsey’s debt reduction program, only to start using credit cards again when things tightened up. The problem was that we wanted stuff more than we wanted to stay debt free.
In the end, it always comes down to the choices we make. You’re going to do what matters most to you. Good or bad.
Last week we looked at 10 tips to help you keep your New Year’s resolutions. But first you actually have to be resolute about something. That means you have to really want it.
If you don’t want it more than you want what you’re already doing, you’ll keep doing what you’re doing. But if you want it more than what you’re doing, then, and only then, will you start making changes. But you have to do something else first.
You’ve got to change your state of mind before you can change your state of being. You’ve probably heard the saying, “If you think you can, you’re right. If you think you can’t, you’re also right.” Either way, what you think, is what you’ll get.
You’ve got to believe that doing something new will be good for you, good for the people you care about, and good for your situation. So to be really effective, you’ve got to really believe it. You’ve got to have buy-in.
Once you make up your mind, then, get to work. Soon, you’ll start seeing changes. Stay with it long enough and you’ll see more changes. But if you quit, or just do half measures, or a half-hearted effort, the changes will only be temporary. Stay with it, though, and the sky’s the limit.
What changes do you want to make this year? Write it down. Tell your friends. Get started, and don’t quit. That’s how you get real and lasting change! To help you with the changes, Biggest Loser “19” starts this Monday at 6:00 pm. Let us know if you want to participate!
For more information, you can reach me via email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
TEN TIPS TO HELP YOU KEEP YOUR RESOLUTIONS!
The older I get, the faster each year seems to go. Remember when we were younger, and things seemed to take forever? Still, to me, year ends are like bookends. It’s always good to take a look back so you can close the book on things.
Did you accomplish all you wanted to do? If not, did you at least make some progress?
Unfortunately, sometimes we can look around and wonder what we really accomplished. If everything’s the same but everything’s great, then that’s fine. Good job. But if everything’s still the same and everything isn’t great, then you’ve got some work to do in 2014.
If you’ve just been procrastinating, remember time marches on, with or without you. If you feel like you just can’t do it, I’d like to ask “who said you can’t do it? Who told you that?” Just because you haven’t been successful yet doesn’t mean you can’t be, or won’t be.
You might recall last week I told you “Resolutions matter, but what you do matters more.” Well here are ten tips to help you keep them:
1. Know what you want to do.
2. Really, really want it.
3. Do your homework.
4. Break it up into smaller, attainable goals.
5. Stay focused.
6. Don’t let setbacks throw you off track.
7. Learn from your mistakes.
8. Get back on the pony.
9. Take pride in your victories, but know that they’re not yours alone.
10. Use them to gain momentum that keeps building, until you get what you want.
To give you some support, we’re going right ahead with our community-wide Biggest Loser “19” in January starting right after the holidays on Monday, January 6th. Our goal is to have lots of couples, partners, or even just friends, so you’ll have lots of motivation to get there!
For more information, you can reach by email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Did you accomplish all you wanted to do? If not, did you at least make some progress?
Unfortunately, sometimes we can look around and wonder what we really accomplished. If everything’s the same but everything’s great, then that’s fine. Good job. But if everything’s still the same and everything isn’t great, then you’ve got some work to do in 2014.
If you’ve just been procrastinating, remember time marches on, with or without you. If you feel like you just can’t do it, I’d like to ask “who said you can’t do it? Who told you that?” Just because you haven’t been successful yet doesn’t mean you can’t be, or won’t be.
You might recall last week I told you “Resolutions matter, but what you do matters more.” Well here are ten tips to help you keep them:
1. Know what you want to do.
2. Really, really want it.
3. Do your homework.
4. Break it up into smaller, attainable goals.
5. Stay focused.
6. Don’t let setbacks throw you off track.
7. Learn from your mistakes.
8. Get back on the pony.
9. Take pride in your victories, but know that they’re not yours alone.
10. Use them to gain momentum that keeps building, until you get what you want.
To give you some support, we’re going right ahead with our community-wide Biggest Loser “19” in January starting right after the holidays on Monday, January 6th. Our goal is to have lots of couples, partners, or even just friends, so you’ll have lots of motivation to get there!
For more information, you can reach by email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Friday, December 20, 2013
RESOLUTIONS MATTER, BUT IT'S WHAT YOU DO THAT MATTERS MOST!
I’m sure you’ve heard people talk about their New Year’s resolutions. You’ve probably even made a few of your own over the years. The question is, did you follow through? Did you actually do the things you said you were going to do?
Most everyone has good intentions. We’d all like to see things get better whether it’s at home, at work, in the community, or inside our clothing. I’m guessing that many of us are feeling a little bit snugger in those “skinny” jeans. Maybe even in our not-so-skinny jeans!
You’ve probably heard that the average American gains between five and seven pounds over the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Years. It’s easy to see why, with all the extra temptations like Christmas cookies, Egg Nog, and all those awesome leftovers.
Plus you’ve got all that stuff to do during the holidays like all the running around for shopping, kids concerts, and so on. It’s easy to start missing workouts, if you were active. And if you were already struggling with the whole exercise business, it’s easy to let it slide altogether.
Here’s where you just have to have some discipline. Good things don’t always happen to those who wait (although sometimes you do have wait). Good things tend to happen to those who get going, and keep going!
Sometimes I hear people speak a little enviously of others. “Those people are so lucky, they can just do anything they want.” Or, “She’s always so skinny, she can just eat anything.”
But they don’t see how that couple has worked three jobs, tons of overtime, socking money away, and avoiding debt. And that gal has walked five miles a day, everyday, for years, even in bad weather! It’s what they’ve done, that has put them in that better place today.
Having a resolution is great, because it means you’re really resolved to do something; it‘s important to you. It means you have a plan. And telling other people gives you leverage and helps make you accountable.
To help you get some leverage, the community-wide Biggest Loser “19” starts right after the holidays, on Monday, January 6th. If you’ve already made your resolutions, that’s great, for resolutions do matter. But remember, talk can be cheap. It’s what you do that matters most.
For more information, you can reach by email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Most everyone has good intentions. We’d all like to see things get better whether it’s at home, at work, in the community, or inside our clothing. I’m guessing that many of us are feeling a little bit snugger in those “skinny” jeans. Maybe even in our not-so-skinny jeans!
You’ve probably heard that the average American gains between five and seven pounds over the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Years. It’s easy to see why, with all the extra temptations like Christmas cookies, Egg Nog, and all those awesome leftovers.
Plus you’ve got all that stuff to do during the holidays like all the running around for shopping, kids concerts, and so on. It’s easy to start missing workouts, if you were active. And if you were already struggling with the whole exercise business, it’s easy to let it slide altogether.
Here’s where you just have to have some discipline. Good things don’t always happen to those who wait (although sometimes you do have wait). Good things tend to happen to those who get going, and keep going!
Sometimes I hear people speak a little enviously of others. “Those people are so lucky, they can just do anything they want.” Or, “She’s always so skinny, she can just eat anything.”
But they don’t see how that couple has worked three jobs, tons of overtime, socking money away, and avoiding debt. And that gal has walked five miles a day, everyday, for years, even in bad weather! It’s what they’ve done, that has put them in that better place today.
Having a resolution is great, because it means you’re really resolved to do something; it‘s important to you. It means you have a plan. And telling other people gives you leverage and helps make you accountable.
To help you get some leverage, the community-wide Biggest Loser “19” starts right after the holidays, on Monday, January 6th. If you’ve already made your resolutions, that’s great, for resolutions do matter. But remember, talk can be cheap. It’s what you do that matters most.
For more information, you can reach by email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Friday, December 13, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- WEEK TWELVE (FINAL RESULTS)
After 12 difficult weeks, we finally reached the end of Biggest Loser “18.” We started with 24, and ended up with 12, which was exactly half the group. Things come up, people get busy, and priorities change, especially with such a difficult thing as starting and sticking to a new, rigorous, exercise and weight loss program.
The statistic always holds, no matter the size of the group (we’ve had up to 66), the difficulty of the program (I’ve tried easing them into it, slamming them into it, and everything in between). Half will finish, half will drop for one reason or another.
So I always like to ask the ones left standing a couple questions: “What makes you different? How did you do this, when others couldn’t? Here are some of their answers.
“I just made up my mind.” “I love new clothing.” “It’s about not ever giving up, even if you tried 100 times before.” “Determination.” “It was the competition with my wife.” “When you told us half the people always quit, I was determined not to be a quitter.”
The group also took post-test like the one they took on the first day: a series of one minute tests: Pushups, Sit-ups, Body Squats, Burpees, and Mountain Climbers (they had already done a 1-mile post-test on their own).
All of them were much stronger in each area, doubling their output in several categories. Most took several minutes off their 1 mile time, and a couple gained more than 7 minutes!
The winner for Week Twelve was Johna Todd, who finished first by losing 2.4 lbs and 1.2% of her body weight. Lesley Mills, Tracy Whitaker, and Sondra Martin tied for second place, and Julie Panetti and Debbie Eveland tied for third place.
Our overall winner for Biggest Loser “18” was Jeremy Whitaker, who lost 30.0 lbs and 17.1% of his body weight during the 12 weeks. This is particularly impressive because he was also the winner last time in Biggest Loser “17”, losing 66.4 lbs, bringing his total weight loss to 96.4 lbs! This is the first time anyone has won two Biggest Losers or two in a row.
Tracy Whitaker, finished second overall, losing 18.2 lbs and 13.6% of her body weight. This was also unique, because it was the first time a husband and wife ever finished in 1st and 2nd place! Sondra Martin was third, losing 30.2 lbs and 12.7% of her body weight.
Now the group needs to think about how to maintain what they’ve fought so hard for. In some cases, they’ll set new fitness and weight loss goals, with a new 12-week cycle. Others may need three or four 12-week cycles before they get where they really want to be.
To help them along, we’ll be starting Biggest Loser “19” right after the holidays on Monday, January 6th. It’s been reported that most Americans gain 5-7 lbs between Thanksgiving and New Years. Hopefully that won’t happen to this group, but if it does, we’ll be ready!
For more information, you can reach by email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
The statistic always holds, no matter the size of the group (we’ve had up to 66), the difficulty of the program (I’ve tried easing them into it, slamming them into it, and everything in between). Half will finish, half will drop for one reason or another.
So I always like to ask the ones left standing a couple questions: “What makes you different? How did you do this, when others couldn’t? Here are some of their answers.
“I just made up my mind.” “I love new clothing.” “It’s about not ever giving up, even if you tried 100 times before.” “Determination.” “It was the competition with my wife.” “When you told us half the people always quit, I was determined not to be a quitter.”
The group also took post-test like the one they took on the first day: a series of one minute tests: Pushups, Sit-ups, Body Squats, Burpees, and Mountain Climbers (they had already done a 1-mile post-test on their own).
All of them were much stronger in each area, doubling their output in several categories. Most took several minutes off their 1 mile time, and a couple gained more than 7 minutes!
The winner for Week Twelve was Johna Todd, who finished first by losing 2.4 lbs and 1.2% of her body weight. Lesley Mills, Tracy Whitaker, and Sondra Martin tied for second place, and Julie Panetti and Debbie Eveland tied for third place.
Our overall winner for Biggest Loser “18” was Jeremy Whitaker, who lost 30.0 lbs and 17.1% of his body weight during the 12 weeks. This is particularly impressive because he was also the winner last time in Biggest Loser “17”, losing 66.4 lbs, bringing his total weight loss to 96.4 lbs! This is the first time anyone has won two Biggest Losers or two in a row.
Tracy Whitaker, finished second overall, losing 18.2 lbs and 13.6% of her body weight. This was also unique, because it was the first time a husband and wife ever finished in 1st and 2nd place! Sondra Martin was third, losing 30.2 lbs and 12.7% of her body weight.
Now the group needs to think about how to maintain what they’ve fought so hard for. In some cases, they’ll set new fitness and weight loss goals, with a new 12-week cycle. Others may need three or four 12-week cycles before they get where they really want to be.
To help them along, we’ll be starting Biggest Loser “19” right after the holidays on Monday, January 6th. It’s been reported that most Americans gain 5-7 lbs between Thanksgiving and New Years. Hopefully that won’t happen to this group, but if it does, we’ll be ready!
For more information, you can reach by email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- WEEK ELEVEN
We’re getting close to the finish line for this 12 week program and it’s pretty clear who the finishers will be. I always wish more people could make it to the end, but so many different things always seem to come up that make it hard for them to stick with it.
For the remaining participants, it always comes down to how well they hit their calorie targets each week, and how much they were able to keep moving. Calories out must exceed calories in. If you watch what you eat and move more, you’ll lose the pounds.
While those things are constant, we try to change the intensity of their workouts each week. As they get capable of doing more work, they’ll be able to burn more calories which means more pounds off on the scale.
The goal has always been to show them they can do much more than they thought they could do, in both the cardio room and weight room. Since this was the last chance I had to work them out, I really tried to make that point this week.
We set up a couple 6 station circuits and spent 30 seconds at each station with about a short break after each round. That amounted to about 3 ½ minutes per round, if you count movement time. The exercises were Dumbbell Curls, Box Jumps, Pushups, Kettlebell Swings, Ball Smack-downs, and Abs.
At first they thought they were doing five rounds, but after the fifth one, I let them know they were actually doing ten! It would have been hard for them to believe they could do 10 rounds, but once they were halfway, they realized that they could do it.
Since each station lasted only 30 seconds, they were able to push really hard at each station, each time. This 100% effort on each exercise is guaranteed to raise the intensity.
Two of the group are runners, doing significant mileage each week. They both said they were breathing harder and sweating more than they do during 8-10 mile runs. Another participant logged 400 calories for the 36 minute workout, which is quite good for such a short time.
This week’s Biggest Loser was Sondra Martin, who lost another 2.0 lbs and 0.8% of her body weight. Sondra’s been very consistent, averaging two and a half pounds a week for a total of 28.8 lbs. Second place went to Tracy Whitaker, losing 1.0 lb and 0.7%. Stevannah Drake was third, losing 1.0 lb and 0.6%.
For more information, you can reach by email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
For the remaining participants, it always comes down to how well they hit their calorie targets each week, and how much they were able to keep moving. Calories out must exceed calories in. If you watch what you eat and move more, you’ll lose the pounds.
While those things are constant, we try to change the intensity of their workouts each week. As they get capable of doing more work, they’ll be able to burn more calories which means more pounds off on the scale.
The goal has always been to show them they can do much more than they thought they could do, in both the cardio room and weight room. Since this was the last chance I had to work them out, I really tried to make that point this week.
We set up a couple 6 station circuits and spent 30 seconds at each station with about a short break after each round. That amounted to about 3 ½ minutes per round, if you count movement time. The exercises were Dumbbell Curls, Box Jumps, Pushups, Kettlebell Swings, Ball Smack-downs, and Abs.
At first they thought they were doing five rounds, but after the fifth one, I let them know they were actually doing ten! It would have been hard for them to believe they could do 10 rounds, but once they were halfway, they realized that they could do it.
Since each station lasted only 30 seconds, they were able to push really hard at each station, each time. This 100% effort on each exercise is guaranteed to raise the intensity.
Two of the group are runners, doing significant mileage each week. They both said they were breathing harder and sweating more than they do during 8-10 mile runs. Another participant logged 400 calories for the 36 minute workout, which is quite good for such a short time.
This week’s Biggest Loser was Sondra Martin, who lost another 2.0 lbs and 0.8% of her body weight. Sondra’s been very consistent, averaging two and a half pounds a week for a total of 28.8 lbs. Second place went to Tracy Whitaker, losing 1.0 lb and 0.7%. Stevannah Drake was third, losing 1.0 lb and 0.6%.
For more information, you can reach by email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Tuesday, December 03, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- WEEK TEN
I do a lot of kickboxing and other forms of martial arts training like Brazilian JiuJitsu and mixed martial arts, so as you might imagine, I also like to work them into my regular workouts.
One of my favorite workouts is to do ten 5 min rounds on the heavy bag with a 30 second break between rounds. Since it’s a lot of rounds, with little rest, it’s a pretty good workout.
Sometimes, if I don’t feel like doing so many rounds, I’ll alternate rounds on the bag with either 500 meters on the rower, or with quarter mile sprints on the treadmill. If I’m doing that, I’ll usually just do five 5 min rounds.
Once in awhile, if I’ve had trouble finding time to get my weight workout in, I’ll actually work it into a kickboxing routine, or a Brazilian JiuJitsu workout on the mat with a partner. I tend to do this more when I can roll with a partner on the mat, but hitting the bag works fine too.
The most recent example is where we did 5 minutes on the mat, and then a biceps and triceps exercise. Then we returned to the mat for another round, another set for arms, and so on. I’ve also done it with chest & back routines, and also with legs & abs, usually for 10 rounds.
Regardless what body parts you’re working on, it’ll be a tough workout, because you tend to also use the same parts kickboxing or rolling on the mat. It makes for high intensity, especially in the later rounds, and it also gives you a huge calorie burn. Trust me, your workout clothes will be totally soaked when you finish, if you’ve been pushing hard.
For this week’s Monday night group workout, we used the same idea to expand on the basic kickboxing workout we did two weeks ago. This time they learned some new combinations, and also included workout intervals. Each round lasted five minutes.
The group working their kickboxing did Jab-Cross-Low Round Kick (both sides), and then Front Kick-Jab-Cross-Low Round Kick (both sides). They worked on hand held targets for the first two rounds, and then on the heavy bag for the last two rounds.
While they were doing kickboxing, the other group did Pushups, Pull-ups, & Sit-ups or Kettlebell swings, Pull-ups & Crunches. After five minutes, each group rotated, so they all ended up with four rounds of kickboxing, and four rounds of exercises.
This week’s Biggest Loser was Steve Johnson III, who lost 2.9% of his body weight and 6.2 lbs. Debbie Eveland finished second, losing 1.2% and 1.6 lbs. Sondra Martin was third, losing 0.8% and 2.0 lbs, and Jeremy Whitaker placed fourth, losing 0.7% and 1.2 lbs.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
One of my favorite workouts is to do ten 5 min rounds on the heavy bag with a 30 second break between rounds. Since it’s a lot of rounds, with little rest, it’s a pretty good workout.
Sometimes, if I don’t feel like doing so many rounds, I’ll alternate rounds on the bag with either 500 meters on the rower, or with quarter mile sprints on the treadmill. If I’m doing that, I’ll usually just do five 5 min rounds.
Once in awhile, if I’ve had trouble finding time to get my weight workout in, I’ll actually work it into a kickboxing routine, or a Brazilian JiuJitsu workout on the mat with a partner. I tend to do this more when I can roll with a partner on the mat, but hitting the bag works fine too.
The most recent example is where we did 5 minutes on the mat, and then a biceps and triceps exercise. Then we returned to the mat for another round, another set for arms, and so on. I’ve also done it with chest & back routines, and also with legs & abs, usually for 10 rounds.
Regardless what body parts you’re working on, it’ll be a tough workout, because you tend to also use the same parts kickboxing or rolling on the mat. It makes for high intensity, especially in the later rounds, and it also gives you a huge calorie burn. Trust me, your workout clothes will be totally soaked when you finish, if you’ve been pushing hard.
For this week’s Monday night group workout, we used the same idea to expand on the basic kickboxing workout we did two weeks ago. This time they learned some new combinations, and also included workout intervals. Each round lasted five minutes.
The group working their kickboxing did Jab-Cross-Low Round Kick (both sides), and then Front Kick-Jab-Cross-Low Round Kick (both sides). They worked on hand held targets for the first two rounds, and then on the heavy bag for the last two rounds.
While they were doing kickboxing, the other group did Pushups, Pull-ups, & Sit-ups or Kettlebell swings, Pull-ups & Crunches. After five minutes, each group rotated, so they all ended up with four rounds of kickboxing, and four rounds of exercises.
This week’s Biggest Loser was Steve Johnson III, who lost 2.9% of his body weight and 6.2 lbs. Debbie Eveland finished second, losing 1.2% and 1.6 lbs. Sondra Martin was third, losing 0.8% and 2.0 lbs, and Jeremy Whitaker placed fourth, losing 0.7% and 1.2 lbs.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Monday, November 25, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- WEEK NINE
Over the past nine weeks the group has been learning different ways to exercise, in both the cardio room, and on the weight equipment. The goal is to keep raising the level of intensity of their workouts by showing them something new each week.
This week, they learned how to perform compound movements with the long straight bar and weight plates. They’re called compound movements because they involve more than one muscle group, and since they use so many different muscles at the same time, these exercises are much more taxing. This means you’ll burn more calories faster.
The first movement is the straight bar deadlift. Bend down at the knee and waist and grab a straight bar. Being sure to use your hips and legs, and not just your lower back, you then straighten back up while dragging the bar up to your waist to an upright posture. Then you reverse the movement by bending at the knee and waist and lowering the bar back to the floor.
The second exercise is a new one called the hanging clean, which starts where the other one left off. With the bar hanging from your arms in an upright, standing position, you slightly dip your knees and hips, and then explosively drag the bar straight up your body, by pushing up with your hips, legs and calves. Your elbows will move outward, and then back inward as the bar goes up past your hands, which come in to grab the bar from below, holding it at shoulder level. Reverse the movement, letting the bar drop back to a hanging position.
The third movement also starts where the last one left off, and is called the front squat. Once you have the bar palms up in the upright position on the shoulders, with your elbows out in front of you (which keeps the bar tight to your upper chest), slowly squat down by sitting backward until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Be sure to keep your upper body as straight as possible and avoid bending forward, which can hurt your lower back. Reverse the movement by pushing up, especially from your heels, and not just the balls of your feet, until you’re standing upright again.
The final movement also begins where the last one left off, and is called the push press. This time, with the bar in the upright position, resting on your upper chest with palms up, slightly bend at the knees and hips, and then explosively straighten your legs, and hips, transferring the energy into your arms, which then explode straight upward, lifting the bar to the overhead position with arms locked out overhead. Reverse the movement until the bar is resting on your palms and upper chest.
The group performed each exercise 10 times before moving on to the next one. Once all four exercises were performed 10 times, they did a bunch of different ab exercises while waiting for their partner to complete the four movements. Then they switched back and forth until each of them had done the whole thing five times.
It’s a fairly quick workout, but it’s a barn burner, with lots of benefits. Be sure not to use much weight while you’re learning the movements. At first, you might even just use the bar, without any weights on it.
You should also get with a trainer or other qualified individual who can actually show you how to do it. You can also check out lots of videos on YouTube. Just Goggle that particular exercise and you’ll find lots of hits showing you how to do it.
This week’s Biggest Loser was Stevannah Drake, who lost 1.1% and 2.0 lbs. Second place was a tie between Tracy and Jeremy Whitaker, both losing 0.7% and 1.0 and 1.2 lbs respectively. Third place went to Sondra Martin who lost 0.4% and 1.0 lb.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
This week, they learned how to perform compound movements with the long straight bar and weight plates. They’re called compound movements because they involve more than one muscle group, and since they use so many different muscles at the same time, these exercises are much more taxing. This means you’ll burn more calories faster.
The first movement is the straight bar deadlift. Bend down at the knee and waist and grab a straight bar. Being sure to use your hips and legs, and not just your lower back, you then straighten back up while dragging the bar up to your waist to an upright posture. Then you reverse the movement by bending at the knee and waist and lowering the bar back to the floor.
The second exercise is a new one called the hanging clean, which starts where the other one left off. With the bar hanging from your arms in an upright, standing position, you slightly dip your knees and hips, and then explosively drag the bar straight up your body, by pushing up with your hips, legs and calves. Your elbows will move outward, and then back inward as the bar goes up past your hands, which come in to grab the bar from below, holding it at shoulder level. Reverse the movement, letting the bar drop back to a hanging position.
The third movement also starts where the last one left off, and is called the front squat. Once you have the bar palms up in the upright position on the shoulders, with your elbows out in front of you (which keeps the bar tight to your upper chest), slowly squat down by sitting backward until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Be sure to keep your upper body as straight as possible and avoid bending forward, which can hurt your lower back. Reverse the movement by pushing up, especially from your heels, and not just the balls of your feet, until you’re standing upright again.
The final movement also begins where the last one left off, and is called the push press. This time, with the bar in the upright position, resting on your upper chest with palms up, slightly bend at the knees and hips, and then explosively straighten your legs, and hips, transferring the energy into your arms, which then explode straight upward, lifting the bar to the overhead position with arms locked out overhead. Reverse the movement until the bar is resting on your palms and upper chest.
The group performed each exercise 10 times before moving on to the next one. Once all four exercises were performed 10 times, they did a bunch of different ab exercises while waiting for their partner to complete the four movements. Then they switched back and forth until each of them had done the whole thing five times.
It’s a fairly quick workout, but it’s a barn burner, with lots of benefits. Be sure not to use much weight while you’re learning the movements. At first, you might even just use the bar, without any weights on it.
You should also get with a trainer or other qualified individual who can actually show you how to do it. You can also check out lots of videos on YouTube. Just Goggle that particular exercise and you’ll find lots of hits showing you how to do it.
This week’s Biggest Loser was Stevannah Drake, who lost 1.1% and 2.0 lbs. Second place was a tie between Tracy and Jeremy Whitaker, both losing 0.7% and 1.0 and 1.2 lbs respectively. Third place went to Sondra Martin who lost 0.4% and 1.0 lb.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Monday, November 18, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- WEEK EIGHT
On Monday night, we reached week eight which means we’ve completed two thirds of the 12 week program. At this point, most everyone who’s going to drop out has done so, unless something serious comes up in the last four weeks.
By now, most of the participants have found their rhythm and are running on auto-pilot. While there might be a mistake now and then, they’ve pretty much figured out their eating. They’ve also been working out long enough that hopefully, it’s become a habit.
In addition to the usual Monday night weigh-in, it was also time for another set of measurements to compare with the measurements taken at the beginning and at the four week mark. By now, the differences in inches will really start adding up.
It’s also a good time to get a couple more pictures to compare with their earlier shots (if they dared to do it). The new pictures will serve as good motivation for you.
A full frontal shot and side profile shot dressed in nothing but boxers (guys), or tight shorts and a sports bra (gals) will really raise your level of “got to do this.” You’ll also be able to actually see the pounds come off from month to month.
This week we did Kickboxing for the workout. After pairing up the participants, we talked about the basic elements of Kickboxing like how to make a proper fist, how to cover your head, bobbing and weaving, scooting in and out, jab, cross, knee-knee, cover, cover, and even a back leg front kick.
At first we broke everything down to the simplest possible elements. Once they started getting it, we started putting things together in combinations, switching back and forth. After practice in the air, they started hitting a pair of targets held by their partners.
After even more practice, the partners also used the targets to counter strike with, which helped the others to remember to keep their hands up. It also helped them learn how to react off an opponent.
Once they had the skills, we added scooting in and out, which helps you change the distance to your opponent as needed. It also adds a lot of intensity to the workout. By the end of the class, they were all doing the entire sequence: jab-cross, cover-cover (or duck, duck), knee-knee, and front kick.
The most important things are to take your time building your skill and comfort level, and to always protect your partner (don’t get too excited). People don’t always react right, and it’s easy to hit someone by mistake.
This week’s Biggest Loser was Pam Johns, who lost 2.2% of her body weight and 3.4 lbs. Sondra Martin was second, losing 1.8% and 4.4 lbs. Lesley Mills and Ryan Carroll tied for third place, both losing 1.1% and 2.2 lbs.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
By now, most of the participants have found their rhythm and are running on auto-pilot. While there might be a mistake now and then, they’ve pretty much figured out their eating. They’ve also been working out long enough that hopefully, it’s become a habit.
In addition to the usual Monday night weigh-in, it was also time for another set of measurements to compare with the measurements taken at the beginning and at the four week mark. By now, the differences in inches will really start adding up.
It’s also a good time to get a couple more pictures to compare with their earlier shots (if they dared to do it). The new pictures will serve as good motivation for you.
A full frontal shot and side profile shot dressed in nothing but boxers (guys), or tight shorts and a sports bra (gals) will really raise your level of “got to do this.” You’ll also be able to actually see the pounds come off from month to month.
This week we did Kickboxing for the workout. After pairing up the participants, we talked about the basic elements of Kickboxing like how to make a proper fist, how to cover your head, bobbing and weaving, scooting in and out, jab, cross, knee-knee, cover, cover, and even a back leg front kick.
At first we broke everything down to the simplest possible elements. Once they started getting it, we started putting things together in combinations, switching back and forth. After practice in the air, they started hitting a pair of targets held by their partners.
After even more practice, the partners also used the targets to counter strike with, which helped the others to remember to keep their hands up. It also helped them learn how to react off an opponent.
Once they had the skills, we added scooting in and out, which helps you change the distance to your opponent as needed. It also adds a lot of intensity to the workout. By the end of the class, they were all doing the entire sequence: jab-cross, cover-cover (or duck, duck), knee-knee, and front kick.
The most important things are to take your time building your skill and comfort level, and to always protect your partner (don’t get too excited). People don’t always react right, and it’s easy to hit someone by mistake.
This week’s Biggest Loser was Pam Johns, who lost 2.2% of her body weight and 3.4 lbs. Sondra Martin was second, losing 1.8% and 4.4 lbs. Lesley Mills and Ryan Carroll tied for third place, both losing 1.1% and 2.2 lbs.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Saturday, November 02, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- WEEK SIX
We reached the halfway point of the 12 week program with this week’s Monday night meeting and workout. Overall, things seem to be on track for most of them, although the numbers are down as expected.
If you’ve been paying attention to the last few Biggest Losers, you’ll recall that about half of the participants typically drop out for one reason or another. This has held true over the other 17 Biggest Loser groups we’ve run, and it seems to be holding true now.
We started with 24 people, and at this point it looks like we have about 18 still involved. As I mentioned earlier, the reasons tend to vary. One thing is sure though; it’s pretty hard to get what you want if you stop trying to get it.
Over the years I’ve learned 7 steps that have helped me and others achieve goals in a variety of things, including weight loss:
1. Figure out exactly what you want.
2. Set some realistic goals.
3. Measure your progress.
4. Periodically evaluate your performance.
5. Modify your behavior and redouble your efforts if necessary.
6. Stay focused and be consistent.
7. Don’t quit.
Since we were halfway through, we talked about whether their results have been measuring up to their expectations. If so, that’s awesome. Keep on trucking. If not, then we have to try to figure out what’s going wrong and make some changes.
Have they been hitting it hard? Getting all their workouts in? Getting the eating right? Is something else going on? They need to try and zero in on the thing or things that have been throwing them off track. The tough thing is to modify their behavior so they start getting the results they want. It always is.
To keep turning it up on the exercise side of things, I gave them an 11 station, 3 round circuit (since 11 people showed up for the workout). As usual in circuits, they spent a minute at each station, working for 45-50 seconds, and using the last 10-15 seconds to rotate to the next station.
After they hit all 11 stations, they got a 1 minute break to get a quick drink between the 2nd and 3rd rounds. This amounted to a 35 minute workout with 33 actual minutes working out. The first round was fairly easy, the second round was tough, and consensus was, the third and final round was really tough.
Most of them felt like they’d been working out much longer. They also thought they’d worked out much harder than in a typical hour long cardio workout. Here’s what they did:
1. Handstands on the wall (or donkey kicks)
2. Dumbbell Curls
3. Rower
4. Burpees
5. Schwinn AirDyne
6. Overhead Push Presses w/straight bar
7. Rower #2
8. Battle Rope
9. Kettlebell swings
10. Schwinn AirDyne #2
11. Assorted Abs (crunches & crunches w/legs up; crunches to sides; leglifts)
This week’s Biggest Loser was Tracy Whitaker who lost 3.6 lbs and 2.5% of her body weight. Debbie Eveland placed second, losing 2.8 lbs and 2.1%. Third place went to Jeremy Whitaker who lost 2.8 lbs and 1.5%.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
If you’ve been paying attention to the last few Biggest Losers, you’ll recall that about half of the participants typically drop out for one reason or another. This has held true over the other 17 Biggest Loser groups we’ve run, and it seems to be holding true now.
We started with 24 people, and at this point it looks like we have about 18 still involved. As I mentioned earlier, the reasons tend to vary. One thing is sure though; it’s pretty hard to get what you want if you stop trying to get it.
Over the years I’ve learned 7 steps that have helped me and others achieve goals in a variety of things, including weight loss:
1. Figure out exactly what you want.
2. Set some realistic goals.
3. Measure your progress.
4. Periodically evaluate your performance.
5. Modify your behavior and redouble your efforts if necessary.
6. Stay focused and be consistent.
7. Don’t quit.
Since we were halfway through, we talked about whether their results have been measuring up to their expectations. If so, that’s awesome. Keep on trucking. If not, then we have to try to figure out what’s going wrong and make some changes.
Have they been hitting it hard? Getting all their workouts in? Getting the eating right? Is something else going on? They need to try and zero in on the thing or things that have been throwing them off track. The tough thing is to modify their behavior so they start getting the results they want. It always is.
To keep turning it up on the exercise side of things, I gave them an 11 station, 3 round circuit (since 11 people showed up for the workout). As usual in circuits, they spent a minute at each station, working for 45-50 seconds, and using the last 10-15 seconds to rotate to the next station.
After they hit all 11 stations, they got a 1 minute break to get a quick drink between the 2nd and 3rd rounds. This amounted to a 35 minute workout with 33 actual minutes working out. The first round was fairly easy, the second round was tough, and consensus was, the third and final round was really tough.
Most of them felt like they’d been working out much longer. They also thought they’d worked out much harder than in a typical hour long cardio workout. Here’s what they did:
1. Handstands on the wall (or donkey kicks)
2. Dumbbell Curls
3. Rower
4. Burpees
5. Schwinn AirDyne
6. Overhead Push Presses w/straight bar
7. Rower #2
8. Battle Rope
9. Kettlebell swings
10. Schwinn AirDyne #2
11. Assorted Abs (crunches & crunches w/legs up; crunches to sides; leglifts)
This week’s Biggest Loser was Tracy Whitaker who lost 3.6 lbs and 2.5% of her body weight. Debbie Eveland placed second, losing 2.8 lbs and 2.1%. Third place went to Jeremy Whitaker who lost 2.8 lbs and 1.5%.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- WEEK FIVE
For the last month, we’ve been getting the group used to working out daily. They’ve been using all the weight machines three to four days a week, in addition to their daily cardio workouts.
Over the last couple of weeks they’ve also picked up quite a few exercises that use free weights, dumbbells, and exercise balls. This has helped them add lots of intensity to their workouts. That means they can burn more calories.
This week, we talked about how to add that intensity in the cardio room with HIIT (high intensity interval training). The neat thing about HIIT, is that you can do it on any piece of cardio equipment, whether it’s on the treadmill, elliptical, rower, stationary or recumbent bike, Schwinn AirDyne (bike with arms), or the stair stepper.
After a short warmup, the goal is to take a one minute interval and try to go harder than usual. Then you slow down for a minute to give you a little break to recover. Then you hit it hard again for another minute, slow down and rest a minute, and so on.
You can decide how long the hard intervals are, as well as the rest intervals. Once you get in great shape, you might go 90 seconds hard, and only 30 seconds easy. Or you could even go 2 minutes hard and 1 minute easy.
Later, you might pour it on for an entire quarter mile, and then walk a couple minutes, repeating until you’ve covered a mile and a half, or two miles with high intensity intervals. I’ve done half mile repeats (800’s) where you just kill it for a half mile, and then walk two minutes, before repeating two or three more times.
You can do HIIT training on one piece of equipment for the entire time, say 20-30 minutes. You can also rotate between different pieces of equipment during your workout.
For example, start with three or four one minute HIIT intervals on the treadmill, move to the rower and do three or four HIIT intervals there. Then do three or four HIIT intervals on the elliptical. Finally, move to the Schwinn AirDyne bicycle and do several HIIT intervals there.
This is essentially what the group did during the Monday night workout. That way they got to feel what HIIT workouts felt like on the different pieces of cardio equipment. I think they learned that in the end, HIIT workouts are tough no matter where you do them!
It’s a good idea to do a few minutes easy at the start to be sure you’re fully warmed up. You also want to ease into the intervals, making each one a little harder, ramping up the intensity of the tough intervals. Don’t just jump right into the toughest, fastest, or hardest one.
Finally, you want to work up to a couple intervals that are almost too tough to complete. They might be so tough that you just can’t maintain the pace for the entire minute. Try to hang on for the whole minute if you can. If not, that’s O.K. Just rest a few seconds and then try to finish it.
At least now you’ll know what your limits are. I’ll bet it will be more than you thought you could do. If you couldn’t quite make the whole minute, make it your goal to try and get it the next time you do a HIIT workout. It’s very possible that you’ll get it that next time.
Make sure you don’t stop immediately after the toughest intervals. Spend a little time cooling down first. Be prepared for lots of sweat, and needing a couple of minutes to catch your breath.
You might also be hungry later, because these HIIT workouts take a lot out of you. You’ll still be burning calories too, even a couple hours after the workout. That means you’ll burn more total calories than in regular cardio workouts, and that will help you get what you want!
This week’s Biggest Loser was Steve Johnson III, losing 2.5% of his body weight and 5.4 lbs. Jeremy Whitaker was second, losing 1.9% and 3.6 lbs. Third place went to Stevannah Drake, who lost 1.8% and 3.4 lbs.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Over the last couple of weeks they’ve also picked up quite a few exercises that use free weights, dumbbells, and exercise balls. This has helped them add lots of intensity to their workouts. That means they can burn more calories.
This week, we talked about how to add that intensity in the cardio room with HIIT (high intensity interval training). The neat thing about HIIT, is that you can do it on any piece of cardio equipment, whether it’s on the treadmill, elliptical, rower, stationary or recumbent bike, Schwinn AirDyne (bike with arms), or the stair stepper.
After a short warmup, the goal is to take a one minute interval and try to go harder than usual. Then you slow down for a minute to give you a little break to recover. Then you hit it hard again for another minute, slow down and rest a minute, and so on.
You can decide how long the hard intervals are, as well as the rest intervals. Once you get in great shape, you might go 90 seconds hard, and only 30 seconds easy. Or you could even go 2 minutes hard and 1 minute easy.
Later, you might pour it on for an entire quarter mile, and then walk a couple minutes, repeating until you’ve covered a mile and a half, or two miles with high intensity intervals. I’ve done half mile repeats (800’s) where you just kill it for a half mile, and then walk two minutes, before repeating two or three more times.
You can do HIIT training on one piece of equipment for the entire time, say 20-30 minutes. You can also rotate between different pieces of equipment during your workout.
For example, start with three or four one minute HIIT intervals on the treadmill, move to the rower and do three or four HIIT intervals there. Then do three or four HIIT intervals on the elliptical. Finally, move to the Schwinn AirDyne bicycle and do several HIIT intervals there.
This is essentially what the group did during the Monday night workout. That way they got to feel what HIIT workouts felt like on the different pieces of cardio equipment. I think they learned that in the end, HIIT workouts are tough no matter where you do them!
It’s a good idea to do a few minutes easy at the start to be sure you’re fully warmed up. You also want to ease into the intervals, making each one a little harder, ramping up the intensity of the tough intervals. Don’t just jump right into the toughest, fastest, or hardest one.
Finally, you want to work up to a couple intervals that are almost too tough to complete. They might be so tough that you just can’t maintain the pace for the entire minute. Try to hang on for the whole minute if you can. If not, that’s O.K. Just rest a few seconds and then try to finish it.
At least now you’ll know what your limits are. I’ll bet it will be more than you thought you could do. If you couldn’t quite make the whole minute, make it your goal to try and get it the next time you do a HIIT workout. It’s very possible that you’ll get it that next time.
Make sure you don’t stop immediately after the toughest intervals. Spend a little time cooling down first. Be prepared for lots of sweat, and needing a couple of minutes to catch your breath.
You might also be hungry later, because these HIIT workouts take a lot out of you. You’ll still be burning calories too, even a couple hours after the workout. That means you’ll burn more total calories than in regular cardio workouts, and that will help you get what you want!
This week’s Biggest Loser was Steve Johnson III, losing 2.5% of his body weight and 5.4 lbs. Jeremy Whitaker was second, losing 1.9% and 3.6 lbs. Third place went to Stevannah Drake, who lost 1.8% and 3.4 lbs.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Monday, October 21, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- WEEK FOUR
We just finished the first four weeks of training with Biggest Loser “18.” With one month down, and two to go, we’re still really just getting started. Up to now we’ve focused on helping them learn to control their portions, watch their total calories, and get moving at least once every day (twice is better).
It takes awhile before something new can become a habit. But after a month of eating right, it should start getting a little easier to put healthy meals together. And with a month of daily workouts behind them, hopefully they’re getting to the point where they’re not having to fight themselves to get to the gym either.
So at this point, the main issues will be getting them to stick with the program, and to keep them progressing in their workouts. Typically, about half the group drops out of most programs at one time or another.
Right now, we’re doing pretty well with about 20 out of the original 24 still here, giving us about an 80% participation rate. The irony is that the harder they work now, the better results they get. The better they do, the more motivated they are to continue. That’s why we push pretty hard to get good results early.
In the end, you get what you focus on. Work hard and work often, and sooner or later, you’ll likely get what you want (as long as it’s reasonable). One thing is certain. If you quit trying, you’ll never get what you want.
The other big focus will be teaching them how to add intensity to their workouts. As they get stronger, they can work out harder, burning more calories in the same amount of time. Or, they can work out longer, which also burns more calories. This translates directly to more weight loss.
One of the big keys is mixing up the workouts by adding new and different exercises that they aren’t used to. This helps them get through the inevitable weight loss plateau.
Circuit training is an excellent way to keep things moving along. To that end, I gave them a two part workout with a bunch of new and challenging exercises. The first part was four rounds of four exercises, each lasting about 50 seconds, with 10 seconds to move to the next station.
Round One: Bouncing pushups over a BOSU trainer; Box Jumps on and off of a step with several risers; Standing dumbbell (DB) curl & overhead presses; and AB rollers with a stability ball.
Round Two: Pushups on an upside down BOSU trainer; Box Step Over’s side-to-side; Walking Lunges; and Pushups with their legs on the stability ball.
Round Three: Body Squats standing on the BOSU trainer; Box Step Over’s length wise; Walking Lunges with DB curls; and Knee-Ins on the stability ball.
Round Four: Burpees while holding the BOSU trainer; Box Step Over’s while turning behind; Walking Lunges with DB curl & overhead presses; and Pikes on the stability ball.
The second part of the workout took about 12 minutes. One person got on the battle rope and had to do 25 battle ropes (L & R) while the others took did DB Burpee Curl & Presses (holding two DB, drop down and do a pushup on them, then stand back up with the DB, curling & pressing them overhead; repeat).
When the person finished on the rope, another took their place, rotating until everyone had a chance to do the battle rope. Everyone else continued with the DB Burpee Curl & Presses, which was pretty brutal by the time everybody got through the rope!
What makes workouts like these so difficult, but also so effective, is that the are using whole body movements like the Walking Lunge, Curl Press, or DB Burpee Curl & Presses. The exercises on the BOSU trainer and stability ball also require lots of muscle, especially your core.
Since these exercises use all the major muscle groups, often at the same time, they require lots of oxygen, and burn tons of calories, including a long after burn. Start-to-finish, it was less than a half hour, but I’ll bet they’ll tell you it was the toughest workout by far.
This week’s Biggest Loser was Julie Panetti, who lost 2.1% of her body weight and 2.6 lbs. Second place went to Maddie Johnson, who lost 1.9% and 4.6 lbs. Third place was a tie between Pam Johns and Jeremy Whitaker, both losing 1.5% and 2.4 lbs and 2.8 lbs respectively.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
It takes awhile before something new can become a habit. But after a month of eating right, it should start getting a little easier to put healthy meals together. And with a month of daily workouts behind them, hopefully they’re getting to the point where they’re not having to fight themselves to get to the gym either.
So at this point, the main issues will be getting them to stick with the program, and to keep them progressing in their workouts. Typically, about half the group drops out of most programs at one time or another.
Right now, we’re doing pretty well with about 20 out of the original 24 still here, giving us about an 80% participation rate. The irony is that the harder they work now, the better results they get. The better they do, the more motivated they are to continue. That’s why we push pretty hard to get good results early.
In the end, you get what you focus on. Work hard and work often, and sooner or later, you’ll likely get what you want (as long as it’s reasonable). One thing is certain. If you quit trying, you’ll never get what you want.
The other big focus will be teaching them how to add intensity to their workouts. As they get stronger, they can work out harder, burning more calories in the same amount of time. Or, they can work out longer, which also burns more calories. This translates directly to more weight loss.
One of the big keys is mixing up the workouts by adding new and different exercises that they aren’t used to. This helps them get through the inevitable weight loss plateau.
Circuit training is an excellent way to keep things moving along. To that end, I gave them a two part workout with a bunch of new and challenging exercises. The first part was four rounds of four exercises, each lasting about 50 seconds, with 10 seconds to move to the next station.
Round One: Bouncing pushups over a BOSU trainer; Box Jumps on and off of a step with several risers; Standing dumbbell (DB) curl & overhead presses; and AB rollers with a stability ball.
Round Two: Pushups on an upside down BOSU trainer; Box Step Over’s side-to-side; Walking Lunges; and Pushups with their legs on the stability ball.
Round Three: Body Squats standing on the BOSU trainer; Box Step Over’s length wise; Walking Lunges with DB curls; and Knee-Ins on the stability ball.
Round Four: Burpees while holding the BOSU trainer; Box Step Over’s while turning behind; Walking Lunges with DB curl & overhead presses; and Pikes on the stability ball.
The second part of the workout took about 12 minutes. One person got on the battle rope and had to do 25 battle ropes (L & R) while the others took did DB Burpee Curl & Presses (holding two DB, drop down and do a pushup on them, then stand back up with the DB, curling & pressing them overhead; repeat).
When the person finished on the rope, another took their place, rotating until everyone had a chance to do the battle rope. Everyone else continued with the DB Burpee Curl & Presses, which was pretty brutal by the time everybody got through the rope!
What makes workouts like these so difficult, but also so effective, is that the are using whole body movements like the Walking Lunge, Curl Press, or DB Burpee Curl & Presses. The exercises on the BOSU trainer and stability ball also require lots of muscle, especially your core.
Since these exercises use all the major muscle groups, often at the same time, they require lots of oxygen, and burn tons of calories, including a long after burn. Start-to-finish, it was less than a half hour, but I’ll bet they’ll tell you it was the toughest workout by far.
This week’s Biggest Loser was Julie Panetti, who lost 2.1% of her body weight and 2.6 lbs. Second place went to Maddie Johnson, who lost 1.9% and 4.6 lbs. Third place was a tie between Pam Johns and Jeremy Whitaker, both losing 1.5% and 2.4 lbs and 2.8 lbs respectively.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Monday, October 14, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- WEEK THREE
This week we talked about how to keep your diet in check while you’re eating out. The easiest and most obvious way is to simply check the menu for calories.
Many fast food places publish the calories for most items, either in the store or online. You’ll also find them on the good phone apps. Some of the larger restaurant chains also have a low calorie menu where you’ll know the value of the whole meal.
Most of the fast food chains now have some pretty healthy menu choices like grilled chicken sandwiches and salads, wraps, and of course 6” subs. The key there is to avoid the fries and large pops, which add a ton of calories to your meal.
If you can’t find the calories, then you can make a good guess. Figure a 5-6 oz serving of meat or poultry is around 150 calories and a 7-8 oz serving is 200 calories. Both will usually be about the size of your palm; the smaller size for women, and the large size for men.
A quality serving of starch (potato, sweet potato, pasta, rice, etc…) will be about 150 calories for a half size portion (ladies), or 300 calories for a full size portion (guys). Like we talked about last week, the key is to just eat one serving.
It’s hard to consume more than 100 calories in a serving of vegetables, even with a little sauce. The only issue with salads is the dressing. A serving size is usually just 2 tbsp, which would be 50 calories (low fat) or up to 200 calories or more for house or regular dressings.
Soft drinks or sweet teas typically run around 120-150 calories per 8 oz serving. This doesn’t sound like much but it’s easy to have a refill or two without even thinking about it, so be careful.
Once you have an idea of what certain foods are, you can plan to fit it into your day. If you know it’s going to be a little high, you can scale back elsewhere, by skipping a snack, or in some extreme cases, another meal if you know you really need the room.
Of course you can always make up for it by throwing in an extra calorie burning workout like an extra walk at night, or staying in the gym a little longer. The point is that sometimes you can eat some of the foods you might have thought were off limits. If you’re careful, between the two strategies you can ensure that nothing will be stored as fat; you’ll just burn it.
This week they did a full body circuit with dumbbells (DB) and calisthenics for the Monday night workout. It was just 30 minutes, but I’m pretty sure they thought it was action packed. Here it is in case you’d like to give it a try:
1. DB Chest Press & DB Pec Fly’s on the Ball (Chest)
2. DB Squat & DB Deadlifts (Lower Body)
3. DB Single Arm Rows, and DB Pull-overs on the Ball (Back)
4. Pushups, Sit-Ups & Body Squats, run-in-place w/3 burpees (3 rounds)
5. DB Shoulder Press & DB Lateral Raises (Shoulders)
6. DB Overhead Tricep Press & DB Tricep Kickbacks (Arms)
7. DB Hammer Curls & DB Bicep Curls (Arms)
8. AB Routine #1-5: Crunches, Crunches w/legs up, Cross to L, Cross to R, & Leg-lifts (Abs)
First place this week was a tie between Jeremy Whitaker and Shelly Borchers who both lost 1.9% of their body weight and 3.6 and 3.4 lbs respectively. Steve Johnson III placed second, losing 1.7% and 3.8 lbs.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Many fast food places publish the calories for most items, either in the store or online. You’ll also find them on the good phone apps. Some of the larger restaurant chains also have a low calorie menu where you’ll know the value of the whole meal.
Most of the fast food chains now have some pretty healthy menu choices like grilled chicken sandwiches and salads, wraps, and of course 6” subs. The key there is to avoid the fries and large pops, which add a ton of calories to your meal.
If you can’t find the calories, then you can make a good guess. Figure a 5-6 oz serving of meat or poultry is around 150 calories and a 7-8 oz serving is 200 calories. Both will usually be about the size of your palm; the smaller size for women, and the large size for men.
A quality serving of starch (potato, sweet potato, pasta, rice, etc…) will be about 150 calories for a half size portion (ladies), or 300 calories for a full size portion (guys). Like we talked about last week, the key is to just eat one serving.
It’s hard to consume more than 100 calories in a serving of vegetables, even with a little sauce. The only issue with salads is the dressing. A serving size is usually just 2 tbsp, which would be 50 calories (low fat) or up to 200 calories or more for house or regular dressings.
Soft drinks or sweet teas typically run around 120-150 calories per 8 oz serving. This doesn’t sound like much but it’s easy to have a refill or two without even thinking about it, so be careful.
Once you have an idea of what certain foods are, you can plan to fit it into your day. If you know it’s going to be a little high, you can scale back elsewhere, by skipping a snack, or in some extreme cases, another meal if you know you really need the room.
Of course you can always make up for it by throwing in an extra calorie burning workout like an extra walk at night, or staying in the gym a little longer. The point is that sometimes you can eat some of the foods you might have thought were off limits. If you’re careful, between the two strategies you can ensure that nothing will be stored as fat; you’ll just burn it.
This week they did a full body circuit with dumbbells (DB) and calisthenics for the Monday night workout. It was just 30 minutes, but I’m pretty sure they thought it was action packed. Here it is in case you’d like to give it a try:
1. DB Chest Press & DB Pec Fly’s on the Ball (Chest)
2. DB Squat & DB Deadlifts (Lower Body)
3. DB Single Arm Rows, and DB Pull-overs on the Ball (Back)
4. Pushups, Sit-Ups & Body Squats, run-in-place w/3 burpees (3 rounds)
5. DB Shoulder Press & DB Lateral Raises (Shoulders)
6. DB Overhead Tricep Press & DB Tricep Kickbacks (Arms)
7. DB Hammer Curls & DB Bicep Curls (Arms)
8. AB Routine #1-5: Crunches, Crunches w/legs up, Cross to L, Cross to R, & Leg-lifts (Abs)
First place this week was a tie between Jeremy Whitaker and Shelly Borchers who both lost 1.9% of their body weight and 3.6 and 3.4 lbs respectively. Steve Johnson III placed second, losing 1.7% and 3.8 lbs.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- WEEK TWO
Our goals for Week Two were to make sure they’re exercising every day, and then to help them start ramping up their workouts as they get stronger. In previous Biggest Losers, I worked the group out after each weekly weigh-in, and told them what to do the rest of the week.
For Biggest Loser “18”, I’m posting a different workout on Facebook each day, which is the same workout I’d do if I were personally training each of them. So this is even better. It’s pretty cool to come in and see people actually doing it, just like I posted.
The daily posts have been mostly workouts utilizing machines up to this point. Now they’ll start including some free weight exercises, as well as more sets and reps of everything.
Using free weights will force them to use more muscle groups to help stabilize the weights, which means they’ll burn more calories in their workouts. I held back a bit early on to help with soreness, and help them build confidence, but now they’re ready for more.
To that end I set up a circuit with a bunch of dumbbells, exercise balls, kettlebells, and some other cool stuff. This will help them learn how to turn things up in the weight room.
They split up into groups of four, each group doing a station for a minute or so before rotating to the next station. It wasn’t a super tough workout, but the information gained will open the door to much more interesting workouts that will be tougher!
On the food side of things, the goal this week was for them to continue eating the right amount of food, but also to start looking at the quality of their food. They learned about the three main categories:
Protein – is for building muscle and bone; lean cuts of beef, pork, poultry, fish, nuts, and some beans. Most people don’t get nearly enough protein, especially if they are working out. Every meal and snack should include protein, and even then, you might need to supplement with a protein shake.
Starches – are complex carbohydrates that provide long lasting energy, and some vitamins and minerals. Sources include whole grain breads and cereals, oats, barley, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and some beans. We usually get too many starches in our diet, especially at things like potlucks, or if we’re eating fast foods, or junk foods, which are poor substitutes nutritionally, and much higher in calories. If you eat one quality starch per meal, you’ll always have the energy you need to get through your day and workout.
Fruits & Greens – are basically free foods that provide lots of quick energy (fruits), vitamins & minerals (both), and a ton of fiber (vegetables especially). It’s hard to go wrong with these, unless you’re a diabetic (see your doctor). A good plan is to try to have fruits at least at breakfast & lunch, and vegetables at least at supper.
Most experts also recommend an Omega-3 (fish oil) to make sure you’re getting the proper amount of “good” fats. Recent studies are showing that it’s even better if you take a “Multi-Oil” that contains a blend of Omega-3, 6, & 9 oils.
These tips have helped a lot of our Biggest Losers lose quite a bit of weight over the last 17 groups. For more detailed and personal information, see a nutritionist or your doctor.
The winner for Week Two was Pam Johns, who lost 1.7% of her body weight and 2.8 lbs. Nicole Shaughnessy placed second, losing 1.6% and 2.3 lbs. Steve Johnson III and Polly Webster tied for third, both losing 1.4% and 3.2 lbs and 2.0 lbs respectively.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
For Biggest Loser “18”, I’m posting a different workout on Facebook each day, which is the same workout I’d do if I were personally training each of them. So this is even better. It’s pretty cool to come in and see people actually doing it, just like I posted.
The daily posts have been mostly workouts utilizing machines up to this point. Now they’ll start including some free weight exercises, as well as more sets and reps of everything.
Using free weights will force them to use more muscle groups to help stabilize the weights, which means they’ll burn more calories in their workouts. I held back a bit early on to help with soreness, and help them build confidence, but now they’re ready for more.
To that end I set up a circuit with a bunch of dumbbells, exercise balls, kettlebells, and some other cool stuff. This will help them learn how to turn things up in the weight room.
They split up into groups of four, each group doing a station for a minute or so before rotating to the next station. It wasn’t a super tough workout, but the information gained will open the door to much more interesting workouts that will be tougher!
On the food side of things, the goal this week was for them to continue eating the right amount of food, but also to start looking at the quality of their food. They learned about the three main categories:
Protein – is for building muscle and bone; lean cuts of beef, pork, poultry, fish, nuts, and some beans. Most people don’t get nearly enough protein, especially if they are working out. Every meal and snack should include protein, and even then, you might need to supplement with a protein shake.
Starches – are complex carbohydrates that provide long lasting energy, and some vitamins and minerals. Sources include whole grain breads and cereals, oats, barley, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and some beans. We usually get too many starches in our diet, especially at things like potlucks, or if we’re eating fast foods, or junk foods, which are poor substitutes nutritionally, and much higher in calories. If you eat one quality starch per meal, you’ll always have the energy you need to get through your day and workout.
Fruits & Greens – are basically free foods that provide lots of quick energy (fruits), vitamins & minerals (both), and a ton of fiber (vegetables especially). It’s hard to go wrong with these, unless you’re a diabetic (see your doctor). A good plan is to try to have fruits at least at breakfast & lunch, and vegetables at least at supper.
Most experts also recommend an Omega-3 (fish oil) to make sure you’re getting the proper amount of “good” fats. Recent studies are showing that it’s even better if you take a “Multi-Oil” that contains a blend of Omega-3, 6, & 9 oils.
These tips have helped a lot of our Biggest Losers lose quite a bit of weight over the last 17 groups. For more detailed and personal information, see a nutritionist or your doctor.
The winner for Week Two was Pam Johns, who lost 1.7% of her body weight and 2.8 lbs. Nicole Shaughnessy placed second, losing 1.6% and 2.3 lbs. Steve Johnson III and Polly Webster tied for third, both losing 1.4% and 3.2 lbs and 2.0 lbs respectively.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Monday, September 30, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- WEEK ONE
After a good start a week ago, we met again Monday night for the first weekly weigh-in and workout. Perhaps the biggest issue was quite a few of the participants struggled to hit their basal metabolic rate (BMR). I call this their “hitting their minimum.”
According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), ladies should never go below 1,200 calories/day, and guys should never go below 1,800. This is without regard to activity level, meaning it’s what they’d need and burn, even if they were in a coma. If they’re active on top of that, they’d need even more calories.
It’s pretty common for women to eat less than their minimum, but many have a hard time even getting to 1,000 calories/day. Experience proves that 9 out of 10 won’t be hitting their minimum. Guys tend to be overeaters, so it tends to swing the other way, with 9 out of 10 getting more than they need. This is certainly the case with me. It’s easy for me to overeat.
Let’s start with the guys. It’s easy to get in a scenario where you can be 500 calories over for the day due to overeating, inactivity, or both. Since a pound of fat is roughly equivalent to 3,500 calories, it just takes 7 days being 500 calories over and you’re a pound heavier.
If you’re only a little over, it can take longer to accumulate the fat, which is why it tends to creep up on us. We won’t notice it for awhile, but then one day, we’re 10-15 lbs overweight. If we don’t take any action, that will turn to 30-40 lbs, or more over time.
So with the guys, it’s usually just a matter of teaching them how to control their portions, and then getting their butt moving. Hitting it from both directions like that usually brings great results.
For the under-eaters, it’s not quite that simple. If you’re not hitting your minimum, based on your BMR, your body puts you into “starvation” mode, and tries to preserve energy stores (fat). So even if you think you’re going to lose weight by eating less, it becomes almost impossible to burn fat for fuel.
This is the dilemma facing most women. Plenty of them are active, and eating like birds, but they can’t lose the weight. But it’s counter-intuitive for them to believe they need to eat more. They just can’t bring themselves to do it.
So the biggest problem I have isn’t getting them to exercise more. It’s getting them to believe that if they’ll just eat another 200-300 calories a day, it won’t be stored as fat, it will be used as fuel. They’ll just burn it, and they’ll feel a lot better too.
Sometimes it takes weeks before they’ll get on board with this idea, but once they do, they always start losing weight immediately. I’ve had women resist this for 10 weeks, but after seeing the others do it and get results, they finally give in, and that will be the first week they lose two pounds.
Even if they’re not hungry, and often they aren’t, they need to try to get to that minimum by eating breakfast, even if it’s not a full breakfast. Small snacks can also help get them there.
Over the years, we’ve found that the average women will lose weight successfully on three 400 calorie meals, and two to three healthy 150 calorie snacks totaling 1,500-1,650 calories/day. Guys tend to be successful with three 500-600 calorie meals, and two to three 300 calorie snacks totaling 2,100-2,400 calories. The trick is to experiment and see what works best for you. Just remember never to go below your minimum.
As for how little you can eat, I’ve seen some extremely strong willed participants over the years stay with 1,200 or 1,800 calories, but most people find that hard to stick with. It seems to work better for people to stay a few hundred calories above it, especially if you’re active.
Keep in mind, I’m not a nutritionist. These are just basic guidelines that we’ve seen work for lots of other people in the Biggest Loser programs. You should check with your doctor and a real nutritionist for more information, or if you have special concerns that need to be addressed.
Next week, we’ll be talking about the quality of food, and how your body uses different foods. I’ll also give you some sample meals that have worked well for Biggest Losers in the past.
You might be thinking that this is a lot of information about food, and where are the workouts? I understand. As a gym owner and fitness guy, you know I want to talk about exercise and working out, but that’s only part of the puzzle. You have to get the food right too.
For the workout, we ran about a half mile down the street to the park and did three rounds of jumping jacks, windmills, pushups, body squats, mountain climbers, and lunges, 10 reps each. After jogging back to the gym, they added sit-ups, and learned a new crunch routine. This week, they’ve been focusing on the machines. Next week we’ll add some free weights!
The winner for Week One was Shelly Borchers who lost an amazing 9.4 lbs and 4.9% of her body weight. Jeremy Whitaker took second place, losing 9.6 lbs and 4.7% of his body weight. Tracy Whitaker was third, losing 5.0 lbs and 3.3%.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), ladies should never go below 1,200 calories/day, and guys should never go below 1,800. This is without regard to activity level, meaning it’s what they’d need and burn, even if they were in a coma. If they’re active on top of that, they’d need even more calories.
It’s pretty common for women to eat less than their minimum, but many have a hard time even getting to 1,000 calories/day. Experience proves that 9 out of 10 won’t be hitting their minimum. Guys tend to be overeaters, so it tends to swing the other way, with 9 out of 10 getting more than they need. This is certainly the case with me. It’s easy for me to overeat.
Let’s start with the guys. It’s easy to get in a scenario where you can be 500 calories over for the day due to overeating, inactivity, or both. Since a pound of fat is roughly equivalent to 3,500 calories, it just takes 7 days being 500 calories over and you’re a pound heavier.
If you’re only a little over, it can take longer to accumulate the fat, which is why it tends to creep up on us. We won’t notice it for awhile, but then one day, we’re 10-15 lbs overweight. If we don’t take any action, that will turn to 30-40 lbs, or more over time.
So with the guys, it’s usually just a matter of teaching them how to control their portions, and then getting their butt moving. Hitting it from both directions like that usually brings great results.
For the under-eaters, it’s not quite that simple. If you’re not hitting your minimum, based on your BMR, your body puts you into “starvation” mode, and tries to preserve energy stores (fat). So even if you think you’re going to lose weight by eating less, it becomes almost impossible to burn fat for fuel.
This is the dilemma facing most women. Plenty of them are active, and eating like birds, but they can’t lose the weight. But it’s counter-intuitive for them to believe they need to eat more. They just can’t bring themselves to do it.
So the biggest problem I have isn’t getting them to exercise more. It’s getting them to believe that if they’ll just eat another 200-300 calories a day, it won’t be stored as fat, it will be used as fuel. They’ll just burn it, and they’ll feel a lot better too.
Sometimes it takes weeks before they’ll get on board with this idea, but once they do, they always start losing weight immediately. I’ve had women resist this for 10 weeks, but after seeing the others do it and get results, they finally give in, and that will be the first week they lose two pounds.
Even if they’re not hungry, and often they aren’t, they need to try to get to that minimum by eating breakfast, even if it’s not a full breakfast. Small snacks can also help get them there.
Over the years, we’ve found that the average women will lose weight successfully on three 400 calorie meals, and two to three healthy 150 calorie snacks totaling 1,500-1,650 calories/day. Guys tend to be successful with three 500-600 calorie meals, and two to three 300 calorie snacks totaling 2,100-2,400 calories. The trick is to experiment and see what works best for you. Just remember never to go below your minimum.
As for how little you can eat, I’ve seen some extremely strong willed participants over the years stay with 1,200 or 1,800 calories, but most people find that hard to stick with. It seems to work better for people to stay a few hundred calories above it, especially if you’re active.
Keep in mind, I’m not a nutritionist. These are just basic guidelines that we’ve seen work for lots of other people in the Biggest Loser programs. You should check with your doctor and a real nutritionist for more information, or if you have special concerns that need to be addressed.
Next week, we’ll be talking about the quality of food, and how your body uses different foods. I’ll also give you some sample meals that have worked well for Biggest Losers in the past.
You might be thinking that this is a lot of information about food, and where are the workouts? I understand. As a gym owner and fitness guy, you know I want to talk about exercise and working out, but that’s only part of the puzzle. You have to get the food right too.
For the workout, we ran about a half mile down the street to the park and did three rounds of jumping jacks, windmills, pushups, body squats, mountain climbers, and lunges, 10 reps each. After jogging back to the gym, they added sit-ups, and learned a new crunch routine. This week, they’ve been focusing on the machines. Next week we’ll add some free weights!
The winner for Week One was Shelly Borchers who lost an amazing 9.4 lbs and 4.9% of her body weight. Jeremy Whitaker took second place, losing 9.6 lbs and 4.7% of his body weight. Tracy Whitaker was third, losing 5.0 lbs and 3.3%.
For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Saturday, September 21, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- FIRST DAY
Biggest Loser “18” met together for the first time Monday night with 24 participants. It was exciting for me, as we haven’t had a Biggest Loser group since last fall. Over the last few years, we’ve done 17 other groups, so after a nine month break, I was ready to go.
It’s always pretty chaotic on the first night. It takes a little time to teach them how to use the scale and get weighed in. Not that the scale’s difficult, but there are a lot of variables it measures. I’ll have more on that later.
While people were weighing in, we had the rest of them getting their basic measurements: R & L arm, Chest, Stomach, Hips, R & L thigh, and R & L calf. They’ll do this again at the end of each month, so they’ll have four different measurements to compare along the way.
This will be especially important at times when they don’t necessarily see it on the scale. That way they can still have confidence that good things are happening, even if they’re in a weight loss plateau. Over time, the total inches they’ll lose will be amazing.
Once we got the group weighed in, we talked a little bit about how to interpret the results from the scale. First of all, no one should be totally devastated by their numbers.
Many people avoid the scale when they’re overweight, and this can be a rude awakening. That’s good, actually, because sometimes we have to reach a level of disgust with the current situation before we’re willing to do what’s necessary to make some changes.
Even so, it’s just a starting point. You need to know where you are, so you can see if you’re making progress. Besides, I never trust any one or two weigh-ins anyway. It’s the trend over time that matters.
We’ll have the following measures each week: weight, body fat %, body water %, muscle mass, their BMR (basal metabolic rate), metabolic age, bone mass, and visceral (belly) fat.
Body fat % is important for a couple of reasons. Weight loss without a corresponding drop in body fat, means you’re losing muscle mass. That’s not how we want to do this. For every pound you lose, you should see a .25 to .5 reduction in body fat. The body fat % is also very accurate in predicting the risk of things like diabetes and high blood pressure due to obesity.
Knowing the body water % is also important to see if they are fully hydrated. This is critical, because hydration has a big effect on measured body fat % and muscle mass, so you’ll know whether you can trust the numbers. It also has a lot to do with how you feel, and how well your body is working.
I love the fact that they can get their personal BMR (basal metabolic rate) directly from the scale. This will tell them exactly how many calories they need each day as a minimum. We’ll set a daily target goal a little above that, so they feel full, but still will be well set up for weight loss.
Metabolic age and visceral fat readings are also pretty big wake up calls. No one wants to have a body that’s older than they are! As for the belly fat, that’s directly correlated with their risk of heart disease.
We did several fitness tests: 1 minute of push-ups, 1 minute of sit-ups, 1 minute of body squats, 1 minute of burpees, and 1 minute of mountain-climbers. As homework assignments, they also have to complete a 1 mile walk/run and post their scores to Facebook.
They got their calorie log to start recording their daily calories, and have to turn in several days worth next Monday night. This will let them know if they’re hitting their minimum, and also get us set up to start talking about the quality of what they’re eating.
Finally, they got their workout assignments for the week: Walk 20 minutes every morning, and get a more intense, longer workout in later in the day. Three days a week, they’ll focus on weights, and three days a week, they’ll focus on cardio oriented workouts.
I’ll be posting their suggested workouts on Facebook each day. Next week, I’ll give you more information, in case you want to follow along on your own. We’ll also have the results from Week One, which are always pretty exciting!
There’s still time to get involved in this community-wide program! For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
It’s always pretty chaotic on the first night. It takes a little time to teach them how to use the scale and get weighed in. Not that the scale’s difficult, but there are a lot of variables it measures. I’ll have more on that later.
While people were weighing in, we had the rest of them getting their basic measurements: R & L arm, Chest, Stomach, Hips, R & L thigh, and R & L calf. They’ll do this again at the end of each month, so they’ll have four different measurements to compare along the way.
This will be especially important at times when they don’t necessarily see it on the scale. That way they can still have confidence that good things are happening, even if they’re in a weight loss plateau. Over time, the total inches they’ll lose will be amazing.
Once we got the group weighed in, we talked a little bit about how to interpret the results from the scale. First of all, no one should be totally devastated by their numbers.
Many people avoid the scale when they’re overweight, and this can be a rude awakening. That’s good, actually, because sometimes we have to reach a level of disgust with the current situation before we’re willing to do what’s necessary to make some changes.
Even so, it’s just a starting point. You need to know where you are, so you can see if you’re making progress. Besides, I never trust any one or two weigh-ins anyway. It’s the trend over time that matters.
We’ll have the following measures each week: weight, body fat %, body water %, muscle mass, their BMR (basal metabolic rate), metabolic age, bone mass, and visceral (belly) fat.
Body fat % is important for a couple of reasons. Weight loss without a corresponding drop in body fat, means you’re losing muscle mass. That’s not how we want to do this. For every pound you lose, you should see a .25 to .5 reduction in body fat. The body fat % is also very accurate in predicting the risk of things like diabetes and high blood pressure due to obesity.
Knowing the body water % is also important to see if they are fully hydrated. This is critical, because hydration has a big effect on measured body fat % and muscle mass, so you’ll know whether you can trust the numbers. It also has a lot to do with how you feel, and how well your body is working.
I love the fact that they can get their personal BMR (basal metabolic rate) directly from the scale. This will tell them exactly how many calories they need each day as a minimum. We’ll set a daily target goal a little above that, so they feel full, but still will be well set up for weight loss.
Metabolic age and visceral fat readings are also pretty big wake up calls. No one wants to have a body that’s older than they are! As for the belly fat, that’s directly correlated with their risk of heart disease.
We did several fitness tests: 1 minute of push-ups, 1 minute of sit-ups, 1 minute of body squats, 1 minute of burpees, and 1 minute of mountain-climbers. As homework assignments, they also have to complete a 1 mile walk/run and post their scores to Facebook.
They got their calorie log to start recording their daily calories, and have to turn in several days worth next Monday night. This will let them know if they’re hitting their minimum, and also get us set up to start talking about the quality of what they’re eating.
Finally, they got their workout assignments for the week: Walk 20 minutes every morning, and get a more intense, longer workout in later in the day. Three days a week, they’ll focus on weights, and three days a week, they’ll focus on cardio oriented workouts.
I’ll be posting their suggested workouts on Facebook each day. Next week, I’ll give you more information, in case you want to follow along on your own. We’ll also have the results from Week One, which are always pretty exciting!
There’s still time to get involved in this community-wide program! For more information, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18" -- PREVIEW
This week I thought I’d tell you a little bit about what to expect in Biggest Loser “18” which starts a week from Monday on Sept. 16th. For those of you that won’t be able to participate, I’m going to use this column to give you the full rundown each week, so you can follow along on your own if you like!
The first thing we’re going to do is weigh-in. Most people know they need to lose weight, but it’s often a wake up call. For sure, some of them will have been avoiding the scale, which I understand, but that’s really the wrong approach.
That’s like knowing you’re overdrawn at the bank, so you just don’t open your statements. Or knowing you can’t pay all your bills, so you just let them pile up unopened. How can you fix something if you don’t know how badly it’s broken? You need the truth, so it can set you free.
It gives you a starting point, so you know where you need to go. It also lets you know how bad things are from a risk standpoint. Being overweight can cause some problems, but being obese can kill you.
So we’ll weigh-in, and then also do their body fat percentage, along with several other measurements, including using an actual tape measure. I’m also going to encourage them to take a “before” picture from both the front, and the side, in skimpy clothing (sports bra & shorts, or just shorts for the guys). That will give them something to compare to in a month, two months, and at the end of the 12 weeks.
Then we’re going to do several fitness assessments, including a sit & reach test, a minute of push-ups, a minute of sit-ups, a minute of body squats, a minute of burpees, and finally, a 1 mile walk/run! Then, at the end of the 12 weeks, we’ll do them again, and they’ll be amazed at how much they’ve improved in most of the categories.
We’ll go over the basic game plan, which is always to get moving, and keep moving. They more they move, they more they’ll lose. It’s that simple. They’ll also get some examples of simple meal plans that have worked well for people in the past, and learn what workouts to do during the first week.
Then every week after the weigh-in, we’ll talk about something different about food, and then I’ll kick their butts with a new workout for the week. The goal there, will be to keep increasing the level of intensity each week, so they can burn more calories each time.
I’ll also encourage them to do a separate, second workout, usually first thing in the morning. This can be as simple as walking for 20 minutes (a mile), or riding the exercise bike. It doesn’t have to be hard. It just gets them moving, and will be the difference in losing more weight.
The most we’ve seen in twelve weeks was 60 lbs, on two different occasions, and several others have lost in the 40’s and 50’s. They were killing it though. The vast majority of people tend to fall somewhere between 15 and 25 lbs, which is still pretty good, don’t you think?
In the end, it’s always up to you, how well you do. But if this sounds like something that might be good for you, I’d love to see you this time in Biggest Loser “18.”
For more information about getting involved in this community-wide program, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
The first thing we’re going to do is weigh-in. Most people know they need to lose weight, but it’s often a wake up call. For sure, some of them will have been avoiding the scale, which I understand, but that’s really the wrong approach.
That’s like knowing you’re overdrawn at the bank, so you just don’t open your statements. Or knowing you can’t pay all your bills, so you just let them pile up unopened. How can you fix something if you don’t know how badly it’s broken? You need the truth, so it can set you free.
It gives you a starting point, so you know where you need to go. It also lets you know how bad things are from a risk standpoint. Being overweight can cause some problems, but being obese can kill you.
So we’ll weigh-in, and then also do their body fat percentage, along with several other measurements, including using an actual tape measure. I’m also going to encourage them to take a “before” picture from both the front, and the side, in skimpy clothing (sports bra & shorts, or just shorts for the guys). That will give them something to compare to in a month, two months, and at the end of the 12 weeks.
Then we’re going to do several fitness assessments, including a sit & reach test, a minute of push-ups, a minute of sit-ups, a minute of body squats, a minute of burpees, and finally, a 1 mile walk/run! Then, at the end of the 12 weeks, we’ll do them again, and they’ll be amazed at how much they’ve improved in most of the categories.
We’ll go over the basic game plan, which is always to get moving, and keep moving. They more they move, they more they’ll lose. It’s that simple. They’ll also get some examples of simple meal plans that have worked well for people in the past, and learn what workouts to do during the first week.
Then every week after the weigh-in, we’ll talk about something different about food, and then I’ll kick their butts with a new workout for the week. The goal there, will be to keep increasing the level of intensity each week, so they can burn more calories each time.
I’ll also encourage them to do a separate, second workout, usually first thing in the morning. This can be as simple as walking for 20 minutes (a mile), or riding the exercise bike. It doesn’t have to be hard. It just gets them moving, and will be the difference in losing more weight.
The most we’ve seen in twelve weeks was 60 lbs, on two different occasions, and several others have lost in the 40’s and 50’s. They were killing it though. The vast majority of people tend to fall somewhere between 15 and 25 lbs, which is still pretty good, don’t you think?
In the end, it’s always up to you, how well you do. But if this sounds like something that might be good for you, I’d love to see you this time in Biggest Loser “18.”
For more information about getting involved in this community-wide program, you can reach me at the gym, email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Friday, August 30, 2013
BIGGEST LOSER "18"
“Just what exactly do I have to do to lose weight?” I got this question yesterday from someone that I’ve been working with once a week for over a year. She went on to say, “I’m working out a lot, so what do I have to do?”
Now this is someone who works out hard whenever I see her, and she also has some nice equipment at home. She already had an elliptical and treadmill, and after she started training with me, she added dumbbells, an exercise ball, a rower, and a Schwinn AirDyne bike.
I told her I was afraid she wasn’t going to like the answers, and that she probably already knew them! First, she was simply going to have to do more. While her workouts were great, her body was used to them, and she’d have to add some activity to burn more calories.
She was also going to have to pay much closer attention to what she was eating. She sighed as she began her next round of exercises and said, “I know.”
I probably have a similar conversation at least every other day. We always tend to underestimate how much exercise we need to take off extra weight, and how quickly we can put the weight back on, if we get our eating out of whack.
Most people know what they need to do; they just need a little extra push to get there. People have been asking me for awhile now, so I think it’s time to bring back Biggest Loser “18.”
Over the past few years, we’ve done 17 other community-wide Biggest Losers. Some were small, with just twenty people, and others were huge, the largest one starting with 68 people. Now that one was interesting!
This time around we’re starting Monday, September 16th at 6:00 pm. The first meeting will consist of a fitness assessment, weigh-in and other measurements, and an overview of how the 12 weeks will work. Participants will also get information that outlines the different things they’ll be doing, some examples of good food choices, workouts, and so on.
The goal is always to get as many people involved as possible, especially couples, or friends. We’ve found that people tend to do better if they have someone else to suffer with! It also helps keep them both motivated and accountable.
The cost is $100 for the 12 weeks (13 sessions) and you don’t need to be a member to participate. In fact, many of the participants will have memberships at other facilities like the YMCA, elsewhere, or even do their workouts at home. It’s pretty important that you have access to equipment, though, because we’re going to be using it!
If you’d like to participate, or need more information, contact me as soon as possible, because with or without you, we’re getting this party started! Might as well make it with you! You can reach me at the gym, via email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
Now this is someone who works out hard whenever I see her, and she also has some nice equipment at home. She already had an elliptical and treadmill, and after she started training with me, she added dumbbells, an exercise ball, a rower, and a Schwinn AirDyne bike.
I told her I was afraid she wasn’t going to like the answers, and that she probably already knew them! First, she was simply going to have to do more. While her workouts were great, her body was used to them, and she’d have to add some activity to burn more calories.
She was also going to have to pay much closer attention to what she was eating. She sighed as she began her next round of exercises and said, “I know.”
I probably have a similar conversation at least every other day. We always tend to underestimate how much exercise we need to take off extra weight, and how quickly we can put the weight back on, if we get our eating out of whack.
Most people know what they need to do; they just need a little extra push to get there. People have been asking me for awhile now, so I think it’s time to bring back Biggest Loser “18.”
Over the past few years, we’ve done 17 other community-wide Biggest Losers. Some were small, with just twenty people, and others were huge, the largest one starting with 68 people. Now that one was interesting!
This time around we’re starting Monday, September 16th at 6:00 pm. The first meeting will consist of a fitness assessment, weigh-in and other measurements, and an overview of how the 12 weeks will work. Participants will also get information that outlines the different things they’ll be doing, some examples of good food choices, workouts, and so on.
The goal is always to get as many people involved as possible, especially couples, or friends. We’ve found that people tend to do better if they have someone else to suffer with! It also helps keep them both motivated and accountable.
The cost is $100 for the 12 weeks (13 sessions) and you don’t need to be a member to participate. In fact, many of the participants will have memberships at other facilities like the YMCA, elsewhere, or even do their workouts at home. It’s pretty important that you have access to equipment, though, because we’re going to be using it!
If you’d like to participate, or need more information, contact me as soon as possible, because with or without you, we’re getting this party started! Might as well make it with you! You can reach me at the gym, via email at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook/tomdolanfitness!
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