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!