BIGGEST LOSER "14" -- WEEK TWO

Even though it’s getting colder outside, we turned up the heat on the participants again this week. The goal is to get them doing more work, with more intensity each week. I call it learning how to exercise smart. This week, they did 2 minute cardio intervals followed by 2 minutes of weight training on the machines, back and forth!

The more exercise they can do, the more calories they’ll be burning. And the more calories they can burn, the more impact it will have on their body. But just losing weight doesn’t always mean you’re losing the right kind of weight.

That’s why we look at the following physical parameters when they weigh each week: Weight, Body Fat %, Body Water %, Muscle Mass, Physique Rating, BMR, Metabolic Age, Bone Mass, and Visceral Fat.

The first one is obvious: Weight. This should drop at least a pound each week. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week which is achievable and sustainable.

It’s fine to lose more weight than that, as long as it’s fat loss. Many of our contestants will lose more than that. On TV they lose incredible amounts of weight, but you have to remember a few things. They live on a ranch. Losing weight is their job—and their only job. They don’t have to take care of kids or run errands. So even though it’s “reality TV”, it’s not real life.

After doing this for quite awhile, I’ve come to believe that losing a pound a week is good; two pounds a week is great; and three or more pounds a week is fantastic. In the end, it comes down to how much work you’re willing to do.

The second parameter, and perhaps the more important one, is Body Fat %. This is the amount of fat we have, compared to our total weight. We carry a lot more fat around than we think. Believe me, I know.

If a man weighs 167.6 lbs with 9.3% body fat, roughly 15.6 lbs is fat. That means about 144.4 lbs is lean Muscle Mass, with about 7.6 lbs in Bone Mass. Healthy bone mass in guys ranges from 5.9 to 8.1 lbs based on your size. For women, it ranges from 4.3 lbs to 6.5 lbs.   

Now if that same guy weighed in at 194.4 lbs, with 17.0% body fat, that means 33 lbs of his weight would be fat (more than double), with 153.8 lbs as lean muscle, and the same 7.6 lbs of bone mass.

It’s good to have a little more muscle mass but twice the fat, it’s just not worth it. Like I said, I know. Even though I was in pretty good shape and carried it reasonably well, that heavier, twice-as-fat guy was me five months ago! My new goal now is to keep the weight and fat down and add perhaps 5 lbs of muscle mass.

People with 30% or 40% fat have greatly increased risk of heart disease and type II diabetes. As they become inactive, they start losing muscle mass. When they consume more calories than they burn, they store it as fat, so their fat weight increases. That’s why it’s so important to keep moving!

Our Week Two winner was Stacy Reed, who lost 3.0% of her body weight and 8.8 lbs. Michelle Clark placed second, losing 2.0% and 3.2 lbs. Jennifer Bell was third, losing 1.9% and 3.8 lbs. Fourth place went to Kara Englum who lost 1.7% and 2.8 lbs. Jennifer Bowers and Shirley Fiscus tied for fifth, losing 1.6% of their body weight. Jennifer lost 4.2 lbs and Shirley lost 3.4 lbs.

Next week I’ll cover the other physical parameters we look at: Body Water %, Physique Rating, Metabolic Age, and Visceral Fat. Don’t forget, if you have any questions about fitness or working out, please feel free to contact me at Tom’s Fitness on Facebook.

BIGGEST LOSER "14" -- WEEK ONE

I had a chance to participate in the Paris YMCA/Shawna Morrison Memorial 5K Walk/Run (3.1 mi) this past weekend. It’s always great seeing so many people from the community getting together for this event.

People have different reasons for participating. Some do it for the exercise. Some do it for the competition, whether it’s with others or just themselves as they try for a personal best. Many of us do it in memory of Shawna. I also think that many do it just to have a good time.

There were a couple things that stood out to me this year. The first was seeing the younger kids running. Three miles is quite a long way when you’re smaller like that.

Several obviously had a gift for running, but one girl in particular really impressed me. She didn’t have the typical “runners” body, but I happened to watch her finish, and she was really pushing herself. If these kids can find a way to keep this up, they’ll have a life of health and fitness ahead of them!

That’s why our Biggest Losers always have to do their own 5K before the end of their 12 weeks. They should get to where they’re doing several 5K’s a week, but it’s always different when you do it in a race environment. The one they’ll be doing is in Marshall, IL on Saturday, November 19^th. I hope you’ll join us!

This week, after a ½ mile walk/run to get warmed up, the group had their first workout. The goal was to throw an assortment of things at them and keep them moving for 20 minutes.

Here’s what they did: pushups, body squats, sit-ups, jumping jacks, running in place, burpees, baby walks, crab walks, jumping squats, jumps across the room, walking lunges, jumping lunges, an assortment of crunches, crunches on the ball, knee-ins on the ball, pushups on the ball, and sumo wrestling with a partner and a ball! The 20 minutes passes pretty quickly when you do all those things.

Our Week One winner was Shirley Fiscus, who lost 6.8 lbs and 3.2% of her body weight. Karen Wolfe, Karen Brown and Nicole Clodfelter were tied for second, losing 2.6% of their body weight. That translated into 4.4 lbs for Karen Wolfe, 6.8 lbs for Karen Brown, and an amazing 7.0 lbs for Nicole. Sande Sherer and Vince Porter were tied for third, losing 2.5% of their body weight, and 4.8 lbs and 6.2 lbs respectively.    

Next week we’ll have the results from Week Two, plus I want to tell you about those new fitness parameters we’re using for the participants. Don’t forget, if you have any questions about fitness or working out, please feel free to contact me at “Tom’s Fitness” on Facebook.

BIGGEST LOSER "14" -- FIRST NIGHT!

After quite a layoff, we finally got another group going last Monday night. It’s always an exciting time for me, but I could tell that some of them were a little nervous.

That initial weigh-in causes so much apprehension, but it’s such a powerful tool for the participants. You can “want-to”, know you “need-to”, but when you see that number pop up on the scale, it gives you a pretty good “have-to.”

This is where your initial motivation comes from. It almost makes you sick to think of it, but when you realize how much you weigh compared to what you should weigh, it gets your attention. And when you see how much of your body weight is fat, it really starts to sink in.

Many people haven’t weighed in for a long time, but avoiding the issue doesn’t help you deal with it. Once you know you have a problem, and have made a decision to start doing something, that’s when change can occur. This holds true for a lot of problems, including being obese or just overweight. That’s where we were Monday night.

About half of the 25 had already done Biggest Loser at least once, and a few had done it several times. The most consistent thing I heard was that they’d put a lot of the weight back on. To a person, they all said that they’d just quit working out and watching what they ate.

I told them not to worry about it, because that was the past and this was their chance to get a new start. One advantage they’ll have is that they pretty much know what to do and how to do it. They just need structure and accountability. We’re going to give them plenty of that!

We took a beginning measure for weight, body fat%, body water%, muscle mass, physique rating, their basal metabolic rate (BMR), metabolic age, bone mass, and visceral fat (around their internal organs). We’re going to track all those variables each week and it’ll give us an even better idea of how their body is changing. Next week I’ll cover them in detail for you.

They also took tape measurements of their arm, chest, stomach, butt, and thigh. I also encouraged them to take a couple of pictures wearing shorts and sports bra (gals). Sometimes it’s hard to see the changes when you’re losing weight, and a couple front and side view pictures every month will help keep you motivated.

After the preliminary measures and an introduction, it was time for the physical testing. Everyone did a 1-minute pushup test, a 1-minute sit-up test, a 1-minute body squat test, and then finished with a 1-mile walk/run as fast as they could. At the end of the 12 weeks, we’ll do them again, and they’ll be astonished how much they’ll have improved.

Their goal this week was to fill out and return a daily calorie log next Monday night, and to get their workouts going. They’re supposed to hit the weight circuit three days (M, W, F), and do a cardio workout on the alternating days (T, TH, SA).

They were also given a new secret weapon—a second workout each day! As simple as just getting out and walking a mile first thing in the morning, this second workout will really make a difference in their calorie burning.
  
Next week we’ll have the results from Week One. It’s not too late for you to participate either, but you’ve got to let me know right away! Feel free to contact me on Facebook at Tom’s Fitness.

My Weight Loss Story

It’s been awhile since I’ve written “Bodies-in-Balance. Last spring, I took some time off to recharge because I kind of felt like I’d been running out of things to say. I also wanted the time to take care of a couple of other things, one of which was quite a surprise.

Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time helping others lose weight and get in shape, and I’ve always been pretty active myself. Somehow, I took my eye off the ball personally.

I’d been kidding myself that I was “bulking up.” My clothing covered it pretty well, and I was still pretty active, but when the shirt came off, my abs had come up missing and I was getting those “handles” on the sides. Kathy tells me she knew that, but she didn’t want to embarrass me. Great.

The final straw came when preparing for the Illini Half-Marathon last spring. It was just harder running those longer distances. In fact, I was surprised at how much harder it had gotten. I went back and checked my records from a couple years ago, and it turns out that I was carrying an extra 25 lbs of fat. No wonder it was harder!

After the race, I decided to do something about it. I was supposed to be the “fitness guy” with all the answers, so this should be easy, right? It wasn’t—at least at the start. I decided right away to get some extra workouts going (I call these “bonus” workouts).

For me, my “bonus” workout was the exercise bike at night for an hour, watching the news shows I’d recorded, or a morning walk for 2 or even 3 miles. Sometimes I did both. I also turned it up in the gym with more intensity, more variety, and longer workouts.

On the weekend, I’d ride the bike for 2 hours, or go and do a 3-4 mi run followed by an hour on the bike. Sometimes I even got in a third workout, if I had a chance. That fat just doesn’t come off by itself—you’ve got to burn it off!

The other big thing I changed was watching my portions, and getting off the cookies and chips. It was amazing how much I’d been overeating. I started eating sandwiches on 1 piece of bread, instead of two. I also started eating more rye bread.

I cut down to a low fat yogurt, and cut my ice tea consumption way back too. Occasionally, I’d have a treat like a donut, or chips, but basically, I watched it pretty closely for 3 months.

Little by little, it started coming off—at first, just a half pound a week. Then it went to two pounds, three pounds, and a couple times, even four pounds a week.

Before the race, my weight was 194.4 lbs and 17.0% fat. By the end of July, I was down to 174.2 lbs and 12.0%. At last look, I was 169.2 lbs and 9.9% fat. Man, I feel better. It’s so much easier to move and I found my abs too.

Going through this experience myself made me realize we needed to bring back the Biggest Loser program so we can help others get back on track, too. As a result, “Biggest Loser 14” starts Monday, September 19th. We’ll meet from 6-7 pm for 12 weeks (13 sessions).

This is the first time for Monday nights. Hopefully, it will give people a chance to get their week off to a great start. Participants don’t have to be members, but they probably should have a fitness membership somewhere, or at the least, access to equipment at home.

Feel free to email me with questions at tomdolanfitness@gmail.com . I’m looking forward to getting back in the saddle with “Biggest Loser 14” and with the article too!

A LOT OF HEART--PART 2

Last week I told you about Dad’s adventure that ended with him getting a pacemaker. This week I’d like to talk about the rehab involved. As a healthy, fit 87 year old, the pacemaker basically solved the problem.

Even as they wheeled him back to his room, his heart was beating a steady, unchanging 60 beats per minute. Even though that might be pretty low for most folks, I can’t remember the time his heart rate was that high.

Pacemaker recipients have to be pretty careful of their arm for awhile. Since they put it on the left side, Dad had to wear a sling to keep his left arm immobilized for 48 hours.

The reason is there are little leads running from the pacemaker to his heart, and they want to be sure that the leads have time to become fully attached. If he should lift his arms over his head, or forcefully contract his chest muscles, the leads could be pulled out which would cause quite a problem.

Since he needs the pacemaker to generate a decent heart rate, it could cause the same problem he had before (extremely low heart rate) that resulted in him blacking out when his heart stopped. Obviously, he’d have to be rushed back into surgery if that happened.

Those were compelling enough reasons to cause Dad to agree to take it easy for awhile. He can’t lift weights for 6 weeks to be on the safe side. He was allowed to start walking right away, but it was about 3 days before he really did any walking of substance.

Since Dad needed 24 hour care, he checked into a nursing home for a week or so to be sure he’d have help around. The first few days he needed help getting his shirts on, which was kind of tricky. By the end of the week, though, he was doing it on his own.

He also didn’t need any support while getting up and moving around, although he still needed some help getting cleaned up. The area around the pacemaker can’t get wet for awhile, so right now, sponge baths are in order.

At 7 days, he was feeling pretty good, but was complaining about a little dizziness when he got up out of bed, or out of a chair. They pulled him off his high blood pressure medication, thinking that now he didn’t need it. They were probably right, because the problem seemed to go away.

He’ll have his first visit with his cardiologist since being discharged from the hospital, later this week, and probably move back home after that. At that point, we’ll check on him from time to time, but all indications are that this heart will allow him to return to a pretty normal lifestyle. He’s amazed.

He told us when he was a teenager, he’d gotten burned and spent time in the hospital. “It was $15/day and no way could they do what they did.” He figures they saved his life and now, he gets to “keep on ticking.”

A LOT OF HEART

I was planning on writing this article over the weekend like I usually do, but something came up. Actually it went down. We got the call from the E.R. nurse at Paris Community Hospital Friday night around 11:00 pm. They said that Dad had passed out and hit the floor at Wal-Mart and now he was out at the E.R.

He’d hit his head, which produced a healthy bump that required 2 staples, so they were doing a CAT scan to make sure there wasn’t any internal bleeding. The real worry though, was the fact that he blacked out, which caused the fall.

Now Dad’s heart rate is exceptionally low, especially for an 87 year old. But that night, it hit a new low. I watched the monitor hover around 45-46 beats per minute, and once it dipped as low as 43 bpm! They kept him overnight for observation and after further testing, transferred him over to Union Hospital in Terre Haute so he could be seen by a cardiologist.

This wasn’t the first time he’d fallen. About three months ago, he fell out of his kitchen chair, cracking three ribs and bruising the side of his head. After getting checked out at the doctor, since everything was O.K., everyone concluded that he’d just fallen asleep.

This had actually happened before, about 14 months ago (without the broken ribs and black eye). Dad takes naps in the chair with his feet up, and everyone figured he’d just fallen out of the chair.

So when it happened again, after making sure he was O.K., we tried to address the problem by having him keep his feet down. We also got a different kitchen chair that had sides for the arms, thinking it would be more secure.

Then in church about 6 weeks ago, he kind of slumped and listed sideways in the pews. Since he’d often take little naps, it didn’t seem that unusual. A nurse was behind us, and he was alert right away so we all concluded that again, he’d simply fallen asleep.

Looking back, we should have taken him in to be checked out then. He’d been treated for lower leg swelling 2 years ago, and his cardiologist put him on a water pill to help reduce the swelling. At the time, they noticed that his resting heart rate was really low and said that if it got any lower, it could be dangerous, and he’d have to be treated for it.

Somehow, all of us missed it—even the health care professionals. But this time, everyone realized that it had gotten serious.

Once he got over to Union, he had several more episodes that night. When his heart stopped again for 6 seconds (and he passed out), they were watching. Then it happened again for 11 seconds.

The final time it happened that night, he was out for 19 seconds without a heart beat. Of course they were monitoring everything and ready to step in if he needed help, but the evidence was conclusive—he needed a pacemaker.

The next morning, he was scheduled to be third in line for surgery, but after those episodes, the cardiologist moved him to the front of the line. In just over an hour and a half, he was out of surgery with a strong heartbeat locked in at 60 bpm!

Dad was a little tired, but feeling pretty good, and in amazing spirits. His doctor said that this should fix the problem. He had a strong heart—it just needed a little help initiating the cycle.

We were grateful for all the great help he had out at Wal-Mart with Edgar County Special Service Ambulance, at Paris Community Hospital and then over at Union Hospital. We were also thankful to God for looking out for him.

For six weeks, he’ll have to be pretty careful moving the arm, so the tiny electric leads have time to become permanently attached to his heart. But in a week, he’ll be able to start walking and riding the exercise bicycle again.

Dad was pretty disappointed when he found out he had to put his weight training on hold for six weeks. We figure we’re going to have to strap him down for the duration. He’s got a lot of heart!

A NEW YEAR, A NEW YOU--PART 5 (LASTING CHANGE)

Since Monday was the January 31st, I thought perhaps we could squeeze one more article out of this series before we can’t call it a new year anymore. Technically, we were still in January so it works for me.

Anyway, we’ve talked about how to start the year off right by setting goals, finding things that work for you, and doing things you like. All of these things will help you get what you really want: lasting results.

This is probably even more important than the initial changes themselves. Here’s why. I’ll bet you’ve heard of the yo-yo syndrome. This is where people take the weight off, and then put it right back on.

Going back in forth with your weight is extremely common. Most of us have probably experienced it ourselves. I see it all the time here at the center, and even have to deal with it myself.

What happens is that we get focused so strongly to achieve the goal, that once we get there, we relax just a little bit and maybe even celebrate it. We’ve arrived. It doesn’t even take a big let-down, just a little lowering of our vigilance, and before we know it, we’re sitting there in a cloud of dust, wondering what happened.

Somehow, we tend to think that it won’t happen to us. But it does, and it will. It’s even biblical. There’s a verse I used to quote to friends when they’d say they had it all together. “They that think they stand, beware, lest they fall.”

I wasn’t trying to be a wise guy or high and mighty—I just knew what the verse said, and thought it made sense—for them. That was all well and good until I looked around and found myself in my own cloud of dust, just 7 days from divorce.

What happened is that I’d gotten a little bit too cocky. I guess I thought that it wouldn’t happen to me. But it did. So now I quote the verse to myself.

Once you’ve fallen, you have a decision to make. You can surrender or get back up and start walking again. Sometimes getting knocked around a little bit actually makes you wiser.

Perhaps you can identify why you fell. What things contributed to your fall? What were you thinking? Why did you make those decisions?

Once you’ve figured it out, you can start to put your life back together. You can also use this information to help you keep from doing the same things again that got you there.

For people trying to take off those same 10-20 pounds again, it’s both hard and easy. It’s hard because you have to start over, but it’s easy because you know what to do.

Actually, it applies to people trying to take off the same 50 pounds, or even 100 lbs. I’ve seen people put that much back on again.

What we have to do is maintain our discipline and our vigilance. We need to do the things we know we’re supposed to do—and not do the things we know we’re not supposed to do.

Have reasons why it’s important to you. Stay watchful, especially when you know what your weaknesses were that led to your fall. Christian marriage counselors say we need to build a hedge around things to protect them.

If it’s a marriage you need to protect, you need to build a hedge around yourself to protect you from doing something stupid. Don’t let people in that shouldn’t be there. Don’t have conversations that lead to emotional attachments with somebody else. It’s a slippery slope, and a quick fall.

If it’s your diet that’s at risk, maybe you need to build a hedge around your mouth—or your pantry. Don’t bring things home you know you shouldn’t eat. Don’t stop at places where it’s easy to mess up. Once you’ve started down that path it’s easy to keep indulging. Take smaller portions. Have other, more healthy choices available.

Some people have told me it’s laziness that keeps them from getting the exercise they need. Maybe they need to build a hedge around their time or schedule. Or arrange workouts with others to help keep them interested. Or get stuff they can do at home if it makes it more convenient.

You see, it’s not just reaching the goal and arriving, it’s staying there that really matters. It’s where we are next year that counts, the year after—and the year after that. That’s lasting change.

A NEW YEAR, A NEW YOU--PART 4 (DO WHAT YOU LIKE)

Not everybody loves working out. It’s tough for me to understand, because it’s fun for me—maybe even more than fun. I guess it stems from me not being able to workout as a kid.

Back then, my asthma was so bad, just about anything at all triggered attacks. They didn’t have much in the way of medicine back then, so the doctors were very cautious. Basically, I couldn’t do anything.

A couple years ago, I had a chance to go back to Angola and do a concert at the same church I grew up in. Afterward, they had a little get-together and I had a chance to meet many of the people that came to the event.

Amazingly, I met my old 3rd grade teacher, kindergarten teacher, and of all things—my grade school P.E. teacher! Here it was, 40 years later, and they were telling stories about me.

It really touched me when my P.E. teacher told me she’d really felt badly for me. The principal had called her in and told her not to let me participate, because the doctors said that if I’d had an attack, it could have been really bad, even fatal.

As it was, I had attacks all the time and just had to tough it out. Back then they didn’t have rescue breathers (inhalers). So I spent grade school P.E. sitting on the sidelines. The other kids thought I had a good deal, but they didn’t realize that I’d of given anything to get in there.

My parents steered me toward music lessons, and I filled up my time that way, but even into high school, I always wished I could be more physical. Once I got to college, I started working out and training in martial arts.

Asthma treatment also improved, but I still had quite a few hospital stays in my early 20’s. Still, I was getting in shape, and ended up getting my master’s degree in exercise physiology.

About seven years ago, they finally came up with medicines that prevented attacks and I didn’t need to carry inhalers anymore. So I love working out. It’s not hard for me to get to the gym. Even if I didn’t have a gym, I’d go find one.

But when I run into people that are here, but really don’t want to be, I feel for them. It can be hard work, working out—especially if you need to lose a significant amount of weight. My best advice is to try and find things that they like to do.

For example, I was just talking with a woman who didn’t like the cardio so much, but really liked doing the machines. She said, “I could do those every day.” So I suggested that perhaps she try splitting up the routines.

Typically, people will do the whole circuit three times a week. You need at least 48 hours to repair your muscles after your workouts. More intense workouts can even require as much as a week before the muscles are fully recovered.

But what she could do is do a little bit of cardio, and then split the machines up into Upper Body movements and Lower Body movements, doing those on alternating days. That way she’d have time to recover in between.

Or, she could split it up three ways: Pushing movements (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps), Pulling movements (Back, Biceps), and Lower Body movements. Then, she could do them on alternating days with a day off after two cycles through.

If you don’t like the weights so much but don’t mind the cardio (walking, jogging, elliptical, bikes, etc…), focus more on the cardio machines. Just make sure you hit a few upper body exercises to keep your arms and shoulders toned.

Some people like classes like Zumba, Step, or Kickboxing. That’s great. Whatever you like, you’ll be more likely to do it—and keep doing it. It’s the doing it that takes the weight off, but it’s the keep doing it that keeps the weight off.

Me, I’m pretty grateful and thank God everyday. I love working out and have a job that lets me do it. In fact, I’ve got to run—it’s time for my workout. I mean, I really have to run—on the treadmill. There’s one open now. See you next week.

A NEW YEAR, A NEW YOU--PART 3 (WHAT REALLY WORKS?)

Have you seen those ads with those new devices that you hold and shake, that are supposed to take the place of all those machines and exercises that you’d do in the gym. Do they work? Well, it depends. Let’s take a look at it.

Of course the model demonstrating the device in the ad is absolutely ripped, and having a great time using it. But do you think they got that way with that particular device? Most likely it was lots of hard work doing all the traditional things in the gym.

But there is actually some science behind those things. When we started sending people into space, they discovered that they came back with smaller, weaker muscles.

Subsequent research revealed it was prolonged exposure to zero gravity that caused the problem. In space, they didn’t have to work as much to maintain posture, or move around, so, their muscles started getting weaker.

When the astronauts got back to earth, they were subject to gravity again, but they had to work to build their muscles back up again. Basically, it’s the same old thing: “Use it or lose it.”

They started experimenting with ways to let the astronauts exercise in space. One thing they did was create machines that actually shook the astronauts. The vigorous shaking forced the muscles to respond to counter the movements, and so they received exercise.

This concept has worked its way into commercial gym equipment research with a vibrating platform that you stand on while doing exercises like squats. The tiny vibrations make the body unstable during the movement which initiates more muscle work to help stabilize the body. That equipment is pretty pricey and places that have it are pretty rare.

So now we can order those devices on T.V. that you hold and shake. They’re much smaller, and much less expensive, but the science behind it is similar. Basically, you’re contracting the muscles on again, and off again, a whole bunch of times to resist and reverse the movements.

So yes, the muscles are getting loaded up, and that means they’re getting exercise. But are you getting as much exercise as you would with traditional equipment and exercises? Let’s go back to the people demonstrating. Did they get that way using that thing? Probably not.

What’s at the core of this latest gimmick is the idea: “You can get results easier if you’ll just buy this product!” This is the reoccurring theme of all of these ads. If you’ll just buy this one thing, you’ll look just like this, without all that nasty hard work.

As a trainer who’s tried just about everything that’s out there, I’ve learned that almost anything will work if you work hard enough, and do it with some consistency. But nothing works as fast as most people want it to. And it’s always inconvenient and messy.

If you’re not sweating and breathing hard, it’s probably not going to be enough to get you what you want. But if it makes you sweat, breath hard, and you feel like you just got a great workout, you’re probably on your way.

If you want real results this year, here’s an idea. Make a commitment to stick. Be consistent in your efforts. Don’t make excuses—make yourself accountable. And just get started. That’s the ticket. That’s what works.

A NEW YEAR, A NEW YOU--PART 2 (S.M.A.R.T. GOALS)

Last week’s column was about taking a look at how things went in 2010 and setting some new fitness goals for this year. This week I want to take a closer look at those new goals.

Hopefully, you had a chance to write a few things down. Remember, things that get written down are much more likely to get done. You can further increase your chances of success by having what we call S.M.A.R.T. goals.

S. is for Specific. These are goals where you know exactly what you want to do. For example, you want to lose 50 lbs. That’s pretty specific. Write it down.

M. is for Motivating. This means you’ll be excited or happy when you achieve them. How would you feel if you lost 50 lbs? You’d be looking pretty good, right? That’s pretty motivating. You can also be motivated by how you’ll continue to feel if you don’t do something about it.

A. is for Achievable. An achievable goal is one that you can actually accomplish. If you want to lose 50 lbs in one month, it’s probably not very realistic for you. Losing 1-2 lbs a week is probably more achievable. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), weight loss of 1-2 lbs a week is both achievable and safe.

R. is for Relevant. The goal has to really mean something or be important to you. If it’s not very important, you’re not likely to keep working toward it. If it’s crucial to you, you’ll do whatever it takes to get it done. Ask yourself why you want to lose the 50 lbs. What will it mean to you? Why now?

T. is for Trackable. This is pretty important, because you need to track and measure your progress as you work toward achieving your goal. Getting on the scale once a week is just about right. More than that will drive you crazy with all the little ups and downs that occur. Weighing once a week will show you the trend—and that’s what’s important. It will let you know if you’re right on track, or if your train has jumped the track.

Once you have your S.M.A.R.T. goals, the main thing is to get moving. We can be more specific about how to exercise, but you just need to get moving. The other thing is to start watching what you eat. Knock out the junk. Write down your calories for awhile until you’re sure you’re eating right.

There are several good websites out there that will help you do that. A friend of mine just told me about a new phone application that will even let you track your calories on your smart phone! Go to www.myfitnesspal.com and give it a look. Or go to www.myfitnessdiary.com or www.calorieking.com .

So go set some S.M.A.R.T. goals already. Good luck getting started and I’ll see you in the gym!

A NEW YEAR, A NEW YOU!

Hard to believe, but another whole year has come and gone. It’s time to take stock of how things went for you in 2010 and start planning for 2011.

Even though the focus of this article is usually health and fitness, the same process can apply with other areas, like personal relationships, personal finance, or your work & business. Just follow the same steps.

So let’s talk about your health and fitness. You’ve got to assess the situation. How did you do this past year? How did you feel? What has your doctor said about your health? How are your clothes fitting? The first step to fixing something is to see that something needs to be fixed.

If things went great, and you’re right on track, great! Give yourself a pat on the back. And keep on doing it. If they went the wrong direction, that’s O.K. You can’t change the past—you can only change yourself and try to do better next time.

Once you realize you need to do something about it, it’s time to set some goals for yourself? It’s much more likely you’ll get something done if you write it down, tell people about it, and review your progress from time to time.

That’s why it’s useful to have a “to do list” or goal sheet. It’s a master list of things that are important enough for you to put lots of effort into it. It doesn’t have to be fancy, and not too detailed. Some people carry it in their phone or day planners. Others put it on their refrigerator or the mirror in the bathroom.

Once you have the goals, how are you going to accomplish them? You need a plan of attack. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel here. If someone’s doing something that’s working, figure out what they’re doing, and do it too.

If you want to be successful at something, it helps to hang around with successful people. Hopefully, some of that success will rub off on you! If nothing else, you’ll be inspired!

After you have a plan, you’ve got to just get started. That’s often the hardest thing to do. It’s easy to keep putting it off. Things will always come up to interfere with your plans.

Getting started might mean calling about information at the YMCA, Curves, or here at Tom’s. It could mean making an appointment to check things out. It’s hard to sign up for something if you can’t even get your butt in the door.

Go with a friend to one of those classes they keep talking about. Or look in the paper for a used treadmill to put in your new fitness room! Or go online and order an exercise ball, some dumbbells and a workout DVD. Start out with trying to walk a mile every day. Then adding some weight machines two or three times a week.

Probably the most important thing is to schedule your training times. Don’t leave it up to chance because things will always come up to frustrate you. Pick a time and stick to it. If you can develop a regular routine, you’ll be much more likely to succeed.

Take some measurements of your arm, chest, waist, hips and thigh. Get your current weight and body fat. You might even take a picture in something skimpy. Put that on your bathroom mirror—it might give you lots of motivation. In 12 weeks do it again. I’ll bet you’ll be pretty excited. Good luck, and have a great New Year and a New You!

BIGGEST LOSER "13" -- FINAL RESULTS

This week marks the end of our thirteenth Biggest Loser. While it was certainly the smallest group we’ve worked with for quite some time, it was probably one of the most motivated.

Just about half the participants finished, which was normal. The ones who did, however, all came through quite a bit of adversity along the way. What you do when life intrudes makes all the difference, and I’m proud of them all for finding a way to stick with it.

The overall winner for Biggest Loser “13” was Nicole Shaughnessy, who lost a total of 8.2% of her body weight and 13.8 lbs. But that’s not quite the whole story.

At the start of the twelve weeks, we took measurements of everyone’s Chest, Right Arm, Waist, Hips, and Right Thigh. At the end, we took measurements again. In just twelve weeks, Nicole lost a total of 16.5 inches overall!

And she wasn’t the only one. Shay Jones, our 5th place finisher, lost a total of 17.25 inches overall! This goes to show you that weight loss isn’t the only way to look at things.

Nicole Clodfelter was second overall, losing 7.8% and 17.4 lbs. This brings Nicole up to an amazing total weight loss of 136.5 lbs! She says she’s not done yet, but she’s getting close!

Shawn Bowers was third, losing 6.6% and 20.4 lbs. Karen Brown was fourth, losing 6.1% and 13.6 lbs. Shay was fifth, losing 5.0% and 8.0 lbs. Jennifer Bell placed sixth, losing 4.8% and 9.6 lbs, and Nikki Johnson was seventh, losing 3.0% and 6.6 lbs.

Even though this was the end of the twelve weeks, it shouldn’t be an end at all. Now that they know what to do and how to do it, they should set a new goal and keep on going.

At this point, their results are pretty predictable. As long as they do what they were doing, there is no reason they can’t do it again, and then again, until they reach their ideal weight.

Once again, congratulations to everyone. If you’ve been thinking about getting started, maybe you need to start your own twelve week program. There’s never been a better time. Just think about it: “New Year—New You.” Good luck!

BIGGEST LOSER "13" -- LEVEL IV WORKOUTS--PART 2

This week the group did another Level IV workout. For a workout to qualify for Level IV status, it has to have several things going for it.

It should use enough different exercises that taken together will work the entire body: Upper Body—pushing; Upper Body—pulling; Lower Body; and Core. There should be at least one compound movement (uses several different body parts). It also needs to be completed non-stop, without any breaks.

This time the workout consisted of just three exercises: Running, Kettle Bell Swings, and Sit-ups. Running hit the lower body and the Sit-ups hit the core. Interestingly, the Kettle Bell Swings actually hit all three areas: Pushing, Pulling, and Lower Body, as well as the core, since it connects everything together.

Here’s how it worked. They started by jogging a quarter mile. Then they did 25 Kettle Bell Swings followed by 25 Sit-ups. That was round one. The goal was to do six rounds as fast as possible. By the end, they will have completed a mile and a half, 150 Kettle Bell Swings, and 150 Sit-ups.

• Run ¼ mile
• 25 Kettle Bell Swings
• 25 Sit-ups
(Repeat 6x)

Although this workout used only three things, sometimes we’ll have as many as 7 or 8 different exercises. It’s important to move from one exercise to the other without any breaks. Depending on how many exercises and rounds, the workouts will last between 20 and 25 minutes.

By the time you’ve finished your Level IV workout, you’ll have hit your entire body for some serious muscle training. Since it was non-stop, you’ll also have gotten a cardio workout too. Give it a try!

This week’s winner was Nicole Clodfelter (again), who lost 1.1% of her body weight and 2.2 lbs. One week to go!

BIGGEST LOSER "13" -- LEVEL IV WORKOUTS

This week we introduced the group to Level IV workouts. You might recall that the basic machine strength training circuit was Level I. Replacing the movements with dumbbells and exercise balls was Level II. Last week we combined cardio intervals (ran ¼ mile) with body weight exercises (pushups, body squats, sit-ups for Level III.

What makes Level IV workouts unique and difficult is the type of exercises you do, with little or no break between them. For their workout, we used five different exercises:

(1) Wall Ball—this was a new movement for them, holding a soft medicine ball on their shoulder, executing a body squat, and then tossing the ball up overhead against the wall before catching it on the opposite shoulder and then doing another body squat.

(2) Dumbbell Curls—this was a familiar traditional weight lifting exercise, curling a dumbbell in each arm, alternating right then left.

(3) Kettle Bell Swings—another new movement for them, holding a kettle bell by the hand in both hands, swinging it down between their legs, and using their hips, arms and shoulders to swing it back up overhead. Make sure you have a tight grip so you don’t hit yourself in the head!

(4) Bench Jumps—another new movement, standing on one side of a weight bench, gripping it with both hands with most of your weight on your arms, jump from one side to the other, swinging both feet together as one.

(5) Abs Routine #1 to #4—this was familiar to them from previous workouts. Crunches with knees bent; crunches with legs straight up; crunches to each side; and leg flippers.

Here’s how it worked. Each person performed one exercise for 50 seconds. During a 10 second rest period, they moved to the next station and then did the next exercise for 50 seconds. At the end of five minutes they had rotated through all five exercises and completed one round. They did this four times for a total of four rounds and 20 minutes.

It sounds easy, but because Wall Ball, Kettle Ball swings, and Bench Jumps are compound movements using several different muscle groups at a time, it quickly gets intense. Since they did everything without any breaks—just the 10 seconds to move over and get ready—it became a cardio workout too!

Give it a try sometime, but make sure you’ve eaten something before hand. This type of workout will make you light headed and nauseous if you try to do it on an empty stomach—it’s too tough!

This week’s Biggest Loser was Nicole Shaughnessy, who lost 1.1% of her body weight and 1.8 lbs. Second place went to Nicole Clodfelter, who lost 0.7% of her body weight and 1.5 lbs.

BIGGEST LOSER "13" -- LEVEL III WORKOUTS

As I’ve said in the past, the key to avoiding weight loss plateaus is changing things up. They’ve been at it for two months, and in most cases are seeing their weight level off. This means we need to shake things up yet again.

Once they’ve had high intensity interval training, it’s time to start combining it with their resistance training. For these Level III workouts, we’re combining cardio intervals with exercises that use their own body weight, like pushups, body squats, sit-ups, and pull-ups.

After walking for a short while to warm up, they started jogging ¼ mile on the treadmill—in the warmer months, we actually take them out to the football field and have them run a lap there. After that, they did 25 pushups, 25 body squats, and 25 sit-ups. Then they took off for another ¼ mile lap. Here’s what it looks like:

• Run ¼ mile
• 25 pushups
• 25 body squats
• 25 sit-ups
(Do a total of 4 times)

The goal is to do the ¼ miles as fast as possible. For some people this is a walk/run. For others, it’s a faster jog. Once you’re in better shape, it’s more like a sprint. Once you get around, you knock off the pushups, body squats and sit-ups as quickly as possible without stopping.

By the time you get done, you’ll have jogged a mile and completed 100 pushups, 100 body squats, and 100 sit-ups. It’s a full body workout that doesn’t take very long to complete, but if you’re pushing hard, you’ll be pretty gassed when you finish.

A good goal would be to try in finish in less than 30 minutes. Once a month, try the workout again and see if you can improve on your time.

This week’s winner was Nikki Johnson, who lost about half a pound. Next week, we’ll talk about the even more intense Level IV workouts. In the meantime, why don’t you give this one a try? Good luck!

BIGGEST LOSER "13" -- 5 K CHALLENGE

This week instead of the regular workout, the Biggest Losers met in Marshall for the annual Turkey Trot 5 K (3.1 miles) race. They’ve known about the challenge since the first week, and have been working to step up their distance, especially in the last few weeks.

Just about anyone can walk a mile, even three miles, but when you start jogging, it becomes quite a bit more difficult. Much more energy is required once you break into a jog, and your respiration and heart rate go up dramatically to meet the increased oxygen demands. That’s why we teach people how to build up to it by run/walking intervals.

What I like about the organized races, is that it puts you around other like-minded people. In fact, you’ll often find inspiration there. There’s something special about lining up with a bunch of other people all about to do something like this.

Don’t worry about how fast you’re going to be either. If you’ve never done an event like this, the accomplishment is starting and finishing the event—that’s what makes you a winner. Once you have one under your belt, you can then work on trying to improve your time at the next one.

Not everyone in the group was able to make the event. If they couldn’t, they were supposed to make it up on their own. Karen did her 3.1 miles on Friday night (44:30). Here are the others and their Turkey Trot times: Shelly (27:12), Nicole C. (33:13), Nicole S. (39:14), Mary (43:01), Shay (43:13), Nikki (43:28), and Jennifer (45:47). Great job everybody!

BIGGEST LOSER "13" -- HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING

This week we taught the participants how to do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) for their cardio workouts. This type of training is exactly how it sounds. After a 5 or 10 minute warm-up, you simply alternate higher intensity cardio intervals with lower intensity rest intervals.

There are many different ways to package your HIIT training. When working with someone new, I try to match the level of intensity to their individual fitness level. The first two examples are from actual Biggest Loser participants.

Relatively New Runner—one participant named Jennifer hadn’t had a lot of experience running, and the fastest she’d ever gone on the treadmill prior to the workout was 4.2 mph. After walking a quarter mile (400 meters), I had her start jogging at 4.0 mph for half a lap (200 meters). When she got halfway around the track on the display, I had her walk the other half lap at 3.0 mph to rest and recover.

Then she bumped up the speed to 4.2 mph (her previous fastest pace) for another half a lap on the display. Once she got halfway around again, she went back to walking for the rest of the lap. At the end of that quarter mile, she cranked it up to 4.4 mph for half a lap, followed by another half-lap of walking.

She was able to do another half lap at 4.6 mph, walked half a lap, and then another interval at 4.8 mph, followed by another half a lap of walking. Finally, she ground out a half lap at 5.0 mph, well faster than she’d ever gone prior to the workout. She said it was pretty tough, but she finished the workout. At the end, she did a quarter mile walk as a cool down.

Runner with Moderate Experience—another participant you’ve been reading about for several months was Nicole, who’s been running for the last few Biggest Losers, and has completed several 5 K (3.1 mile) races, running most of the way, with some walking every mile. Just the other day, she completed 3 miles consecutive running without having to walk at all!

Since she had more experience, we divided the workout differently. Instead of half a lap running and half a lap walking, we had her walk a quarter of the way around the display (100 meters), and jog three quarters (300 meters). Since she said she was comfortable running at 5.5 mph, we had her start at 5.0 mph.

Once she made it around the whole lap, she got to walk a quarter of the way around again before turning it up to 5.5 mph. After another walk break, she did the next ¾ lap at 6.0 mph, and then another at 6.5 mph, 7.0 mph, 7.5 mph, and then a final one at 8.0 mph—well faster than she ever thought she could go.

Again, the trick is doing harder intervals than you think you can do, followed by short breaks to let you catch your breath, get a drink, and wipe off the sweat! You’ll burn more calories in a shorter period of time, and stimulate all kinds of changes in your body.

These types of workouts have a much longer after-burn, which means you’ll burn more calories during the hours after the workout while your body is working to recover. It will also make your regular workouts easier.

I’ll even combine HIIT training with short runs and resistance training to make some very intense workouts. In the boot camp class held before the Biggest Loser workout, here’s the HIIT training that they did:

1. Run ¼ mile
2. 25 pull-ups
3. Run ¼ mile
4. 50 pushups
5. Run ¼ mile
6. 25 dumbbell curls (each arm)
7. Run ¼ mile
8. 25 kettle bell swings
9. Run ¼ mile
10. 25 floor-wipers (both sides)
11. Run ¼ mile

This week’s Biggest Loser was Jennifer Bell (from the first example above) who lost about 1.0% of her body weight and 1.6 lbs. With this type of HIIT training to add to her workout arsenal, I’m sure she’s going to continue to have success!

BIGGEST LOSER "13" -- THE DREADED SLUMP

This week marks the halfway point of the twelve week program. By now, the participants have pretty much figured out how to manage their eating. They’ve also got their exercise routines down and are usually able to get their workouts in every day.

Even so, it’s right about this time that many people experience a slump in their weight loss. Where they might have lost a couple pounds a week, now they’ve only lost a half a pound or so.

This plateau in weight loss is a mystery to everyone, including trainers. A very few people never experience them, but most people do. There are a lot of reasons why it could be happening, but it’s tough to really know for sure. Here are a few things to look for.

1. Loss of focus—sometimes you just get tired and start taking things for granted. When you let your guard down, it’s easy to take your eye off the prize. You’ve got to work to get it back. Perhaps you need to start writing down your calories again.

2. Lack of effort—this one makes people mad, but usually I can tell when people just start taking it easy. They start getting comfortable and coasting in their workouts, doing the same things, and quit pushing. You’ve got to get it done.

3. Lack of consistency—this is all about what you do when life starts intruding. There are all kinds of reasons to miss a workout, but only one reason will get you there—because you have to. There’s always a way if you want it bad enough. Doing 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 body squats at home will get the job done.

4. Not eating enough—this one sounds stupid, but it really gets a lot of people, especially women. As you get busy, if you start missing meals again (especially breakfast), it can backfire on you. You’ve got to make sure you hit your minimum number of calories every day.

5. Your body needing a change—this is similar to number two (lack of effort), but not because you weren’t trying. It’s just that as things get easier for you, you can do the same amount of work without burning as much energy, so you’ll burn fewer calories. You’ve got to keep turning it up. Take a different class. Try a different workout.

That’s why I taught them a different free-weight routine this week, and next week, we’ll do a high intensity interval workout. It’s important to keep changing it up. That keeps the body working hard and burning lots of calories.

It’s also good for your mind. That helps you keep focused on the goal and keep pushing too. It lets you get excited about your workouts, and that will keep you consistent.

In the end, it comes down to showing up, pushing hard when you get here, and changing it up enough to keep the intensity there. When you’re home, watch what you eat, but make sure you’re eating enough.

Finally, remember that one weigh-in really doesn’t matter—it’s the trend over time. Often, people will get discouraged when they gain a little bit, only to find two days later, they take it right back off. By the end of the week, things are back on track, so keep plugging!

This week’s winner was Nicole Clodfelter, who’s had a pretty good track record since she keeps pushing. She lost 1.4% of her body weight and 3.0 pounds. That brings her six week total up to 11.0 lbs.

BIGGEST LOSER "13" -- KICKBOXING

This week we introduced the Biggest Losers to a kickboxing class. Since I have a martial arts background, I like to make the kickboxing class very practical—they get to hit stuff like targets and the heavy bags.

Since they’re hitting things, the pads add resistance to the training. This is good for two reasons. First, it makes the workout more intense. It also is pretty realistic. If you ever have to defend yourself, it’s helpful if you’ve actually practiced hitting things!

Kickboxing can also be an amazing cardio workout. It uses the entire body, especially the core, as you bob and weave to avoid punches. Typically, I have partners hold pads that you hit and then block as they pop you back. It teaches you how to cover up and move to avoid being hit.

I like to work on things in “rounds” like in a match. One person might do “Jab, Cross, Cover, Cover” for two minutes while the other one holds the pads. Then they’ll switch roles for another two minutes. This way you get enough time to figure out how to get the skill going, but it’s also a nice little cardio interval.

Then, we’ll add something to the combination like, “Jab, Cross, Cover, Cover, Knee, Knee.” Two more minutes of that and then we’ll switch again. The next combination might be “Jab, Cross, Low Kick, Low Kick” and then “Jab, Cross, Kick, Knees.”

Once they’re pretty good at doing the combinations on the hand pads, I like to have the partner start moving a little bit before and after. This forces the kickboxer to adjust forward or backward which makes it more difficult. It’s also a little more real-world, as physical encounters never happen in a static environment.

People move and you have to adjust. Once they get some experience at moving in and out, I’ll have them start working on slipping to the side a little bit. Again, that raises the level of difficulty. It also raises the level of the workout intensity anytime you add movement.

At some point, we’ll turn to the heavy bag and let them work on their combinations there. While partner drills with pads make for learning how to react and move, the bag provides much more resistance. When you can snap off some combinations on the heavy bag, and get it to move, that means you can deliver some power to your target.

You’ve got to make sure you keep your wrists tight and straight when working on the heavy bag because it’s easy to lose focus. If you hit the bag hard with a bent wrist, you’ll have a sprained, bent wrist.

You’ve also got to wear boxing gloves to protect your knuckles. The gloves add some weight, too, which means more resistance. That means you’ll get more out of the workout.

Near the end of the class, I like to do 30 second intervals where they have to just go crazy with everything they’ve learned. It’s non-stop, full throttle, until I yell time. Sounds easy, but as soon as you ramp up the intensity, it becomes amazingly exhausting—just like a real fight would be.

When I was in the police academy, we learned that in a physical encounter, it’s typical to burn through 90% of your energy in the first minute. Part of that’s due to an adrenaline dump that comes when you’re in danger.

If you’re not in shape, and can’t manage your energy, you can quickly find yourself with little left to defend yourself. That’s why I like to do these short, fast intervals in class.

After three or four of those, people start slowing down big-time, even if they’re in pretty good shape. That’s when I like to throw in a 60 second interval to really blast them. If they can keep going guns blazing for 60 seconds, you’ll probably do pretty well in the real thing.

Normally, the classes last 45 minutes, and if we do it right, you’re ready to leave at the end. As you get better, your combinations get sharper and you can hit harder. You get better at moving, and as you move more, you’ll get an even better workout.

It’s not uncommon to have people burn over 500 calories in a class. Once, a few years ago, I had a gal lose 49 pounds in a year, and the only thing she did differently was take kickboxing twice a week.

This week’s Biggest Loser was Karen Brown who lost 1.6% of her body weight and 3.4 lbs. Karen’s lost 11.0 lbs in just 5 weeks. While she will tell you she wishes it were more, she’s very happy about all the inches she’s lost!

Second place went to Nicole Shaughnessy who lost about 1.0% of her body weight and 1.4 lbs. Shay Jones came in third, losing 1.2 lbs, and Nikki Johnson was fourth, losing 1.6 lbs.

BIGGEST LOSER "13" -- TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

This week the group took their weight training to the next level. They’ve been doing Level I training with the machines for a month so it was time to turn it up. Level II training with dumbbells presents a different challenge.

While the machines provide a nice safe, guided motion with a leverage assist, dumbbells (DB) require you to control the entire movement. This means more stabilizer muscles are called on which makes it more work. That means you’ll get a better workout and burn more calories.

Machines also have pads to lean on or press against. Level II training with dumbbells requires you to use your core to keep your posture correct. Once again, this means you’ll be using more muscles to complete the same movements.

Our goal was to replace each of the machines with a similar movement with dumbbells. We also taught them how to string several exercises together in what are called supersets. It also allows you to rest one muscle group while you’re working another. I call it “active rest.”

We also used a stability ball (exercise ball) for many of the exercises which hit their core even more. Finally, we threw in some mini cardio bursts between rounds to help keep their heart rate up.

Here’s what their first Level II dumbbell workout looked like in case you want to try it yourself:

1. DB Chest Press on Ball
2. Body Squat (holding exercise ball overhead)
(repeat 3x, back-to-back, 10-12 repetitions)
3. Jog around the room 5 times

4. DB Dead-lifts
5. Single Arm Rows
(repeat 3x, back-to-back, 10-12 reps)
6. Run the lines in the room (wind sprints)

7. DB Lateral Shoulder Raises
8. Standing DB Single Arm Curls
9. Standing Triceps Overhead Press
(repeat 3x, back-to-back, 10-12 reps)
10. Jog around the room 5 times

11. Series of different Abdominal Crunches with Exercise Ball
12. Run the lines in the room (wind sprints)

Shelly Roark was our Biggest Loser this week, losing 2.0% of her body weight and 3.0 lbs. Mary Pfister came in second, losing 1.8% and 3.5 lbs. Lisa Eskew was third, losing 1.3% and 2.4 lbs.