Well, the group has been through nine weeks of training—those that are left, that is. Typically, we’ll see about half drop out for one reason or another. At this point, it’s been much more extreme.
Out of the 29 Biggest Losers that started nine weeks ago, just six made this week’s weigh-in! I know a couple others are out of town, but that’s perhaps the lowest weigh-in ever.
I’ve been trying to figure out what’s going on. Since we’re doing pretty much the same workouts, I have to conclude it has something to do with the timing.
The workouts are on Friday nights, and I know it’s tough to get here sometimes, especially on Friday night. But in the past, we’ve had some large groups, so that can’t be the only reason.
Perhaps it’s just the time of year. It is summer, after all, and the heat index is up there, too. I like the summer workouts because we can get outdoors, but when it gets too hot, we start staying inside and using the equipment here.
That’s what we did this week. Usually in Week Nine, I’ll take the group out to the football field and they’ll run/walk a quarter mile and then do 25 pushups, 25 body squats, and 25 sit-ups, four times.
This time, they did the quarter miles on the treadmill and went into the mat room for the pushups, body squats and sit-ups. Pretty nice with that air conditioning! Oh well, they still did the work.
They probably wouldn’t burn quite as many calories as they would have done if they were doing it all outside, but we didn’t have to worry about heat sickness this way. I used it as an opportunity to have them try to go faster than usual on the treadmill. So it all worked out in the end.
For the Biggest Losers that were there, it was a great workout. It was quick, but very effective. Most finished in under twenty minutes. But the main thing is that they’re finishing what they started.
After getting started, the hardest thing for people is learning how to stick it out. The first month is painful as your body is getting used to doing the work. The next month, you’re feeling stronger, and it doesn’t hurt as much. You’re also getting some results.
I don’t worry much about the people that make the weigh-ins at this point. I worry even less about the people that still make the workouts. By now, they’re getting strong, and they know they can push themselves much more then they used to. They’ve also made eating right and exercising smart a daily habit.
These are qualities that will serve them pretty well, especially once they’re out on their own. If there’s a common mistake I see with people working out, it’s that they tend to keep doing the same routine, without any variation at all.
It’s really good to better to change it up, and do different things. It’s good for your body and it’s good for your mind. Your body likes it because it gets stressed in different ways, and so it has to develop more. Your mind likes it because it’s something new.
Of course, if you drop out of a program, it’s going to be kind of tough to change it up and do new and different things. So maybe the most important thing lesson to learn is…DON’T QUIT! If you quit, you don’t get what you want.
One who hasn’t quit is Cheryl Clark, our Biggest Loser this week. She lost 3.1% of her body weight and 6.2 lbs. She’s had some weeks where the scale wasn’t as kind as she’d have liked, and like many women, she’s also learned she needed to be eating more.
Cheryl’s been pretty persistent though, and it’s been paying off. To date, she’s lost 18.2 lbs in nine weeks. With three weeks to go, if she keeps this up, she can be down about 25 lbs for the 12 weeks.
Second place went to Michelle Clark, who lost 1.3% and 2.0 lbs. Janice Johnson was third, losing about 1.0% and 1.8 lbs. Vanessa Becker was fourth, losing 1.0 lb.
Next week, depending on weather, we’ll do either the 5 K challenge or teach them an advanced Level IV workout. Either way, it’s going to give them another chance to step it up. See you then!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "12" WEEK EIGHT "THE WOOD ST. WARRIORS"
This week we had a couple of interesting workouts. On Friday afternoon, several of the Wood Street Warriors accepted my challenge to come out for a trail run. I’ve got a half mile loop through the woods and fields but this year I added a couple of twists: a really steep short hill down to the creek, and an extra stretch up around where the pond is going to be.
Their challenge was to run at least four laps around, with 10 body squats after the first lap, 15 body squats after the second, 20 after the third, and 25 after the fourth. If they really felt froggy, they could add a fifth lap and 30 body squats for a total of 100 squats and 3.75 miles. If they did a sixth lap, that would take the distance up to right around 4 ½ miles!
Trail running is quite a bit different than jogging on the road or even the treadmill. While the road is toughest on you, trail running is much easier on the feet and knees because the ground is softer and has some give to it.
It can be a little tricky though. You’ve got to really watch where you’re going so you don’t turn an ankle. Instead of long strides, you need to shorten your stride on uneven ground, and put your whole foot down deliberately.
But those adjustments also drive up the intensity of the work. Since the terrain is uneven, it takes more muscle control to keep your balance, which also works your core more. This makes it very good for your overall health and posture. In fact, my chiropractor is always telling people to go out and walk on uneven ground.
After the first lap, the gals knew they were in for something. The hills didn’t look that threatening, but because they kept coming at you, and were pretty steep, it drove up the intensity.
Once you got over the short hill, you got a short break before the next one kicked in, which made this yet another form of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). I told them the only real goal the whole time was to push up the hills. Try to really hit the hills hard.
The body squats in between laps further kicked up the intensity and combined with the hills made it quite a lower body workout. By the time they’d finished 4 laps, they’d done the equivalent of a 5 K run, plus all the hills and squats! The 5th lap was a walk/run lap, but by the time they’d walked half of it, they’d recovered enough to run the rest. Great job ladies!
Afterward, I scooted back to the center to work with the Biggest Losers and their own introduction to HIIT. Always an eye opener, HIIT training shows you that you can always do more than you think you can do.
After warming up on either the treadmill, bike or elliptical, they kicked up the intensity using Borg’s scale of Perceived Exertion. They took it up to what felt like about an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is being in a coma and 10 is too hard to continue.
Working at what feels like a 5 or 6 is very low intensity, and a 7 is what feels like moderate intensity right in the middle of the cardio zone. When you get to what feels like an 8, it’s pretty serious—you don’t know how long you can keep it up.
Working at what feels like a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 is even harder. This is work that is so hard that you don’t know if you can keep going, even for a minute. Of course a 10 is so hard that you have to stop, so you don’t want to get quite that intense.
They did a minute at what felt like an 8, and then a minute where they backed off to recover. Then they kicked it up again by going faster, or raising the level on the machine. After another minute of recovery, we took it up to what felt like a 9.
Typically, they won’t really be working hard enough for it to really be a 9, so I had them do it again, only harder. This time, I could tell it really was a 9 because they were huffing and puffing and watching the clock to see when the minute was up!
After a minute to recover, they switched machines and tried the whole routine again. Finally, they switched machines again so they got to experience the whole thing on a treadmill, elliptical and recumbent bike. The idea was to show them that you can do HIIT anywhere, even out in the woods with hills like the Wood St. Warriors!
HIIT training burns many more calories than a traditional workout. Moderate exercise will burn around 5 calories a minute. If you push pretty hard, you can get that up to around 10 calories a minute.
With HIIT training, you can get as high as 15 calories a minute, but it also gives you a much longer after-burn, meaning you’ll continue to burn more calories even after the work is over. This is a great tool for them to use as they move into their third month of training. It’s often just the ticket to get you through a plateau!
This week’s Biggest Loser was Nicole Clodfelter, who lost 1.4% of her body weight and 3.6 lbs. This came after a week where she turned up her intensity quite a bit, running her second 5 K and taking nearly 5 minutes off her time!
Second place went to Michelle Clark who also ran a 5 K in just over 31 minutes. She was delighted that she was able to keep running the entire time! Michelle lost about 1.0% of her body weight and 1.4 lbs.
Their challenge was to run at least four laps around, with 10 body squats after the first lap, 15 body squats after the second, 20 after the third, and 25 after the fourth. If they really felt froggy, they could add a fifth lap and 30 body squats for a total of 100 squats and 3.75 miles. If they did a sixth lap, that would take the distance up to right around 4 ½ miles!
Trail running is quite a bit different than jogging on the road or even the treadmill. While the road is toughest on you, trail running is much easier on the feet and knees because the ground is softer and has some give to it.
It can be a little tricky though. You’ve got to really watch where you’re going so you don’t turn an ankle. Instead of long strides, you need to shorten your stride on uneven ground, and put your whole foot down deliberately.
But those adjustments also drive up the intensity of the work. Since the terrain is uneven, it takes more muscle control to keep your balance, which also works your core more. This makes it very good for your overall health and posture. In fact, my chiropractor is always telling people to go out and walk on uneven ground.
After the first lap, the gals knew they were in for something. The hills didn’t look that threatening, but because they kept coming at you, and were pretty steep, it drove up the intensity.
Once you got over the short hill, you got a short break before the next one kicked in, which made this yet another form of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). I told them the only real goal the whole time was to push up the hills. Try to really hit the hills hard.
The body squats in between laps further kicked up the intensity and combined with the hills made it quite a lower body workout. By the time they’d finished 4 laps, they’d done the equivalent of a 5 K run, plus all the hills and squats! The 5th lap was a walk/run lap, but by the time they’d walked half of it, they’d recovered enough to run the rest. Great job ladies!
Afterward, I scooted back to the center to work with the Biggest Losers and their own introduction to HIIT. Always an eye opener, HIIT training shows you that you can always do more than you think you can do.
After warming up on either the treadmill, bike or elliptical, they kicked up the intensity using Borg’s scale of Perceived Exertion. They took it up to what felt like about an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is being in a coma and 10 is too hard to continue.
Working at what feels like a 5 or 6 is very low intensity, and a 7 is what feels like moderate intensity right in the middle of the cardio zone. When you get to what feels like an 8, it’s pretty serious—you don’t know how long you can keep it up.
Working at what feels like a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 is even harder. This is work that is so hard that you don’t know if you can keep going, even for a minute. Of course a 10 is so hard that you have to stop, so you don’t want to get quite that intense.
They did a minute at what felt like an 8, and then a minute where they backed off to recover. Then they kicked it up again by going faster, or raising the level on the machine. After another minute of recovery, we took it up to what felt like a 9.
Typically, they won’t really be working hard enough for it to really be a 9, so I had them do it again, only harder. This time, I could tell it really was a 9 because they were huffing and puffing and watching the clock to see when the minute was up!
After a minute to recover, they switched machines and tried the whole routine again. Finally, they switched machines again so they got to experience the whole thing on a treadmill, elliptical and recumbent bike. The idea was to show them that you can do HIIT anywhere, even out in the woods with hills like the Wood St. Warriors!
HIIT training burns many more calories than a traditional workout. Moderate exercise will burn around 5 calories a minute. If you push pretty hard, you can get that up to around 10 calories a minute.
With HIIT training, you can get as high as 15 calories a minute, but it also gives you a much longer after-burn, meaning you’ll continue to burn more calories even after the work is over. This is a great tool for them to use as they move into their third month of training. It’s often just the ticket to get you through a plateau!
This week’s Biggest Loser was Nicole Clodfelter, who lost 1.4% of her body weight and 3.6 lbs. This came after a week where she turned up her intensity quite a bit, running her second 5 K and taking nearly 5 minutes off her time!
Second place went to Michelle Clark who also ran a 5 K in just over 31 minutes. She was delighted that she was able to keep running the entire time! Michelle lost about 1.0% of her body weight and 1.4 lbs.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "12" WEEK SEVEN "OUTDOOR WORKOUT #2"
This week we went outside again. That’s one of the benefits of doing Biggest Loser in the spring and summer. The last time we went outdoors, the group did the park-to-park run, with four stops along the way. At each station, they also did a bunch of jumping jacks, pushups, sit-ups and body squats at each stop.
This week they jogged down to the park at Main and Jasper St. Once they got to the water tower, they did three sets of burpees and sit-ups.
Here’s how you do a burpee—from a standing position, bend down and put your hands on the floor, kicking your feet out into a pushup position. Do the pushup, and then hop back to a squatting position before jumping straight up in the air with your arms stretched out overhead. That’s a burpee!
They did 10 burpees in a row, which is tough, because you’re using almost every muscle group. That puts quite an oxygen demand on the body, especially after jogging first. Once they finished the burpees, they hit the grass and did 20 sit-ups. This actually helped them catch their breath, because they were lying on their back.
Once they finished the sit-ups, they did 10 more burpees, 20 more sit-ups, and finished with a third set of 10 burpees and 20 sit-ups. By then, everyone was feeling it.
At that point, I split the group in two and had the stronger runners take a lap around the park before heading back. The others simply started back from there. The run/walk back is always much harder than people expect because of all the work they did in between.
From start to finish, the workout took less than 30 minutes, and everyone agreed that it was more intense than they were used to. My goal is to teach them that they can do almost always do more than they think they can do. It’s also to show them what they should be feeling like in their workouts during the week.
If my workout is the only one that gasses them that much, then they need to step it up during the week. The challenge is to keep raising their level of intensity each week. That will help them keep taking the weight off, especially when their body gets used to what they were doing.
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. In fact, your body might even get weaker! You need to keep changing it up. Next week, we’ll teach them how to do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to help them get more out of their cardio workouts.
If you’re already working out and doing pretty well, and want a more advanced version of the combination workouts, here’s another one for you. Run a ¼ mile, and then do 25 pushups, body squats, and sit-ups. Then repeat the whole thing three more times.
That’s one of the most talked about workouts we’ve done, and the group just might see it sometime in the next couple of weeks! Another challenge they’ll be facing is to do a 5K (3.1 mile) walk/run. Again, the goal is to keep up the intensity.
Someone who’s done a good job finding more intensity is Karen Brown who took first place this week by losing 1.6% of her body weight and 3.4 lbs. You may recall that she lost 42 lbs in Biggest Loser “9” some months ago. She’s continued to work on it, and this week, she walked 9 miles three different times!
One of those times was right before we did the outdoor workout I told you about, so she actually did closer to 11 miles that day! With that kind of effort, I’m not surprised she was the Biggest Loser this week.
Second place went to Michelle Clark, who’s also been pushing hard in the gym. She lost 1.3% of her body weight and 2.0 lbs. Third place was a tie between Vanessa Becker and Janice Johnson, who both lost about 1.0% of their body weight. Vanessa lost 1.0 lbs and Janice lost 1.6 lbs.
This week they jogged down to the park at Main and Jasper St. Once they got to the water tower, they did three sets of burpees and sit-ups.
Here’s how you do a burpee—from a standing position, bend down and put your hands on the floor, kicking your feet out into a pushup position. Do the pushup, and then hop back to a squatting position before jumping straight up in the air with your arms stretched out overhead. That’s a burpee!
They did 10 burpees in a row, which is tough, because you’re using almost every muscle group. That puts quite an oxygen demand on the body, especially after jogging first. Once they finished the burpees, they hit the grass and did 20 sit-ups. This actually helped them catch their breath, because they were lying on their back.
Once they finished the sit-ups, they did 10 more burpees, 20 more sit-ups, and finished with a third set of 10 burpees and 20 sit-ups. By then, everyone was feeling it.
At that point, I split the group in two and had the stronger runners take a lap around the park before heading back. The others simply started back from there. The run/walk back is always much harder than people expect because of all the work they did in between.
From start to finish, the workout took less than 30 minutes, and everyone agreed that it was more intense than they were used to. My goal is to teach them that they can do almost always do more than they think they can do. It’s also to show them what they should be feeling like in their workouts during the week.
If my workout is the only one that gasses them that much, then they need to step it up during the week. The challenge is to keep raising their level of intensity each week. That will help them keep taking the weight off, especially when their body gets used to what they were doing.
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. In fact, your body might even get weaker! You need to keep changing it up. Next week, we’ll teach them how to do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to help them get more out of their cardio workouts.
If you’re already working out and doing pretty well, and want a more advanced version of the combination workouts, here’s another one for you. Run a ¼ mile, and then do 25 pushups, body squats, and sit-ups. Then repeat the whole thing three more times.
That’s one of the most talked about workouts we’ve done, and the group just might see it sometime in the next couple of weeks! Another challenge they’ll be facing is to do a 5K (3.1 mile) walk/run. Again, the goal is to keep up the intensity.
Someone who’s done a good job finding more intensity is Karen Brown who took first place this week by losing 1.6% of her body weight and 3.4 lbs. You may recall that she lost 42 lbs in Biggest Loser “9” some months ago. She’s continued to work on it, and this week, she walked 9 miles three different times!
One of those times was right before we did the outdoor workout I told you about, so she actually did closer to 11 miles that day! With that kind of effort, I’m not surprised she was the Biggest Loser this week.
Second place went to Michelle Clark, who’s also been pushing hard in the gym. She lost 1.3% of her body weight and 2.0 lbs. Third place was a tie between Vanessa Becker and Janice Johnson, who both lost about 1.0% of their body weight. Vanessa lost 1.0 lbs and Janice lost 1.6 lbs.
Friday, June 04, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "12" WEEK SIX "CHANGING IT UP AGAIN"
This week the group learned the second free weight routine. As always, the goal is to continually keep changing it up. It doesn’t take long before your body adapts to a certain routine. That’s when results start falling off.
Even if your goal isn’t weight loss, it’s smart to keep things changing. If you’re a bodybuilder or trying to put on size, it’s good to do things in 3 week cycles—four at the most. Then you need to change it up somehow.
By changing the routine, it keeps your body “guessing.” It’s adapted to the workout levels, the intensity, and even the order in which you do things. By varying the exercises, or the exercise order, you can make the workout more difficult. Give it a try.
The first dumbbell (DB) routine I typically teach is a full body workout that hits every muscle group:
1. Front Squat
2. Chest Press on the Ball
3. Bent Knee Dead lifts
4. Single Arm Rows
5. Lateral Raises
6. Single Arm Bicep Curls (alternating)
7. Overhead Tricep Press
8. Abs Crunches on the Ball
9. Side Twists
The second (new) DB routine hits the same body parts, but uses different exercises. By mixing it up, it will create a whole new set of demands on the body.
1. Walking Lunge
2. Peck Fly’s on the Ball
3. Straight Leg Dead lifts
4. Pullovers on the Ball
5. Arnold Shoulder Press
6. Double Bicep Curl
7. Tricep Kickbacks
8. Ab Routine #1-5: Crunches (knees bent), Crunches (legs up), Side Crunches (L) then (R), Leg Lifts
There are several ways to do the workout. You could do it as a circuit from start to finish, and then do it again once or twice. Try not to stop for breaks until you’ve completed the circuit.
An alternative method is to put things together in pairs, called supersets. Do the Walking Lunges and Pec Fly’s back-to-back, two or three times. Then move on to the Dead lifts and Pullovers. Do them both back-to-back, and then repeat the pair again once or twice.
Take the next three exercises and put them together: Arnold Press, Bicep Curl and Tricep Kickbacks. Do all three back-to-back, two or three times. Finally, do the Ab Routine at the end. Pick a number, say 20 reps, and do each one of the five abdominal exercises 20 times.
Either way, the goal is to hit the entire body, which you will. You’ll want to keep moving without rests. If you need to take a drink, take it between pairs of exercises, or at the end of a circuit. That will keep you moving! Good luck.
By the way, don’t forget about the 5th Annual C.A.M.A. Bike Rally, on Saturday, June 5th. You can get information from www.camacoalition.org !
This week’s Biggest Loser was Michelle Clark, who lost 1.3% of her body weight and 2.0 lbs. Janice Johnson was second with 1.2% and 2.8 lbs. Dale Rasmussen placed third, losing 1.1% and 2.6 lbs. Mindi Milner, Nicole Clodfelter and Karen Brown all tied for fourth place, losing 1.0 of their body weight and 2.0, 2.6, and 2.2 lbs respectively.
Even if your goal isn’t weight loss, it’s smart to keep things changing. If you’re a bodybuilder or trying to put on size, it’s good to do things in 3 week cycles—four at the most. Then you need to change it up somehow.
By changing the routine, it keeps your body “guessing.” It’s adapted to the workout levels, the intensity, and even the order in which you do things. By varying the exercises, or the exercise order, you can make the workout more difficult. Give it a try.
The first dumbbell (DB) routine I typically teach is a full body workout that hits every muscle group:
1. Front Squat
2. Chest Press on the Ball
3. Bent Knee Dead lifts
4. Single Arm Rows
5. Lateral Raises
6. Single Arm Bicep Curls (alternating)
7. Overhead Tricep Press
8. Abs Crunches on the Ball
9. Side Twists
The second (new) DB routine hits the same body parts, but uses different exercises. By mixing it up, it will create a whole new set of demands on the body.
1. Walking Lunge
2. Peck Fly’s on the Ball
3. Straight Leg Dead lifts
4. Pullovers on the Ball
5. Arnold Shoulder Press
6. Double Bicep Curl
7. Tricep Kickbacks
8. Ab Routine #1-5: Crunches (knees bent), Crunches (legs up), Side Crunches (L) then (R), Leg Lifts
There are several ways to do the workout. You could do it as a circuit from start to finish, and then do it again once or twice. Try not to stop for breaks until you’ve completed the circuit.
An alternative method is to put things together in pairs, called supersets. Do the Walking Lunges and Pec Fly’s back-to-back, two or three times. Then move on to the Dead lifts and Pullovers. Do them both back-to-back, and then repeat the pair again once or twice.
Take the next three exercises and put them together: Arnold Press, Bicep Curl and Tricep Kickbacks. Do all three back-to-back, two or three times. Finally, do the Ab Routine at the end. Pick a number, say 20 reps, and do each one of the five abdominal exercises 20 times.
Either way, the goal is to hit the entire body, which you will. You’ll want to keep moving without rests. If you need to take a drink, take it between pairs of exercises, or at the end of a circuit. That will keep you moving! Good luck.
By the way, don’t forget about the 5th Annual C.A.M.A. Bike Rally, on Saturday, June 5th. You can get information from www.camacoalition.org !
This week’s Biggest Loser was Michelle Clark, who lost 1.3% of her body weight and 2.0 lbs. Janice Johnson was second with 1.2% and 2.8 lbs. Dale Rasmussen placed third, losing 1.1% and 2.6 lbs. Mindi Milner, Nicole Clodfelter and Karen Brown all tied for fourth place, losing 1.0 of their body weight and 2.0, 2.6, and 2.2 lbs respectively.
Monday, May 24, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "12" WEEK FIVE "PARK-TO-PARK CROSS TRAINING"
This week we turned it up with our Park-to-Park workout. It’s a combination of jogging and calisthenics that hits the whole body. They started at the gym and ran down Wood St. to Schwartz Park and then walked around the trail. Once everyone got there, we did 10 jumping jacks, 10 body squats, 10 pushups and 10 sit-ups.
I’d been waiting a couple weeks for good weather, and we lucked out. After showers for several days, we had a break just a few hours before the workout, and the sun even came out for awhile. At the same time, it was still a little cool with a breeze, which always helps!
As soon as we were done with the calisthenics, we took out down to High St. and ran North to Sunrise Park. While they waited for any stragglers, they walked around the park like before. Once everyone arrived, we did another 10 jumping jacks, body squats, pushups and sit-ups.
Once we all got done, we jogged down High St. to the football field where we did 10 more reps of each exercise. Finally, we headed back up over the overhead bridge on Buena Vista. At that point it got really difficult, but most everyone jogged up the hill! Once they got back to Wood St., they jogged back to the center where they did a final set of each of the exercises.
All in all, they went right about 2.0 miles and did 40 jumping jacks, body squats, pushups and sit-ups. For most, it was a pretty tough workout because they were using so many different muscle groups.
Their legs and lungs were working hard during the jogging. Then they hit the Chest, Shoulders, Arms, Legs, Back and Core with the calisthenics. Then they were back running again, and so on. So it’s anaerobic and aerobic at the same time, which makes it quite the calorie burner.
Anytime you can mix things up like that, it’s good for your body. Your body develops the ability to use different energy systems, and your endurance will improve dramatically. At the same time, you’re doing something goal oriented—run to there and then do so many reps of such and such. Then do it again. It’s good for your mind, too, because it keeps you interested.
We do this all the time in my Level IV boot camp classes. Just a week ago, the Friday workout was very similar. The difference was the distance ran, the number of times they ran it, and the type of movements they did in between.
It’s pretty challenging, so you might want to work up to it. You definitely don’t want to do it on an empty stomach. You might try the BL workout first. If everything goes OK, then you can try the Level IV workout—but with fewer repetitions of each exercise. Another way to scale the workout down is by doing 2 minutes on the elliptical trainer instead of the ¼ mile run.
Make sure you know how to do the movements correctly. If you ever have any questions, you can always contact me at the center, or through the website.
1. Run ¼ mile
2. Do 25 pull-ups
3. Run ¼ mile
4. Do 25 overhead squats (w/stick)
5. Run ¼ mile
6. Do 25 pushups on an exercise ball
7. Run ¼ mile
8. Do 25 Dumb Bell Curls
9. Run ¼ mile
10. Do 25 Kettle Bell Swings
11. Run ¼ mile
12. Do 25 Pikes or Knee-Ins on the Ball
13. Run ¼ mile
14. Do 25 Sit-ups
15. Run ¼ mile
This week’s Biggest Loser was Carrieann Phegley, who lost 2.2% of her body weight and 3.8 lbs. Cheryl Clark placed second, losing 1.9% and 3.8 lbs. Cheryl’s lost the most weight so far, by losing 12.8 lbs in five weeks.
Bridgett Trover was third for the week, losing 1.7% and 3.0 lbs. Michelle Clark, who has the overall lead so far, placed fourth by losing 1.5% and 2.4 lbs. Karen Brown was fifth, losing 1.3% of her body weight and 2.8 lbs, and Nicole Clodfelter finished in sixth place, losing about 1.0% and 2.4 lbs.
Don’t forget about the C.A.M.A. Teen Bike Rally coming up on June 5th. It’s a great chance to get some cross-training in, and not just for teens. Proceeds go to benefit the Coalition Against Methamphetamine Abuse and provide teens education about Meth and other forms of substance abuse, but anyone can do the ride! You can get information online at www.camacoalition.org .
You can choose from several routes of varying difficulty. The easiest is an 8.5 mile route which anyone can do, including my 7 year old grandson. Next is a 25 mile route which is a little tougher, but my 9 year old Cutie-Pie can do it. I’m guessing most newer riders will do this one.
Next is a 41.5 mile which a lot of us from the center are doing. It’s best if you have a road bike for this one, and some experience. Finally, the most difficult route is a 70 mile loop. This one’s for the big dogs. These characters have lots of riding experience, and riding is often their main form of exercise.
Pick one and give it a shot. Do some riding over the next couple weeks to prepare. It’ll be a great workout, and you’ll get lunch, too! See you there.
I’d been waiting a couple weeks for good weather, and we lucked out. After showers for several days, we had a break just a few hours before the workout, and the sun even came out for awhile. At the same time, it was still a little cool with a breeze, which always helps!
As soon as we were done with the calisthenics, we took out down to High St. and ran North to Sunrise Park. While they waited for any stragglers, they walked around the park like before. Once everyone arrived, we did another 10 jumping jacks, body squats, pushups and sit-ups.
Once we all got done, we jogged down High St. to the football field where we did 10 more reps of each exercise. Finally, we headed back up over the overhead bridge on Buena Vista. At that point it got really difficult, but most everyone jogged up the hill! Once they got back to Wood St., they jogged back to the center where they did a final set of each of the exercises.
All in all, they went right about 2.0 miles and did 40 jumping jacks, body squats, pushups and sit-ups. For most, it was a pretty tough workout because they were using so many different muscle groups.
Their legs and lungs were working hard during the jogging. Then they hit the Chest, Shoulders, Arms, Legs, Back and Core with the calisthenics. Then they were back running again, and so on. So it’s anaerobic and aerobic at the same time, which makes it quite the calorie burner.
Anytime you can mix things up like that, it’s good for your body. Your body develops the ability to use different energy systems, and your endurance will improve dramatically. At the same time, you’re doing something goal oriented—run to there and then do so many reps of such and such. Then do it again. It’s good for your mind, too, because it keeps you interested.
We do this all the time in my Level IV boot camp classes. Just a week ago, the Friday workout was very similar. The difference was the distance ran, the number of times they ran it, and the type of movements they did in between.
It’s pretty challenging, so you might want to work up to it. You definitely don’t want to do it on an empty stomach. You might try the BL workout first. If everything goes OK, then you can try the Level IV workout—but with fewer repetitions of each exercise. Another way to scale the workout down is by doing 2 minutes on the elliptical trainer instead of the ¼ mile run.
Make sure you know how to do the movements correctly. If you ever have any questions, you can always contact me at the center, or through the website.
1. Run ¼ mile
2. Do 25 pull-ups
3. Run ¼ mile
4. Do 25 overhead squats (w/stick)
5. Run ¼ mile
6. Do 25 pushups on an exercise ball
7. Run ¼ mile
8. Do 25 Dumb Bell Curls
9. Run ¼ mile
10. Do 25 Kettle Bell Swings
11. Run ¼ mile
12. Do 25 Pikes or Knee-Ins on the Ball
13. Run ¼ mile
14. Do 25 Sit-ups
15. Run ¼ mile
This week’s Biggest Loser was Carrieann Phegley, who lost 2.2% of her body weight and 3.8 lbs. Cheryl Clark placed second, losing 1.9% and 3.8 lbs. Cheryl’s lost the most weight so far, by losing 12.8 lbs in five weeks.
Bridgett Trover was third for the week, losing 1.7% and 3.0 lbs. Michelle Clark, who has the overall lead so far, placed fourth by losing 1.5% and 2.4 lbs. Karen Brown was fifth, losing 1.3% of her body weight and 2.8 lbs, and Nicole Clodfelter finished in sixth place, losing about 1.0% and 2.4 lbs.
Don’t forget about the C.A.M.A. Teen Bike Rally coming up on June 5th. It’s a great chance to get some cross-training in, and not just for teens. Proceeds go to benefit the Coalition Against Methamphetamine Abuse and provide teens education about Meth and other forms of substance abuse, but anyone can do the ride! You can get information online at www.camacoalition.org .
You can choose from several routes of varying difficulty. The easiest is an 8.5 mile route which anyone can do, including my 7 year old grandson. Next is a 25 mile route which is a little tougher, but my 9 year old Cutie-Pie can do it. I’m guessing most newer riders will do this one.
Next is a 41.5 mile which a lot of us from the center are doing. It’s best if you have a road bike for this one, and some experience. Finally, the most difficult route is a 70 mile loop. This one’s for the big dogs. These characters have lots of riding experience, and riding is often their main form of exercise.
Pick one and give it a shot. Do some riding over the next couple weeks to prepare. It’ll be a great workout, and you’ll get lunch, too! See you there.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "12" WEEK FOUR "TIME TO CHANGE IT UP"
This week we talked to the group about turning it up a notch. After a month of using the machines, it was time to learn how to use free weights. It came at a good time, too, because many of them had reached a plateau.
For some reason, this group has had some difficulty breaking through to the next level. Hopefully the free weights will help shake some things loose. They’ll burn more calories doing the exercises with dumbbells (DB) because of all the other stabilizer muscles that will come into play, particularly in their core.
The main idea is to simply take each exercise they did on machines, and replace it with dumbbells. The Chest Press machine is replaced with Chest Press on the exercise ball. The Seated Row machine is replaced with Single Arm Rows.
The Leg Press machine is replaced by doing body squats while holding dumbbells on their shoulders. The Lower Back machine and Leg machines are replaced with Bent Knee Deadlifts.
They’ll also do Lateral Raises instead of the Shoulder Press Machine, Bicep Curls with instead of the Bicep Curl Machine, and Overhead Presses instead of the Tricep Press Machine. They’ll also do several abdominal exercises on the ball, to replace the Ab Machine.
One of the keys to keeping the intensity up is to do the exercises back to back, without stopping. Here’s the first workout they’ll be doing for the next two weeks in case you’d like to try it. Make sure you get with someone who knows how to perform the movements correctly. Do each group of exercises back-to-back three times, with 10-12 repetitions each.
1. Chest Press on Ball (DB) / Body Squats (DB)
2. Single Arm Rows (DB) / Bent Knee Deadlifts (DB)
3. Lateral Raises (DB) / Bicep Curls (DB) / Overhead Press
4. Ab Crunches on Ball (regular, back bends, crossing over)
This week, my Cutie-Pie also turned it up a little bit. Her gym class is doing a 1 mile run fitness test on Tuesday, so she got together with me several times to help her prepare. I just love the fact that they’re having the kids do this, and she says they’ve been running quite a bit in gym class to get ready.
So we got on the treadmill to see where she was. I was pretty surprised, and she did a fair amount of running the first time to finish in 15:56. Now I know there are kids out there that will blow that away, but some kids are born runners and some aren’t.
I’m one of those guys that wasn’t borne to it. In fact, for many years, I couldn’t run at all, due to a pretty serious case of asthma. A few years back, they came out with some medicine that finally controlled it.
When I first started jogging a few years ago, I finished at the back of the pack consistently. After a couple years of working on it, I now finish right in the middle of the group.
That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a big deal to me. Especially when you realize that only so many people show up for the 5K’s, duathons, and half marathons that I like to run. So to be in the middle of a pretty exclusive group is pretty cool.
The second time we got together, we went out to the track at the football field. I think it’s much easier doing a mile for time out there, because you’re outside. It’s also cooler outside this time of year.
At the field, she kept a faster pace and only walked a little bit after each quarter mile. The last lap was faster, as she kicked it up to try and get there under 13:00. I was surprised at how determined she was as we ran around that last turn, and she finished in 12:53, three minutes quicker than before.
The last workout had to be inside again, due to the rain. It was also later in the day, and I could tell she wasn’t feeling it quite as much, as she held back a little in the first two quarter miles. Still, she kicked it up in the end and finished right at 14:00.
While it was a minute slower than out at the track, it was still almost two minutes faster than the last time she was on the treadmill. It was also pretty darn good for an eight year old who’s about four feet tall!
Her fitness test is Tuesday at school, so after resting Monday to recover, she should be ready to go. The things she’ll need to remember are to try and lengthen her stride to use more muscles and take the pressure off her knees. She also needs to concentrate on her breathing when it gets tough: in-two, out-two, in-two, out-two.
She’s also planning on doing the 25 mile distance in the C.A.M.A. Park-To-Park bike ride coming up the first weekend in June. She’s done the 8 mile distance already, and with a new bike, wants to go a little bit further. So she’ll do it with her daddy, while her younger brother does the 8 miler with her mom.
A bunch of us will be doing the 40 miler, and there are even some serious riders in town who’ll do the 70 mile distance—now that’s impressive! But to me, it’s just as impressive to see an 8 year old do 25 miles.
This week’s winner was Alison Raney, who lost 1.1% of her body weight and 2.0 lbs. Nicole Clodfelter and Mindi Milner tied for second, losing about 1.0%. Nicole lost 2.2 lbs, and Mindi lost 1.6 lbs. Tisha Brinkley placed fourth, losing 1.6 lbs, and Janice Johnson was fifth, also losing 1.2 lbs.
For some reason, this group has had some difficulty breaking through to the next level. Hopefully the free weights will help shake some things loose. They’ll burn more calories doing the exercises with dumbbells (DB) because of all the other stabilizer muscles that will come into play, particularly in their core.
The main idea is to simply take each exercise they did on machines, and replace it with dumbbells. The Chest Press machine is replaced with Chest Press on the exercise ball. The Seated Row machine is replaced with Single Arm Rows.
The Leg Press machine is replaced by doing body squats while holding dumbbells on their shoulders. The Lower Back machine and Leg machines are replaced with Bent Knee Deadlifts.
They’ll also do Lateral Raises instead of the Shoulder Press Machine, Bicep Curls with instead of the Bicep Curl Machine, and Overhead Presses instead of the Tricep Press Machine. They’ll also do several abdominal exercises on the ball, to replace the Ab Machine.
One of the keys to keeping the intensity up is to do the exercises back to back, without stopping. Here’s the first workout they’ll be doing for the next two weeks in case you’d like to try it. Make sure you get with someone who knows how to perform the movements correctly. Do each group of exercises back-to-back three times, with 10-12 repetitions each.
1. Chest Press on Ball (DB) / Body Squats (DB)
2. Single Arm Rows (DB) / Bent Knee Deadlifts (DB)
3. Lateral Raises (DB) / Bicep Curls (DB) / Overhead Press
4. Ab Crunches on Ball (regular, back bends, crossing over)
This week, my Cutie-Pie also turned it up a little bit. Her gym class is doing a 1 mile run fitness test on Tuesday, so she got together with me several times to help her prepare. I just love the fact that they’re having the kids do this, and she says they’ve been running quite a bit in gym class to get ready.
So we got on the treadmill to see where she was. I was pretty surprised, and she did a fair amount of running the first time to finish in 15:56. Now I know there are kids out there that will blow that away, but some kids are born runners and some aren’t.
I’m one of those guys that wasn’t borne to it. In fact, for many years, I couldn’t run at all, due to a pretty serious case of asthma. A few years back, they came out with some medicine that finally controlled it.
When I first started jogging a few years ago, I finished at the back of the pack consistently. After a couple years of working on it, I now finish right in the middle of the group.
That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a big deal to me. Especially when you realize that only so many people show up for the 5K’s, duathons, and half marathons that I like to run. So to be in the middle of a pretty exclusive group is pretty cool.
The second time we got together, we went out to the track at the football field. I think it’s much easier doing a mile for time out there, because you’re outside. It’s also cooler outside this time of year.
At the field, she kept a faster pace and only walked a little bit after each quarter mile. The last lap was faster, as she kicked it up to try and get there under 13:00. I was surprised at how determined she was as we ran around that last turn, and she finished in 12:53, three minutes quicker than before.
The last workout had to be inside again, due to the rain. It was also later in the day, and I could tell she wasn’t feeling it quite as much, as she held back a little in the first two quarter miles. Still, she kicked it up in the end and finished right at 14:00.
While it was a minute slower than out at the track, it was still almost two minutes faster than the last time she was on the treadmill. It was also pretty darn good for an eight year old who’s about four feet tall!
Her fitness test is Tuesday at school, so after resting Monday to recover, she should be ready to go. The things she’ll need to remember are to try and lengthen her stride to use more muscles and take the pressure off her knees. She also needs to concentrate on her breathing when it gets tough: in-two, out-two, in-two, out-two.
She’s also planning on doing the 25 mile distance in the C.A.M.A. Park-To-Park bike ride coming up the first weekend in June. She’s done the 8 mile distance already, and with a new bike, wants to go a little bit further. So she’ll do it with her daddy, while her younger brother does the 8 miler with her mom.
A bunch of us will be doing the 40 miler, and there are even some serious riders in town who’ll do the 70 mile distance—now that’s impressive! But to me, it’s just as impressive to see an 8 year old do 25 miles.
This week’s winner was Alison Raney, who lost 1.1% of her body weight and 2.0 lbs. Nicole Clodfelter and Mindi Milner tied for second, losing about 1.0%. Nicole lost 2.2 lbs, and Mindi lost 1.6 lbs. Tisha Brinkley placed fourth, losing 1.6 lbs, and Janice Johnson was fifth, also losing 1.2 lbs.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "12" WEEK THREE "GETTING STRONGER"
This week marks the end of three weeks for our Biggest Losers, or 21 days in the program. Experts say it takes a minimum of 21 times to make something a habit, so hopefully, they’re right on track.
The goal for week one was simply to get them moving. In week two, the goal was to get them to start keeping a daily food diary so they would be able to see if they were eating enough (most women don’t) or overeating (most men do). Week three was about the types of food they were eating, and understanding how food is used in the body.
The participants have had three weeks working out on the machines to build their strength, and on cardio days, they’ve hopefully been hitting it for a minimum of 30 minutes. As their endurance allows, they were to up it to 45 minutes, or even an hour! On top of that, if their schedules allowed, they were to also get in a quick 20 minute walk each morning.
The whole purpose has been to get them eating better, in the right amounts, and start building their strength and endurance so they can do more during their workouts. At first, they were kind of fighting their own bodies, which weren’t used to working out.
Once they started building some strength, though, their bodies started working for them, which allows them to do a little bit more in the same amount of time, or even, spend more time before they get gassed.
The more work they can do, the more calories they’ll burn, so they’ll end up losing more weight, which of course was their goal all along. At first, it’s pretty tough burning enough calories, but later, as they get stronger, it will be much easier.
Most people can burn around 5 calories a minute with light to moderate exercise. That means about 300 calories an hour when you’re starting out. After a few weeks to get stronger, though, people can start doing work to the tune of around 10 calories a minute, or around 600 calories an hour.
That’s double the work, and it pays off. A pound of fat is the equivalent of 3,500 calories. That means if everything else is equal, and you just add an hour of activity to your day, at first, it would take about 11 ½ days to burn a pound of fat.
Once you start getting in shape, you can double your output, which can cut your time to lose a pound almost in half—down to around 5 or 6 days. And if you work out longer, you can lose more.
That’s why if people have a big weight loss goal, I always recommend they take an extra 20-30 minute walk regardless what else they did in their “real” workout. If they want to take the weight off quickly, that can make a big difference.
So now that they’re stronger, the goal is to change the intensity of the work along with the amount of time they can keep going. Both will drive up the calorie output, and that will drive off the pounds.
This week, their goal is to use the machines for one more week, but this time doing “supersets.” Rather than just hit the circuit from start to finish, they’ll be doing a pushing exercise like the Chest Press, and then do an opposing pulling movement like the Seated Row, back to back. Then they’ll repeat the two exercises two more times before moving on to the next two machines.
Each pair of machines are arranged in order so they can get the Pushing/Pulling thing going at each step as they work their way through the circuit. This way, they’ll never take a break, but while one muscle group is resting, the other, opposing group is working.
If the machines aren’t organized quite that way where you work out, or if you’re using equipment at home, here’s how I have the machines arranged, so you can simulate the workout. Do each pair of exercises back to back, 10-12 repetitions each, for a total of 3 sets before moving on. Next week, we’ll raise the intensity again by moving to free weights!
PUSHING -- PULLING
1. Chest Press -- Seated Row
2. Pec Deck -- Lat Pulldown
3. Shoulder Press -- Rear Delt
4. Tricep Press -- Bicep Curl
5. Leg Press -- Calf Raises
6. Leg Extension -- Leg Curl
7. Ab Crunch -- Lower Back
This week’s Biggest Loser was a two-way tie between Cheryl Clark and Carrieann Phegley, who both lost 2.1% of their body weight. Cheryl lost 4.4 lbs and Carrieann lost 3.6 lbs. Third place went to Dale Rasmussen, who lost 2.0% and 4.6 lbs.
Michelle Clark was fourth, losing 1.6% and 2.6 lbs. Alison Raney took fifth, losing 1.1% and 2.0 lbs. Sixth place went to Janice Johnson, who lost 1.0% and 2.4 lbs.
The goal for week one was simply to get them moving. In week two, the goal was to get them to start keeping a daily food diary so they would be able to see if they were eating enough (most women don’t) or overeating (most men do). Week three was about the types of food they were eating, and understanding how food is used in the body.
The participants have had three weeks working out on the machines to build their strength, and on cardio days, they’ve hopefully been hitting it for a minimum of 30 minutes. As their endurance allows, they were to up it to 45 minutes, or even an hour! On top of that, if their schedules allowed, they were to also get in a quick 20 minute walk each morning.
The whole purpose has been to get them eating better, in the right amounts, and start building their strength and endurance so they can do more during their workouts. At first, they were kind of fighting their own bodies, which weren’t used to working out.
Once they started building some strength, though, their bodies started working for them, which allows them to do a little bit more in the same amount of time, or even, spend more time before they get gassed.
The more work they can do, the more calories they’ll burn, so they’ll end up losing more weight, which of course was their goal all along. At first, it’s pretty tough burning enough calories, but later, as they get stronger, it will be much easier.
Most people can burn around 5 calories a minute with light to moderate exercise. That means about 300 calories an hour when you’re starting out. After a few weeks to get stronger, though, people can start doing work to the tune of around 10 calories a minute, or around 600 calories an hour.
That’s double the work, and it pays off. A pound of fat is the equivalent of 3,500 calories. That means if everything else is equal, and you just add an hour of activity to your day, at first, it would take about 11 ½ days to burn a pound of fat.
Once you start getting in shape, you can double your output, which can cut your time to lose a pound almost in half—down to around 5 or 6 days. And if you work out longer, you can lose more.
That’s why if people have a big weight loss goal, I always recommend they take an extra 20-30 minute walk regardless what else they did in their “real” workout. If they want to take the weight off quickly, that can make a big difference.
So now that they’re stronger, the goal is to change the intensity of the work along with the amount of time they can keep going. Both will drive up the calorie output, and that will drive off the pounds.
This week, their goal is to use the machines for one more week, but this time doing “supersets.” Rather than just hit the circuit from start to finish, they’ll be doing a pushing exercise like the Chest Press, and then do an opposing pulling movement like the Seated Row, back to back. Then they’ll repeat the two exercises two more times before moving on to the next two machines.
Each pair of machines are arranged in order so they can get the Pushing/Pulling thing going at each step as they work their way through the circuit. This way, they’ll never take a break, but while one muscle group is resting, the other, opposing group is working.
If the machines aren’t organized quite that way where you work out, or if you’re using equipment at home, here’s how I have the machines arranged, so you can simulate the workout. Do each pair of exercises back to back, 10-12 repetitions each, for a total of 3 sets before moving on. Next week, we’ll raise the intensity again by moving to free weights!
PUSHING -- PULLING
1. Chest Press -- Seated Row
2. Pec Deck -- Lat Pulldown
3. Shoulder Press -- Rear Delt
4. Tricep Press -- Bicep Curl
5. Leg Press -- Calf Raises
6. Leg Extension -- Leg Curl
7. Ab Crunch -- Lower Back
This week’s Biggest Loser was a two-way tie between Cheryl Clark and Carrieann Phegley, who both lost 2.1% of their body weight. Cheryl lost 4.4 lbs and Carrieann lost 3.6 lbs. Third place went to Dale Rasmussen, who lost 2.0% and 4.6 lbs.
Michelle Clark was fourth, losing 1.6% and 2.6 lbs. Alison Raney took fifth, losing 1.1% and 2.0 lbs. Sixth place went to Janice Johnson, who lost 1.0% and 2.4 lbs.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "12" WEEK TWO "FOOD IS FUEL (AND OTHER THINGS)"
This week the group was supposed to look more closely at what they ate. After a week of keeping a daily food journal, it should be pretty easy to make sure they’re getting the right amount of food. Remember from last week, studies show that people who write down what they eat lost more weight than those who didn’t.
The journal will also tell them where they have holes in their diet. That could be from either missing meals or snacks, or from missing even part of their meals. To be well rounded, each meal should have a source of protein, starch (complex carbs), and fruits or greens.
Protein is for building muscle and bone. Without protein in your diet, you will slowly waste away. Your bones won’t be as strong as they could be either. This explains in part why our elderly become frail, with bones that are easily broken.
Studies show that people in their 80’s can increase muscle mass after just six weeks of regular exercise such as walking and basic strength training. And if our seniors would dedicate 45 minutes to an hour a day to regular exercise, and ensuring they get enough protein in their diet, they’d be amazed at how good they’d feel.
My dad will be 87 in July, and he spends at least an hour a day in the gym doing a very similar routine to what our Biggest Losers are doing in the first month of training. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, he hits the strength circuit, doing most of the machines, three times around. On Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, he focuses on Cardio, riding the exercise bike, and walking.
He also gets up in the morning and goes for a walk outside for 20-30 minutes. That’s right. He does two workouts a day! His weight is down to what it was back when he was in basic training in the army during World War II. I’m sure he had a bit more muscle back then, but come on, he’s 86! Sometimes I tell him he needs to focus on getting a little more protein.
Sources of protein include meats, poultry, fish, dairy products like milk, yogurt and cottage cheese, nuts, and some beans. You need to make sure you get some protein in every meal. Some people need to supplement this with a protein shake, if they’re very active.
Starches are the next category to look at. Starches are complex carbohydrates, meaning that the starch molecules are more difficult for the body to break down. This means they’ll give the body longer lasting energy, compared to simple sugars that are used right away.
Sources of starch include whole grain breads and cereals, oats, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pasta, corn, rice, and some beans like the navy and pinto beans. Also a good source of vitamins and minerals, and some fiber, complex carbs need to be part of every meal too.
Dad tends to stick with the basic starches like whole grain breads and cereals. The bread should feel heavy, compared to the other choices. You should also be able to smell it when you pick it up. That means you’ll have more of the good stuff in there.
The last category was fruits and greens. These need no description—a fruits a fruit, and greens are all the other vegetables out there. Most people eat very little of either, and that’s unfortunate because they’re packed with vitamins and minerals that will help your body work better, and make you feel great.
Dad really scores well here. He eats fruits for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snacks. He likes the fact that they’re very low in calories, so he can eat them without worrying about gaining weight. They have lots of fiber too, so as he says, “they fill you up.”
The other main benefit of eating fruits is quick energy. Unlike the more complex starches, fruits are simple sugars (fructose), so your body breaks it down in a hurry. If you ever feel a little run down and need a quick pick-me-up, have some fruit. You’ll feel better within minutes.
Dad eats a ton of veggies, too, mostly in a home-made soup that he puts together a couple times a week. It’s got every vegetable under the sun in there. There will be some quick energy from the vegetables, but the main benefit there is all the natural vitamins and minerals, and the fiber.
As the Biggest Losers start getting their diet squared away, each meal will start to have all three key components: protein, starch, and fruits or greens. Once they start eating that way, they’ll start feeling better, and their body will use everything they eat (assuming they’re eating the right amount). That means nothing will be stored as fat, and their bodies will be working great.
Speaking of fats, it’s not necessary to worry about them too much. All you need to do is make sure you eat leaner cuts of meats, trim the fat where possible, and choose low fat dairy products during the day. It’s also a no brainer that you need to avoid junk foods and fried foods too. This will keep you from getting too much of the bad fats.
For the good fats, you’ll be getting that low fat dairy every day, and hopefully eating some other things like fish, and nuts that are high in Omega-3. Finally, it’s best to take a good supplement that has all three of the Omegas: Omega-3, Omega-6, and Omega-9. Experts used to focus only on Omega-3, but lately, they’ve been leaning toward a balanced supplement.
Don’t forget to get plenty of water each day, too. The more active you are, the more you need, but most people aren’t even getting the minimum daily recommendation: 48 oz. Personally, I think that’s about half what an active guy needs. I’d shoot for 3-4 bottles a day if you’re an active female, and 4-5 bottles a day if you’re a guy.
This week’s winner was Mindi Milner, who lost 2.1% of her body weight and 4.2 lbs. Second place went to Carrieann Phegley, who lost 1.8% and 3.2 lbs. Venessa Becker took third, losing 1.5% and 2.0 lbs. John Kaufman was fourth, losing 1.4% and 3.0 lbs. Cheryl Clark was fifth, losing 1.3% and 2.8 lbs, and Karen Brown and Nicole Clodfelter tied for sixth place, both losing 1.1%. Karen lost 2.4 lbs while Nicole lost 2.8 lbs.
Finally, a big shout out to everyone who completed the Christie Clinic Illinois Half or Full Marathon over in Champaign this weekend! I wish I could have been there with you, but a stupid sinus infection knocked me out of the running. Sigh. Great job you guys.
The journal will also tell them where they have holes in their diet. That could be from either missing meals or snacks, or from missing even part of their meals. To be well rounded, each meal should have a source of protein, starch (complex carbs), and fruits or greens.
Protein is for building muscle and bone. Without protein in your diet, you will slowly waste away. Your bones won’t be as strong as they could be either. This explains in part why our elderly become frail, with bones that are easily broken.
Studies show that people in their 80’s can increase muscle mass after just six weeks of regular exercise such as walking and basic strength training. And if our seniors would dedicate 45 minutes to an hour a day to regular exercise, and ensuring they get enough protein in their diet, they’d be amazed at how good they’d feel.
My dad will be 87 in July, and he spends at least an hour a day in the gym doing a very similar routine to what our Biggest Losers are doing in the first month of training. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, he hits the strength circuit, doing most of the machines, three times around. On Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, he focuses on Cardio, riding the exercise bike, and walking.
He also gets up in the morning and goes for a walk outside for 20-30 minutes. That’s right. He does two workouts a day! His weight is down to what it was back when he was in basic training in the army during World War II. I’m sure he had a bit more muscle back then, but come on, he’s 86! Sometimes I tell him he needs to focus on getting a little more protein.
Sources of protein include meats, poultry, fish, dairy products like milk, yogurt and cottage cheese, nuts, and some beans. You need to make sure you get some protein in every meal. Some people need to supplement this with a protein shake, if they’re very active.
Starches are the next category to look at. Starches are complex carbohydrates, meaning that the starch molecules are more difficult for the body to break down. This means they’ll give the body longer lasting energy, compared to simple sugars that are used right away.
Sources of starch include whole grain breads and cereals, oats, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pasta, corn, rice, and some beans like the navy and pinto beans. Also a good source of vitamins and minerals, and some fiber, complex carbs need to be part of every meal too.
Dad tends to stick with the basic starches like whole grain breads and cereals. The bread should feel heavy, compared to the other choices. You should also be able to smell it when you pick it up. That means you’ll have more of the good stuff in there.
The last category was fruits and greens. These need no description—a fruits a fruit, and greens are all the other vegetables out there. Most people eat very little of either, and that’s unfortunate because they’re packed with vitamins and minerals that will help your body work better, and make you feel great.
Dad really scores well here. He eats fruits for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snacks. He likes the fact that they’re very low in calories, so he can eat them without worrying about gaining weight. They have lots of fiber too, so as he says, “they fill you up.”
The other main benefit of eating fruits is quick energy. Unlike the more complex starches, fruits are simple sugars (fructose), so your body breaks it down in a hurry. If you ever feel a little run down and need a quick pick-me-up, have some fruit. You’ll feel better within minutes.
Dad eats a ton of veggies, too, mostly in a home-made soup that he puts together a couple times a week. It’s got every vegetable under the sun in there. There will be some quick energy from the vegetables, but the main benefit there is all the natural vitamins and minerals, and the fiber.
As the Biggest Losers start getting their diet squared away, each meal will start to have all three key components: protein, starch, and fruits or greens. Once they start eating that way, they’ll start feeling better, and their body will use everything they eat (assuming they’re eating the right amount). That means nothing will be stored as fat, and their bodies will be working great.
Speaking of fats, it’s not necessary to worry about them too much. All you need to do is make sure you eat leaner cuts of meats, trim the fat where possible, and choose low fat dairy products during the day. It’s also a no brainer that you need to avoid junk foods and fried foods too. This will keep you from getting too much of the bad fats.
For the good fats, you’ll be getting that low fat dairy every day, and hopefully eating some other things like fish, and nuts that are high in Omega-3. Finally, it’s best to take a good supplement that has all three of the Omegas: Omega-3, Omega-6, and Omega-9. Experts used to focus only on Omega-3, but lately, they’ve been leaning toward a balanced supplement.
Don’t forget to get plenty of water each day, too. The more active you are, the more you need, but most people aren’t even getting the minimum daily recommendation: 48 oz. Personally, I think that’s about half what an active guy needs. I’d shoot for 3-4 bottles a day if you’re an active female, and 4-5 bottles a day if you’re a guy.
This week’s winner was Mindi Milner, who lost 2.1% of her body weight and 4.2 lbs. Second place went to Carrieann Phegley, who lost 1.8% and 3.2 lbs. Venessa Becker took third, losing 1.5% and 2.0 lbs. John Kaufman was fourth, losing 1.4% and 3.0 lbs. Cheryl Clark was fifth, losing 1.3% and 2.8 lbs, and Karen Brown and Nicole Clodfelter tied for sixth place, both losing 1.1%. Karen lost 2.4 lbs while Nicole lost 2.8 lbs.
Finally, a big shout out to everyone who completed the Christie Clinic Illinois Half or Full Marathon over in Champaign this weekend! I wish I could have been there with you, but a stupid sinus infection knocked me out of the running. Sigh. Great job you guys.
Monday, April 26, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "12" WEEK ONE "IT'S NOT WHAT YOU EAT!"
Well the group just finished their first full week of training. The goal was to get them moving, and I think we accomplished that. After the weigh-in, we talked about how much they were eating.
It’s always a surprise to women when they learn they need to eat more. I got an email from one of the participants telling me how hard it was to hit her target—it just seemed like so much food. At the end of the week, though, she’d lost a pound. She ate more (including breakfasts) and lost weight.
She’s not alone in that. Most women aren’t eating enough. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), women need a minimum of 1,200 calories a day just to live—without taking exercise into consideration.
Typically, the average woman will need to be up around 1,500-1,650 calories a day to lose weight, and feel good doing it. That’s important. You need to feel good too. You’d never think of driving your car to Terre Haute on an empty gas tank (not more than once), but that’s what you’re doing with your body if you’re not hitting your minimum.
Food is fuel for the body. You need it to live, for quick energy, long fuel, building muscle and bone, and to keep the body healthy. It’s just fuel. If you don’t get enough, your body won’t work right. In fact, too few calories and your body just might think its starving.
That’s the problem many women are facing. They’ve gotten scared to eat anything, thinking it’ll go right to their butt! But it won’t. If they eat the right amount of food, they’ll just feel better, and their body will take what it needs to build, and use the rest for fuel.
So the first thing was to find out how much they were eating. That was the purpose for giving them daily calorie logs that first day. After tracking it for a few days, it will become pretty clear if they’re getting their minimum or not.
Now guys tend to go the other way—we’re typically over-eaters. Put a plate in front of a guy, and not only will we clean it up, but we’ll go back for seconds, even thirds! We can eat our way right past full, straight through to gorged.
Of course, this isn’t healthy either, and explains the big guts and butts you see all over the place. What men need to learn is portion control, and the daily logs help with those, too.
If you write it down, you become more accountable. If you’re guessing, you’re usually wrong, because guessing makes you fat. But keeping a diary will keep you thin! Studies have shown that people who wrote down what they eat lose more weight than those who didn’t.
The ACSM minimum for guys is 1,800 calories, and most guys can lose a lot of weight and still be pretty comfortable if they stay around 2,400 calories a day. But if you want to lose more weight, quicker, than you can push it down closer to the minimum.
Personally, I think it’s better to be comfortable and not feeling like you are starving. That’s why I recommend that most women stick with 1,650 calories if you’re of average build. If you’re a little taller, you can eat a little more and still lose weight. Likewise, if you’re a little smaller, you can eat a little less and still feel satisfied.
The workout this week began with a 1 mile walk/run. After that, they moved to the mat room and did 5 rounds of 10 pushups, 10 body squats, and 10 sit-ups for a total of 50 of each exercise.
It’s a good example of what I call “active rest.” After doing the pushups, your upper body gets a break while you do the body squats. Then your lower body gets a break while you do the sit-ups, and so on. This way you can do more total work, and your body burns more calories because you keep moving.
Next week we’ll turn it up a notch. Meanwhile, they’re supposed to continue their daily mile each morning, and their regular routines later in the day: the weight machine circuit three days a week and cardio on the other days. We’re also going to look at how food is used in the body so they can start making better choices.
This week’s winner was Susan King, who lost 2.7% of her body weight and 6.4 lbs. I almost missed it because she weighed in Thursday night before going out of town and left me a note that I found after our Friday night workout. Good thing I found it!
Second place went to Michelle Clark, who lost 2.4% and 4.0 lbs, and Alison Raney took third by losing 2.3% and 4.5 lbs. Karen Brown and Carol Mitchell tied for fourth place, losing 2.2%. Karen lost 5.0 lbs and Carol lost 3.8. Fifth place went to Tom Dagley, who lost 2.1% and 3.8 lbs.
It’s always a surprise to women when they learn they need to eat more. I got an email from one of the participants telling me how hard it was to hit her target—it just seemed like so much food. At the end of the week, though, she’d lost a pound. She ate more (including breakfasts) and lost weight.
She’s not alone in that. Most women aren’t eating enough. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), women need a minimum of 1,200 calories a day just to live—without taking exercise into consideration.
Typically, the average woman will need to be up around 1,500-1,650 calories a day to lose weight, and feel good doing it. That’s important. You need to feel good too. You’d never think of driving your car to Terre Haute on an empty gas tank (not more than once), but that’s what you’re doing with your body if you’re not hitting your minimum.
Food is fuel for the body. You need it to live, for quick energy, long fuel, building muscle and bone, and to keep the body healthy. It’s just fuel. If you don’t get enough, your body won’t work right. In fact, too few calories and your body just might think its starving.
That’s the problem many women are facing. They’ve gotten scared to eat anything, thinking it’ll go right to their butt! But it won’t. If they eat the right amount of food, they’ll just feel better, and their body will take what it needs to build, and use the rest for fuel.
So the first thing was to find out how much they were eating. That was the purpose for giving them daily calorie logs that first day. After tracking it for a few days, it will become pretty clear if they’re getting their minimum or not.
Now guys tend to go the other way—we’re typically over-eaters. Put a plate in front of a guy, and not only will we clean it up, but we’ll go back for seconds, even thirds! We can eat our way right past full, straight through to gorged.
Of course, this isn’t healthy either, and explains the big guts and butts you see all over the place. What men need to learn is portion control, and the daily logs help with those, too.
If you write it down, you become more accountable. If you’re guessing, you’re usually wrong, because guessing makes you fat. But keeping a diary will keep you thin! Studies have shown that people who wrote down what they eat lose more weight than those who didn’t.
The ACSM minimum for guys is 1,800 calories, and most guys can lose a lot of weight and still be pretty comfortable if they stay around 2,400 calories a day. But if you want to lose more weight, quicker, than you can push it down closer to the minimum.
Personally, I think it’s better to be comfortable and not feeling like you are starving. That’s why I recommend that most women stick with 1,650 calories if you’re of average build. If you’re a little taller, you can eat a little more and still lose weight. Likewise, if you’re a little smaller, you can eat a little less and still feel satisfied.
The workout this week began with a 1 mile walk/run. After that, they moved to the mat room and did 5 rounds of 10 pushups, 10 body squats, and 10 sit-ups for a total of 50 of each exercise.
It’s a good example of what I call “active rest.” After doing the pushups, your upper body gets a break while you do the body squats. Then your lower body gets a break while you do the sit-ups, and so on. This way you can do more total work, and your body burns more calories because you keep moving.
Next week we’ll turn it up a notch. Meanwhile, they’re supposed to continue their daily mile each morning, and their regular routines later in the day: the weight machine circuit three days a week and cardio on the other days. We’re also going to look at how food is used in the body so they can start making better choices.
This week’s winner was Susan King, who lost 2.7% of her body weight and 6.4 lbs. I almost missed it because she weighed in Thursday night before going out of town and left me a note that I found after our Friday night workout. Good thing I found it!
Second place went to Michelle Clark, who lost 2.4% and 4.0 lbs, and Alison Raney took third by losing 2.3% and 4.5 lbs. Karen Brown and Carol Mitchell tied for fourth place, losing 2.2%. Karen lost 5.0 lbs and Carol lost 3.8. Fifth place went to Tom Dagley, who lost 2.1% and 3.8 lbs.
Monday, April 19, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "12" -- GETTING STARTED
This week marks the start of another 12 week cycle with 27 participants starting Biggest Loser “12”. To kick things off, the group started with our standard fitness test. After a timed one mile walk/run, they counted pushups in a minute, as well as sit-ups in a minute.
The tests have two purposes. First, the tests give us a benchmark to measure against when everyone does the test again at the end of the 12 weeks. Second, the fitness tests give everyone an idea of how out of shape they really are.
For many new participants, the tests feel like an actual workout, even though they’re really not. So, at least for the first day, they serve as their first workout. When they come back next Friday night for their first “real” workout, they’ll realize how easy the tests actually were.
The goal in the first week is always to get everyone moving. While some of them have already been engaged in fitness programs and even looking at their diets, many, if not most of them haven’t. So it’s not important how much they do, just that they do something every day.
To that end, I asked them all to try and start their day with a one mile walk in the morning. For most people, a 3.0 mph pace is pretty comfortable, so it will only take them 20 minutes to cover the mile. Getting moving early is a good way to crank up your metabolism so you’ll burn more calories throughout the day.
Later in the day, they’ll do their “real” workout for the day. This will consist of weight training on the machines three days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri), and cardio workouts on the treadmills, elliptical trainers, bikes, or walking/jogging outside on the other days (Tue, Thur, Sat). Once a week, they can take a day off, unless they want to go for a walk.
Weight training on the machines can be as simple as going through the circuit one time, after a 10 minute cardio warm-up that gets their blood flowing and joints warmed up. A typical circuit will take 20-30 minutes. Their goal is to set the machines on weights light enough to get 12-15 repetitions. If it’s easy, then next time they can try a slightly heavier weight.
On the cardio days, their goal is to get at least 20-30 minutes of exercise. It can be all on one piece of cardio equipment, or divided up between several things. As they get stronger and build up their endurance, they’ll want to stretch it out to 30-45 minutes, or even an hour.
Another thing they’ll want to be thinking about is what their weight loss goal is for the 12 weeks. Guys tend to lose more than gals for several reasons. They usually have more muscle, so they can push harder, burning more calories. They also have a different hormone mix which tends to influence weight loss.
A good way to set a goal is to look at what other people have done. Last time, the top seven guys lost 44.0, 36.4, 34.2, 32.4, 30.1, 29.8, and 27.6 lbs respectively. The top seven gals lost 34.2, 19.4, 18.4, 17.4, 15.0, 13.6, and 13.2 lbs respectively.
In the past, we’ve had guys lose even more, up to 56.0, 57.0, and even 60.0 lbs. The top losing woman over the past couple years has lost 42.0 lbs in 12 weeks. So you need to take a look at the averages, and set your own goal.
Almost everyone falls short of what they want to lose, but that’s O.K. Most are pretty happy with what they did lose, and now they know how to do it again to take the rest of the weight off.
The other main purpose for the first week is to give them a food diary so they can start keeping track of what they should eat. It’s not so much to get them thinking about the quality of their foods, because we’ll cover that next week. It’s to determine how much they’re eating—the quantity of food.
Most women don’t eat enough, and most men are overeaters, so this will help them see where they land. It also gets them in the habit of thinking about what they’re eating. Research shows that people who write it down lose more weight than those who don’t.
When they come back next week, they’ll bring their diaries, and they’ll learn how to figure out their minimum calories needed, and a good calorie target to shoot for each day. We’ll also start talking about the quality of foods and how to make better choices.
It’s going to be a wild 12 weeks—it always is. At least half of them will drop out before it’s over—they always do. Some will have good reasons, but many won’t. It just won’t be their time to lose the weight, I guess.
When life intrudes, and it will, you have to make choices and stick with it to get what you want. Sometimes those choices aren’t easy, but if you’re trying to do the right thing, it will usually work out in the end.
I hope that this new group of 27 Biggest Losers can learn how to make those tough choices and keep focused on the goal. That will serve them well if they can do it. Next week, we’ll have the weight loss results from Week One.
The tests have two purposes. First, the tests give us a benchmark to measure against when everyone does the test again at the end of the 12 weeks. Second, the fitness tests give everyone an idea of how out of shape they really are.
For many new participants, the tests feel like an actual workout, even though they’re really not. So, at least for the first day, they serve as their first workout. When they come back next Friday night for their first “real” workout, they’ll realize how easy the tests actually were.
The goal in the first week is always to get everyone moving. While some of them have already been engaged in fitness programs and even looking at their diets, many, if not most of them haven’t. So it’s not important how much they do, just that they do something every day.
To that end, I asked them all to try and start their day with a one mile walk in the morning. For most people, a 3.0 mph pace is pretty comfortable, so it will only take them 20 minutes to cover the mile. Getting moving early is a good way to crank up your metabolism so you’ll burn more calories throughout the day.
Later in the day, they’ll do their “real” workout for the day. This will consist of weight training on the machines three days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri), and cardio workouts on the treadmills, elliptical trainers, bikes, or walking/jogging outside on the other days (Tue, Thur, Sat). Once a week, they can take a day off, unless they want to go for a walk.
Weight training on the machines can be as simple as going through the circuit one time, after a 10 minute cardio warm-up that gets their blood flowing and joints warmed up. A typical circuit will take 20-30 minutes. Their goal is to set the machines on weights light enough to get 12-15 repetitions. If it’s easy, then next time they can try a slightly heavier weight.
On the cardio days, their goal is to get at least 20-30 minutes of exercise. It can be all on one piece of cardio equipment, or divided up between several things. As they get stronger and build up their endurance, they’ll want to stretch it out to 30-45 minutes, or even an hour.
Another thing they’ll want to be thinking about is what their weight loss goal is for the 12 weeks. Guys tend to lose more than gals for several reasons. They usually have more muscle, so they can push harder, burning more calories. They also have a different hormone mix which tends to influence weight loss.
A good way to set a goal is to look at what other people have done. Last time, the top seven guys lost 44.0, 36.4, 34.2, 32.4, 30.1, 29.8, and 27.6 lbs respectively. The top seven gals lost 34.2, 19.4, 18.4, 17.4, 15.0, 13.6, and 13.2 lbs respectively.
In the past, we’ve had guys lose even more, up to 56.0, 57.0, and even 60.0 lbs. The top losing woman over the past couple years has lost 42.0 lbs in 12 weeks. So you need to take a look at the averages, and set your own goal.
Almost everyone falls short of what they want to lose, but that’s O.K. Most are pretty happy with what they did lose, and now they know how to do it again to take the rest of the weight off.
The other main purpose for the first week is to give them a food diary so they can start keeping track of what they should eat. It’s not so much to get them thinking about the quality of their foods, because we’ll cover that next week. It’s to determine how much they’re eating—the quantity of food.
Most women don’t eat enough, and most men are overeaters, so this will help them see where they land. It also gets them in the habit of thinking about what they’re eating. Research shows that people who write it down lose more weight than those who don’t.
When they come back next week, they’ll bring their diaries, and they’ll learn how to figure out their minimum calories needed, and a good calorie target to shoot for each day. We’ll also start talking about the quality of foods and how to make better choices.
It’s going to be a wild 12 weeks—it always is. At least half of them will drop out before it’s over—they always do. Some will have good reasons, but many won’t. It just won’t be their time to lose the weight, I guess.
When life intrudes, and it will, you have to make choices and stick with it to get what you want. Sometimes those choices aren’t easy, but if you’re trying to do the right thing, it will usually work out in the end.
I hope that this new group of 27 Biggest Losers can learn how to make those tough choices and keep focused on the goal. That will serve them well if they can do it. Next week, we’ll have the weight loss results from Week One.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "12" STARTS THIS FRIDAY!
This week we’re taking a break between the last Biggest Loser groups and Biggest Loser “12” which starts this Friday, April 16th at 6:30 pm. There was much more participation in the Friday night group, so we’re going to drop the Saturday morning group for the time being.
If you want to participate Friday night, you need to come in and get registered right away. The administration fee is just $50.00 to participate in the 12-week community-wide Biggest Loser program.
It’s not necessary to belong to a gym, but it’s probably a good idea. There are several in the area to choose from, including the Y, Curves, and Tom’s. Some people have gotten good results working out at home, but they had enough equipment to get the job done: treadmill, elliptical, some free weights, and an exercise ball.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that people tend to do better losing weight in groups than on their own though, even if it’s a group as small as you and a friend. I think there are several reasons why.
There’s more accountability in groups. You know everyone else is going to show up, so there’s a little more pressure on you to show up, too. It’s the same thing with the weekly weigh-in. Every one else is working hard to lose weight, so you’re more likely to do what you have to do too.
It takes a lot of motivation to workout hard enough to lose weight. But when you’re working with others, it’s a little easier to do it yourself when you see them doing it too. There’s a group dynamic that kicks in that results in everyone doing much more than they might have done on their own.
People working out in the Biggest Loser groups are also following a proven plan. It’s not necessary to re-invent the wheel here. Certain things work. Others don’t. The idea is to get people moving, and then teach them how to raise the intensity each week to keep their bodies burning fat and building muscle.
They’re also learning how to eat right. Diets usually don’t work, but learning how to eat right does. If you want to lose weight, you’ve got to master what you’re putting in your mouth every day. In the end, women usually need to eat more, and men usually need to eat smaller portions. It’s also important to eat the right things.
People in the groups are also working on building healthy habits that lead to lasting weight loss. Experts say it takes a minimum of 21 repetitions to build a habit. If you do it everyday, that would take 3 weeks.
I’ve found that it takes people about a month to start getting results that you can really see. It takes two months to really make a difference, and if you give yourself 3 months, you can transform your life.
Some people will need two 12 week cycles to get where they want to be. Others will only need one. A few might need 3 or 4 cycles before they’re at their ideal weight. That’s O.K. They’ll have learned everything they need to know, and they’ll have good habits in place, so it will be just a matter of time.
It doesn’t mean that you need to continue working in the groups after your first one. Once you’ve lost some weight, gotten stronger, and learned what to do, it’s much easier to maintain your momentum on your own if you want. Still, quite a few people choose to continue to use the groups to help keep them on track.
So, what’s your schedule like? If you’re free on Friday nights for an hour, and you want to learn how to get that body where it needs to be, once and for all, you might want to join us. The 12 weeks will pass pretty quickly, and you could just have a new you at the other end!
If you want to participate Friday night, you need to come in and get registered right away. The administration fee is just $50.00 to participate in the 12-week community-wide Biggest Loser program.
It’s not necessary to belong to a gym, but it’s probably a good idea. There are several in the area to choose from, including the Y, Curves, and Tom’s. Some people have gotten good results working out at home, but they had enough equipment to get the job done: treadmill, elliptical, some free weights, and an exercise ball.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that people tend to do better losing weight in groups than on their own though, even if it’s a group as small as you and a friend. I think there are several reasons why.
There’s more accountability in groups. You know everyone else is going to show up, so there’s a little more pressure on you to show up, too. It’s the same thing with the weekly weigh-in. Every one else is working hard to lose weight, so you’re more likely to do what you have to do too.
It takes a lot of motivation to workout hard enough to lose weight. But when you’re working with others, it’s a little easier to do it yourself when you see them doing it too. There’s a group dynamic that kicks in that results in everyone doing much more than they might have done on their own.
People working out in the Biggest Loser groups are also following a proven plan. It’s not necessary to re-invent the wheel here. Certain things work. Others don’t. The idea is to get people moving, and then teach them how to raise the intensity each week to keep their bodies burning fat and building muscle.
They’re also learning how to eat right. Diets usually don’t work, but learning how to eat right does. If you want to lose weight, you’ve got to master what you’re putting in your mouth every day. In the end, women usually need to eat more, and men usually need to eat smaller portions. It’s also important to eat the right things.
People in the groups are also working on building healthy habits that lead to lasting weight loss. Experts say it takes a minimum of 21 repetitions to build a habit. If you do it everyday, that would take 3 weeks.
I’ve found that it takes people about a month to start getting results that you can really see. It takes two months to really make a difference, and if you give yourself 3 months, you can transform your life.
Some people will need two 12 week cycles to get where they want to be. Others will only need one. A few might need 3 or 4 cycles before they’re at their ideal weight. That’s O.K. They’ll have learned everything they need to know, and they’ll have good habits in place, so it will be just a matter of time.
It doesn’t mean that you need to continue working in the groups after your first one. Once you’ve lost some weight, gotten stronger, and learned what to do, it’s much easier to maintain your momentum on your own if you want. Still, quite a few people choose to continue to use the groups to help keep them on track.
So, what’s your schedule like? If you’re free on Friday nights for an hour, and you want to learn how to get that body where it needs to be, once and for all, you might want to join us. The 12 weeks will pass pretty quickly, and you could just have a new you at the other end!
Thursday, April 08, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK TWELVE-- "FINAL RESULTS"
This week marked the end of our most recent twelve week Biggest Loser programs. Overall, I was very pleased with the results, even though the drop out rate was pretty steep, especially in the Saturday group.
We started the twelve weeks with 29 participants in the Friday night group. By week ten, we’d lost only three people, but picked up two that had switched from Fridays. In the end, 17 of 28 made the final weigh-in.
The Saturday morning group didn’t fare so well. They started with 24 people, and by the halfway point, about half the group had dropped out for one reason or another—not counting the two that moved to Fridays! In the end, only 6 of the original 24 made the final weigh-in.
So out of 53 participants total, just 23 made the final weigh-in, for a 57 percent drop out rate, which was a little higher than the usual 50%. I think on Saturdays, there were a lot more activities competing for attention, and that might help explain it. The results were pretty good though, for those who were able to stick it out.
The Biggest Loser for week twelve from the Friday night group was Scot Grimes, who lost 1.6% of his body weight and 4.0 lbs. Penny Spinner, Scott Block, and Shawn Bowers, all tied for second place, losing 1.1%. Penny lost 1.8 lbs, Scott lost 2.2 lbs, and Shawn dropped 3.0 lbs. In the Saturday morning group, the winner for week twelve was Dale Rasmussen, who lost 1.4% of his body weight, and 3.4 lbs.
The overall Biggest Loser for Friday nights was Scott Block, who lost 18.4% of his body weight and a total of 44.0 lbs in the twelve weeks. His goal was to lose 40 lbs, so he’s quite happy with the results. Here’s how the rest of the Friday night group came out.
Name % lbs
1. Scott Block 18.4 44.0
2. Donnie Bartos 13.3 27.6
3. Scot Grimes 12.5 34.2
4. Jessica Trover 11.4 18.4
5. Nicole Clodfelter 11.1 34.2
6. Shawn Bowers 10.5 32.4
7. Sheri Tyler 8.7 19.4
8. Penny Spinner 8.7 15.0
9. Brett Block 7.3 11.1
10. Judy Rush 7.1 13.6
11. Melissa White 7.1 9.8
12. Tisha Brinkley 6.1 12.2
13. Karen Brown 5.6 13.2
14. Jackie Tyler 5.1 8.7
15. Brenda Lilley 5.1 8.0
16. Leslie Rush 3.6 6.2
17. Jamie Wheeler 2.7 4.2
The overall Biggest Loser for the Saturday morning group was Scott Dosch, who lost 13.8% of his body weight and 36.4 lbs during the twelve weeks. He said his next goal is to get down to 200 lbs by June, which would be another 26 lbs in eight weeks. I’m pretty sure he’ll do it. Here’s how the rest of the group fared.
Name % lbs
1. Scott Dosch 13.8 36.4
2. Brad Adams 12.5 30.1
3. Cheri Dosch 11.3 17.4
4. Dale Rasmussen 11.1 29.8
5. Shirley Fiscus 4.0 8.0
6. Cathy Kemper 3.1 5.8
All told, the 23 finishers lost a total of 440 lbs during the twelve weeks. That works out to an average weight loss of just over 19 lbs per person. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, ideal weight loss is 1-2 lbs a week, which works out to 12-24 lbs in twelve weeks. That puts the group average right square in the middle.
As we wrapped things up, we talked about the importance of keeping the weight off. While it’s a lot easier to maintain weight than lose it, it’s even easier to put it back on, so they’ll need to be vigilant with their diet and exercise program.
Another good strategy is to set new goals, whether it’s weight loss goals, running a 5K, or just buying some new clothing. One of the participants told me over the twelve weeks, she dropped from a size 12 to a size 4. Another lost 4 inches off his waist. That’s pretty motivating.
How about you? What motivates you? The next community Biggest Loser groups are forming now, and kick off in two weeks. The Friday night group will start on April 16th, and the Saturday morning group starts on the 17th.
You’ll need to get registered in advance and the administration fee is $50. You don’t need a membership to participate, but it’s recommended that you have one somewhere, like at Curves, at the Y, or here. Some people have success working out at home if they have enough equipment.
Whatever you decide, remember that whatever happens, time is going to pass anyway. You might as well get started now, so you can enjoy it. This could be the summer you get your body back!
We started the twelve weeks with 29 participants in the Friday night group. By week ten, we’d lost only three people, but picked up two that had switched from Fridays. In the end, 17 of 28 made the final weigh-in.
The Saturday morning group didn’t fare so well. They started with 24 people, and by the halfway point, about half the group had dropped out for one reason or another—not counting the two that moved to Fridays! In the end, only 6 of the original 24 made the final weigh-in.
So out of 53 participants total, just 23 made the final weigh-in, for a 57 percent drop out rate, which was a little higher than the usual 50%. I think on Saturdays, there were a lot more activities competing for attention, and that might help explain it. The results were pretty good though, for those who were able to stick it out.
The Biggest Loser for week twelve from the Friday night group was Scot Grimes, who lost 1.6% of his body weight and 4.0 lbs. Penny Spinner, Scott Block, and Shawn Bowers, all tied for second place, losing 1.1%. Penny lost 1.8 lbs, Scott lost 2.2 lbs, and Shawn dropped 3.0 lbs. In the Saturday morning group, the winner for week twelve was Dale Rasmussen, who lost 1.4% of his body weight, and 3.4 lbs.
The overall Biggest Loser for Friday nights was Scott Block, who lost 18.4% of his body weight and a total of 44.0 lbs in the twelve weeks. His goal was to lose 40 lbs, so he’s quite happy with the results. Here’s how the rest of the Friday night group came out.
Name % lbs
1. Scott Block 18.4 44.0
2. Donnie Bartos 13.3 27.6
3. Scot Grimes 12.5 34.2
4. Jessica Trover 11.4 18.4
5. Nicole Clodfelter 11.1 34.2
6. Shawn Bowers 10.5 32.4
7. Sheri Tyler 8.7 19.4
8. Penny Spinner 8.7 15.0
9. Brett Block 7.3 11.1
10. Judy Rush 7.1 13.6
11. Melissa White 7.1 9.8
12. Tisha Brinkley 6.1 12.2
13. Karen Brown 5.6 13.2
14. Jackie Tyler 5.1 8.7
15. Brenda Lilley 5.1 8.0
16. Leslie Rush 3.6 6.2
17. Jamie Wheeler 2.7 4.2
The overall Biggest Loser for the Saturday morning group was Scott Dosch, who lost 13.8% of his body weight and 36.4 lbs during the twelve weeks. He said his next goal is to get down to 200 lbs by June, which would be another 26 lbs in eight weeks. I’m pretty sure he’ll do it. Here’s how the rest of the group fared.
Name % lbs
1. Scott Dosch 13.8 36.4
2. Brad Adams 12.5 30.1
3. Cheri Dosch 11.3 17.4
4. Dale Rasmussen 11.1 29.8
5. Shirley Fiscus 4.0 8.0
6. Cathy Kemper 3.1 5.8
All told, the 23 finishers lost a total of 440 lbs during the twelve weeks. That works out to an average weight loss of just over 19 lbs per person. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, ideal weight loss is 1-2 lbs a week, which works out to 12-24 lbs in twelve weeks. That puts the group average right square in the middle.
As we wrapped things up, we talked about the importance of keeping the weight off. While it’s a lot easier to maintain weight than lose it, it’s even easier to put it back on, so they’ll need to be vigilant with their diet and exercise program.
Another good strategy is to set new goals, whether it’s weight loss goals, running a 5K, or just buying some new clothing. One of the participants told me over the twelve weeks, she dropped from a size 12 to a size 4. Another lost 4 inches off his waist. That’s pretty motivating.
How about you? What motivates you? The next community Biggest Loser groups are forming now, and kick off in two weeks. The Friday night group will start on April 16th, and the Saturday morning group starts on the 17th.
You’ll need to get registered in advance and the administration fee is $50. You don’t need a membership to participate, but it’s recommended that you have one somewhere, like at Curves, at the Y, or here. Some people have success working out at home if they have enough equipment.
Whatever you decide, remember that whatever happens, time is going to pass anyway. You might as well get started now, so you can enjoy it. This could be the summer you get your body back!
Friday, April 02, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK ELEVEN-- "WALL-E WORLD--OR IS THIS WHAT YOUR LIFE LOOKS LIKE?"
This week I had to chance to see a PIXAR movie called WALL-E. Placed somewhere in between Toy Story, Nemo, and Cars, somehow I missed it. Turns out it was one of the largest grossing opening movies, and a big one for Pixar, but I must have been out running somewhere.
There wasn’t a lot of dialogue which was pretty surprising for a kid’s movie. Usually, it’s non-stop. In the case of WALL-E, the lead character didn’t even talk, except for one word, which is pretty normal for a robot. The one word was his love interest’s name: EVE, who happened to also be a robot.
WALL-E was left behind on planet Earth to clean up the mess after everyone else left on a luxury space liner. I’m not quite sure how they fit everyone on there, but hey, it works. The sales pitch to humans to get them to leave Earth was pretty simple: “Enjoy your time away and let us (the corporation) clean it up.”
They were also told they wouldn’t have to do anything—just basically lounge around. That must have worked, because most people left. Meanwhile, WALL-E’s doing his job crushing trash and stacking it up into skyscraper size and shaped junk piles. He also saves assorted knick knacks that interest him, including an old shoe which happens to have a green plant growing inside of it.
One day, a space ship lands and he comes across a probe (EVE) out looking for life. After some interesting exchanges where he just about gets blasted, they meet each other and develop an interest in each other. But then, she finds the shoe with the green plant growing in it.
Immediately, she goes into lock down mode and apparently summons the space ship back. WALL-E tries to take care of her, but she just stays in lock down until the ship comes back to pick her up, and WALL-E too, as a stow-away. It turns out the ship travels to the space liner where the humans are, but it’s now 700 years since they’ve left Earth.
The people have robot servants and even robot chairs that take them everywhere they need to go. They never move—even the babies. Guess what. They’re all quite fat. So morbidly obese that they basically just sit in lounge chairs.
In the Captain’s cabin they show pictures of each captain’s tenure and the pictures tell the story. The first captain was in great shape, but each subsequent captain was bigger than the one before. No real surprise, since they don’t even get up and walk around.
Well, many of you might know the ending. The captain realizes that they should have been taking care of Earth and tries to go back, but the evil automatic pilot tries to stop him. Only WALL-E and EVE’s intervention save the day, and they all go back to Earth.
In the end, the people are seen planting and watering seeds so they can grow pizza (I know), and WALL-E and EVE go off happily ever after. It looks like everyone’s going to get some exercise, because they have quite a job in front of them. I love movies that have messages like this—especially kid’s movies.
Take B-Movie, for example. In that story, a bee sues humans for “stealing their honey” in a case on behalf of all the bees. They win their case, and none of the bees have to work anymore. But once they quit working, there’s an unanticipated effect—things quit growing because of the lack of pollination. So they take dramatic action to change things so the bees can go back to work!
I wonder how many parents talk to their kids about the movies. Or how many grandparents use the themes as lessons to educate their grandkids? Or do most of us just say, “Oh, that’s nice” and just go on with our business?
WALL-E had such a strong message that I was pretty surprised because it wasn’t all that politically correct. You’re not supposed to tell people that they’re fat, but guess what? Lounge around and quit moving and you’re going to get fat—just like in the movie!
It’s the same thing with B-Movie. Everything we do has consequences, and we reap what we sow. Work is important, and we all have a job to do. These things are just as true in real life as they were in the movies.
I wish I’d have seen the movies when they first came out because I would have taken their messages into my Karate for Kids classes. We’re trying to keep them moving, and it would have given me something they could relate to. But I’ll bet the kids will remember, so I’m going to use those examples anyway, just like I’m doing here. I figure some of you have seen WALL-E with your kids, but maybe some of you haven’t.
So I’ll say it again. Lounge around and quit moving and you’re going to get fat—just like in WALL-E’s world. It’s something our Biggest Losers need to think about too. It’s a lot easier to put the pounds back on than it was to take them off.
After eleven weeks, these guys and gals know what to do and how to do it. Some of them have really figured it out and by now have had some awesome results. Most of them are still working at it, but are making pretty good progress. If they quit moving, though, they run the risk of putting it ALL back on! I’ve seen it happen more times than you might imagine.
The Friday night Biggest Loser was Scott Block, who’s definitely not been lounging around. He lost 1.7% of his body weight and 3.4 lbs this week. All told, he’s lost 41.8 lbs, and 17.5% of his body weight in just 11 weeks, and he told me he doesn’t plan on putting any of it back on!
Second place went to Nicole Clodfelter, who lost 1.0% and 2.8 lbs and was the only Biggest Loser to show up for the 5K challenge in Charleston! It was really cold, windy, and she even had to run through some really wet grass. Nicole’s lost 32.4 lbs overall.
Third place went to Jackie Tyler, who ran her 5K back in the gym and pushed herself pretty hard, too, getting a time of 31:53. She also lost about half a percent and a pound, and has lost 10.0 lbs overall.
The Saturday morning Biggest Loser was once again Melissa White, who lost 1.7% and 2.2 lbs. Dale Rasmussen also placed second again, losing 1.5% and 3.8 lbs. Melissa’s lost just about 10.0 lbs so far, and Dale’s lost 26.4 lbs total.
Don’t forget to get signed up for our next community wide Biggest Loser groups which start on either Friday, April 16th or Saturday, April 17th. The administration fee is just $50 and you don’t have to be a member to participate—although you should probably be a member somewhere. Remember, if you just lounge around and quit moving, you’re going to get fat!
There wasn’t a lot of dialogue which was pretty surprising for a kid’s movie. Usually, it’s non-stop. In the case of WALL-E, the lead character didn’t even talk, except for one word, which is pretty normal for a robot. The one word was his love interest’s name: EVE, who happened to also be a robot.
WALL-E was left behind on planet Earth to clean up the mess after everyone else left on a luxury space liner. I’m not quite sure how they fit everyone on there, but hey, it works. The sales pitch to humans to get them to leave Earth was pretty simple: “Enjoy your time away and let us (the corporation) clean it up.”
They were also told they wouldn’t have to do anything—just basically lounge around. That must have worked, because most people left. Meanwhile, WALL-E’s doing his job crushing trash and stacking it up into skyscraper size and shaped junk piles. He also saves assorted knick knacks that interest him, including an old shoe which happens to have a green plant growing inside of it.
One day, a space ship lands and he comes across a probe (EVE) out looking for life. After some interesting exchanges where he just about gets blasted, they meet each other and develop an interest in each other. But then, she finds the shoe with the green plant growing in it.
Immediately, she goes into lock down mode and apparently summons the space ship back. WALL-E tries to take care of her, but she just stays in lock down until the ship comes back to pick her up, and WALL-E too, as a stow-away. It turns out the ship travels to the space liner where the humans are, but it’s now 700 years since they’ve left Earth.
The people have robot servants and even robot chairs that take them everywhere they need to go. They never move—even the babies. Guess what. They’re all quite fat. So morbidly obese that they basically just sit in lounge chairs.
In the Captain’s cabin they show pictures of each captain’s tenure and the pictures tell the story. The first captain was in great shape, but each subsequent captain was bigger than the one before. No real surprise, since they don’t even get up and walk around.
Well, many of you might know the ending. The captain realizes that they should have been taking care of Earth and tries to go back, but the evil automatic pilot tries to stop him. Only WALL-E and EVE’s intervention save the day, and they all go back to Earth.
In the end, the people are seen planting and watering seeds so they can grow pizza (I know), and WALL-E and EVE go off happily ever after. It looks like everyone’s going to get some exercise, because they have quite a job in front of them. I love movies that have messages like this—especially kid’s movies.
Take B-Movie, for example. In that story, a bee sues humans for “stealing their honey” in a case on behalf of all the bees. They win their case, and none of the bees have to work anymore. But once they quit working, there’s an unanticipated effect—things quit growing because of the lack of pollination. So they take dramatic action to change things so the bees can go back to work!
I wonder how many parents talk to their kids about the movies. Or how many grandparents use the themes as lessons to educate their grandkids? Or do most of us just say, “Oh, that’s nice” and just go on with our business?
WALL-E had such a strong message that I was pretty surprised because it wasn’t all that politically correct. You’re not supposed to tell people that they’re fat, but guess what? Lounge around and quit moving and you’re going to get fat—just like in the movie!
It’s the same thing with B-Movie. Everything we do has consequences, and we reap what we sow. Work is important, and we all have a job to do. These things are just as true in real life as they were in the movies.
I wish I’d have seen the movies when they first came out because I would have taken their messages into my Karate for Kids classes. We’re trying to keep them moving, and it would have given me something they could relate to. But I’ll bet the kids will remember, so I’m going to use those examples anyway, just like I’m doing here. I figure some of you have seen WALL-E with your kids, but maybe some of you haven’t.
So I’ll say it again. Lounge around and quit moving and you’re going to get fat—just like in WALL-E’s world. It’s something our Biggest Losers need to think about too. It’s a lot easier to put the pounds back on than it was to take them off.
After eleven weeks, these guys and gals know what to do and how to do it. Some of them have really figured it out and by now have had some awesome results. Most of them are still working at it, but are making pretty good progress. If they quit moving, though, they run the risk of putting it ALL back on! I’ve seen it happen more times than you might imagine.
The Friday night Biggest Loser was Scott Block, who’s definitely not been lounging around. He lost 1.7% of his body weight and 3.4 lbs this week. All told, he’s lost 41.8 lbs, and 17.5% of his body weight in just 11 weeks, and he told me he doesn’t plan on putting any of it back on!
Second place went to Nicole Clodfelter, who lost 1.0% and 2.8 lbs and was the only Biggest Loser to show up for the 5K challenge in Charleston! It was really cold, windy, and she even had to run through some really wet grass. Nicole’s lost 32.4 lbs overall.
Third place went to Jackie Tyler, who ran her 5K back in the gym and pushed herself pretty hard, too, getting a time of 31:53. She also lost about half a percent and a pound, and has lost 10.0 lbs overall.
The Saturday morning Biggest Loser was once again Melissa White, who lost 1.7% and 2.2 lbs. Dale Rasmussen also placed second again, losing 1.5% and 3.8 lbs. Melissa’s lost just about 10.0 lbs so far, and Dale’s lost 26.4 lbs total.
Don’t forget to get signed up for our next community wide Biggest Loser groups which start on either Friday, April 16th or Saturday, April 17th. The administration fee is just $50 and you don’t have to be a member to participate—although you should probably be a member somewhere. Remember, if you just lounge around and quit moving, you’re going to get fat!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK TEN-- "CHALLENGE YOURSELF"
This week let’s look at the benefits of challenging yourself. During the 12 weeks of Biggest Loser, the goal is to provide ever-increasing challenges to the group. By the end of the cycle, most of them are doing things they never thought they could do.
On the first day, during the fitness test, the 1 mile walk/run, a minute of pushups and a minute of sit-ups just about did them in. Most of them felt like that was a workout. But it wasn’t. It was just a fitness test.
Since then, they’ve done a month on machines, a month with free weights, with a bunch of cardio thrown in between. Then they did a Level III circuit workout with Wall Ball, Dumbbell cleans, Medicine Ball exercises, and Kettle Ball swings. That was an eye-opener. Last week, they did High Intensity Interval Training.
This week, the goal was to show them how to combine the interval training with the Level III workouts to make an even more fun and interesting workout. To that end, they walked/ran a quarter mile, and then did 25 pushups, 25 body squats, and 25 sit-ups—four times! That means they ran a mile, and did 100 pushups, body squats and sit-ups.
Like everything else, when they heard what they were going to do, they were a little nervous, because it sounds tough. It’s more than that. This type of workout is very deceptive. You start out thinking it’s not too bad, but by the time you get halfway through it, you realize you’re in for quite a challenge. By the third round, you wonder if you are going to be able to finish. In the last round, you’re just trying to hang on.
What makes it so difficult is that you’re caught between energy systems. It’s not completely anaerobic (without oxygen), but it’s not really aerobic either (with oxygen). The first several minutes of exercise are performed mainly by using energy stored directly in the muscles. This fuel is called glycogen, and is basically carbohydrates bound with water.
If you take off sprinting, you’ll use up glycogen until it runs out, and then you’ll feel like you’re gassed out. But if the workload isn’t too strenuous, you can keep going by using some free fatty acids already present in the blood, until your body starts using fats for fuel. It takes several minutes for this to kick in.
As time goes on, glycogen gets depleted, as do the free fatty acids in the blood. That leaves just fat for fuel, which burns in the presence of oxygen. That’s fortunate, because you’re probably breathing a little harder than normal to maintain the levels of oxygen needed to burn the fat.
If the workout gets too hard, you have to back off, because you can’t get enough oxygen in to burn enough fuel to keep it going. That’s why it’s good for people just starting out, to do walk/run intervals, rather than just try to take off running.
The other thing that made this workout difficult was the sheer amount of large muscles being used. It’s not just the running, but also the pushups hitting the upper body; the sit-ups working the core; and those body squats depleting all that glycogen from the lower body.
All that muscle requires even more oxygen to keep moving. Add it to the running demands and it becomes one tough form of high intensity interval training. If you want a challenge, and think you’re ready for it, give it a try.
It’s doing things like this and the workouts over the last couple weeks that are showing these guys and gals what they’re really made of. That’s why I want them to do the 5K walk/run in Charleston next weekend, in place of our usual workout.
Once they’ve made it through the 12 weeks, then they need to try to continue to find new challenges. Some of them will find more 5K runs and try to improve their times. Some might even try a half marathon (13.1 mi). Some will even tackle a full 26.2 mile marathon!
The main thing is to keep active and the best way to keep active is to find activities you like to do. If you can set a challenging goal a few months away, it will keep you training, and that will help keep the weight off.
It was a tough week for weigh-ins. A lot of people hit a plateau, and more than a few even gained some weight. That’s what happens when you get this many weeks into a weight loss program. It will be important for them to try and figure out what happened, and get off to a fresh start.
This week’s Biggest Loser from the Friday night group was Sheri Tyler, who lost 2.4% of her body weight and 5.0 lbs. Leslie Rush placed second, losing 2.2% and 3.6 lbs. Third place went to Scot Grimes who lost 1.1% and 2.6 lbs. Nicole Clodfelter placed fourth, losing about 1.0% and 2.4 lbs.
Scott Dosch was the Biggest Loser from the Saturday morning group, losing 1.5% of his body weight and 3.6 lbs. Jennifer Bowers placed second, losing 1.2% and 2.4 lbs. Dale Rasmussen lost 1.0% and 2.6 lbs to take third, and Cheri Dosch was fourth, losing about 1.0% and 1.0 lb.
On the first day, during the fitness test, the 1 mile walk/run, a minute of pushups and a minute of sit-ups just about did them in. Most of them felt like that was a workout. But it wasn’t. It was just a fitness test.
Since then, they’ve done a month on machines, a month with free weights, with a bunch of cardio thrown in between. Then they did a Level III circuit workout with Wall Ball, Dumbbell cleans, Medicine Ball exercises, and Kettle Ball swings. That was an eye-opener. Last week, they did High Intensity Interval Training.
This week, the goal was to show them how to combine the interval training with the Level III workouts to make an even more fun and interesting workout. To that end, they walked/ran a quarter mile, and then did 25 pushups, 25 body squats, and 25 sit-ups—four times! That means they ran a mile, and did 100 pushups, body squats and sit-ups.
Like everything else, when they heard what they were going to do, they were a little nervous, because it sounds tough. It’s more than that. This type of workout is very deceptive. You start out thinking it’s not too bad, but by the time you get halfway through it, you realize you’re in for quite a challenge. By the third round, you wonder if you are going to be able to finish. In the last round, you’re just trying to hang on.
What makes it so difficult is that you’re caught between energy systems. It’s not completely anaerobic (without oxygen), but it’s not really aerobic either (with oxygen). The first several minutes of exercise are performed mainly by using energy stored directly in the muscles. This fuel is called glycogen, and is basically carbohydrates bound with water.
If you take off sprinting, you’ll use up glycogen until it runs out, and then you’ll feel like you’re gassed out. But if the workload isn’t too strenuous, you can keep going by using some free fatty acids already present in the blood, until your body starts using fats for fuel. It takes several minutes for this to kick in.
As time goes on, glycogen gets depleted, as do the free fatty acids in the blood. That leaves just fat for fuel, which burns in the presence of oxygen. That’s fortunate, because you’re probably breathing a little harder than normal to maintain the levels of oxygen needed to burn the fat.
If the workout gets too hard, you have to back off, because you can’t get enough oxygen in to burn enough fuel to keep it going. That’s why it’s good for people just starting out, to do walk/run intervals, rather than just try to take off running.
The other thing that made this workout difficult was the sheer amount of large muscles being used. It’s not just the running, but also the pushups hitting the upper body; the sit-ups working the core; and those body squats depleting all that glycogen from the lower body.
All that muscle requires even more oxygen to keep moving. Add it to the running demands and it becomes one tough form of high intensity interval training. If you want a challenge, and think you’re ready for it, give it a try.
It’s doing things like this and the workouts over the last couple weeks that are showing these guys and gals what they’re really made of. That’s why I want them to do the 5K walk/run in Charleston next weekend, in place of our usual workout.
Once they’ve made it through the 12 weeks, then they need to try to continue to find new challenges. Some of them will find more 5K runs and try to improve their times. Some might even try a half marathon (13.1 mi). Some will even tackle a full 26.2 mile marathon!
The main thing is to keep active and the best way to keep active is to find activities you like to do. If you can set a challenging goal a few months away, it will keep you training, and that will help keep the weight off.
It was a tough week for weigh-ins. A lot of people hit a plateau, and more than a few even gained some weight. That’s what happens when you get this many weeks into a weight loss program. It will be important for them to try and figure out what happened, and get off to a fresh start.
This week’s Biggest Loser from the Friday night group was Sheri Tyler, who lost 2.4% of her body weight and 5.0 lbs. Leslie Rush placed second, losing 2.2% and 3.6 lbs. Third place went to Scot Grimes who lost 1.1% and 2.6 lbs. Nicole Clodfelter placed fourth, losing about 1.0% and 2.4 lbs.
Scott Dosch was the Biggest Loser from the Saturday morning group, losing 1.5% of his body weight and 3.6 lbs. Jennifer Bowers placed second, losing 1.2% and 2.4 lbs. Dale Rasmussen lost 1.0% and 2.6 lbs to take third, and Cheri Dosch was fourth, losing about 1.0% and 1.0 lb.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK NINE-- "THE POWER OF FOCUSED INTENSITY"
I always like the week where we teach the groups how to do high intensity interval training (HIIT). Since they’ve been learning how to turn it up with the Level III training in the weight room, it was time to teach them how to turn it up in the cardio room.
It’s always fun to watch them do something that they were pretty sure they couldn’t do. Once they learn they can hang through the Biggest Loser workouts, they realize they could have been doing much more in their workouts all along. Then it’s just a matter of working it in to their regular routines.
Here’s how HIIT works. Whatever kind of cardio machine you have available, hop on and get going at an easy pace. We’re going to use a scale of “perceived exertion” created by a doctor named Borg. Now stay with me, resistance is futile. OK, enough of the Star Trek jokes.
The scale Dr. Borg put together was based on how you feel during the exercise. Not everyone has access to heart rate monitoring, so this is pretty useful, especially with high intensity intervals.
Scale of Perceived Exertion:
0 This is like doing nothing. (Coach Potato Zone)
1 This is almost like doing nothing.
2 This still feels pretty light. (Not much Benefit Zone)
3 This finally feels like light exercise.
4 This feels like moderate exercise—no big deal. (Low Intensity Zone)
5 This is getting a little harder but still pretty easy.
6 This is getting harder but still pretty doable. (Cardio Zone)
7 This is harder and I’m breathing harder, too.
8 This feels very hard and talking is tough. (High Intensity Zone)
9 This is extremely hard—I can’t talk!
10 This is MAXIMAL—I have to stop!!! (Have to Quit Zone)
Once you’ve warmed up for a few minutes in the Low Intensity Zone (on a scale of 1-10, what feels like about a 4 or 5), take it up to the Cardio Zone (what feels like a 6 or 7) for a minute. Then back it off to the Low Zone for a minute. Then do another minute in the Cardio Zone, and another minute of rest in the Low Zone.
Now take it up to the High Intensity Zone for a minute (what feels like an 8). Remember, it’s based on what it feels like—not actual levels or miles per hour—it’s totally subjective. What feels like an 8 to you might feel like a 6 to someone who’s been doing it longer. Don’t worry about that.
After a minute in the High Zone, back off to the Cardio Zone for a minute. Then hit it again. After another minute in the High Zone, slow it down to the Cardio or Low Zone to catch your breath.
What’s going on there is a condition called oxygen debt. During the vigorous exercise, your body was making more demands than your heart and lungs could—basically you can’t breathe in and deliver enough oxygen to cover the demands being placed on your body.
So, after the vigorous exercise stops, you’ll have increased respiration for a while. Once your breathing slows down, your oxygen demands have been met, and your heart rate will return to normal too. This is actually a mark of fitness. The quicker your heart rate and breathing return to normal, the more fit you are.
Finally, after a minute of rest, take the workload up to the top of the High Zone—to what feels like a 9 on a scale of 1-10. Remember, a 10 would mean you have to stop, so don’t go there—just get it up to a 9. Try to do the exercise for a minute. Then take it back down to the Low Zone for a minute to recover.
In my experience, most people underestimate what they are capable of, and in our group workouts, it was no different. So we did another minute at what felt like a 9, so they’d push it even closer to the limit. For it to really be a 9, you’ve got to be thinking about quitting at 30 seconds, and really wanting to jump off around 45 seconds. It takes all your will to just stay on the thing until a minute has passed, but you can do it. That’s a nine.
After a minute of rest, I had them do one more interval at what felt like a 9, because I still didn’t think they were there. This time, they were all dying—a few actually had to jump off. The rest were able to hang, but it was tough. That’s when I knew it truly was a 9.
For the ones who had to stop for a moment, there was no shame in that, because they’d actually pulled a 10. Now they know their limits. The interesting thing is that next time, there’s a very good chance they’ll be able to do it, because their bodies will adapt to the increased workload. They’ll come back with more strength and endurance, and likely be able to hang for the entire minute.
Once we finished the last interval, we rotated machines so people on the treadmill could try some intervals on the bikes, or elliptical machines and so on. All told, they did about a half an hour of exercise between the different machines. It was obvious that it was one of the toughest—for some it was the toughest—workouts they’d ever experienced.
This weeks Biggest Loser from the Friday night group was once again Scott Block, who lost 1.9% of his body weight and another 3.8 lbs. This brings him to 38.0 lbs overall, in just nine weeks! Second place was a tie between Jessica Trover and Lori Marietta, both losing 1.5%. Jess lost 2.2 lbs and Lori lost 4.2 lbs. Casie High placed fourth, losing 1.3% and 2.2 lbs, and Judy Rush finished fifth, losing 1.2% and 2.2 lbs.
In the Saturday morning group, our Biggest Loser was Jamie Wheeler who lost 1.4% and 2.2 lbs. Dale Rasmussen was second, losing about 1.0% and 2.0 lbs. Only six people made the weigh-in due to other activities and conflicts, but quite a few have also dropped. While the Friday night group is mostly intact, about half the Saturday people have fallen off along the way.
With nine weeks down, and just three to go, it’s time to start thinking about Biggest Loser and the summer groups. Once again, we’re going to do a Friday night group, and a Saturday morning group to give people some flexibility. Sign-ups start in a couple weeks, and the first meetings will be Friday, April 16th, and Saturday, April 17th.
If you’ve been looking for something to help you make a change this summer, you need to think about joining in. And just like the current groups, there will be no prizes—the only prize to win, is really the best prize of all—the chance to get your body back!
It’s always fun to watch them do something that they were pretty sure they couldn’t do. Once they learn they can hang through the Biggest Loser workouts, they realize they could have been doing much more in their workouts all along. Then it’s just a matter of working it in to their regular routines.
Here’s how HIIT works. Whatever kind of cardio machine you have available, hop on and get going at an easy pace. We’re going to use a scale of “perceived exertion” created by a doctor named Borg. Now stay with me, resistance is futile. OK, enough of the Star Trek jokes.
The scale Dr. Borg put together was based on how you feel during the exercise. Not everyone has access to heart rate monitoring, so this is pretty useful, especially with high intensity intervals.
Scale of Perceived Exertion:
0 This is like doing nothing. (Coach Potato Zone)
1 This is almost like doing nothing.
2 This still feels pretty light. (Not much Benefit Zone)
3 This finally feels like light exercise.
4 This feels like moderate exercise—no big deal. (Low Intensity Zone)
5 This is getting a little harder but still pretty easy.
6 This is getting harder but still pretty doable. (Cardio Zone)
7 This is harder and I’m breathing harder, too.
8 This feels very hard and talking is tough. (High Intensity Zone)
9 This is extremely hard—I can’t talk!
10 This is MAXIMAL—I have to stop!!! (Have to Quit Zone)
Once you’ve warmed up for a few minutes in the Low Intensity Zone (on a scale of 1-10, what feels like about a 4 or 5), take it up to the Cardio Zone (what feels like a 6 or 7) for a minute. Then back it off to the Low Zone for a minute. Then do another minute in the Cardio Zone, and another minute of rest in the Low Zone.
Now take it up to the High Intensity Zone for a minute (what feels like an 8). Remember, it’s based on what it feels like—not actual levels or miles per hour—it’s totally subjective. What feels like an 8 to you might feel like a 6 to someone who’s been doing it longer. Don’t worry about that.
After a minute in the High Zone, back off to the Cardio Zone for a minute. Then hit it again. After another minute in the High Zone, slow it down to the Cardio or Low Zone to catch your breath.
What’s going on there is a condition called oxygen debt. During the vigorous exercise, your body was making more demands than your heart and lungs could—basically you can’t breathe in and deliver enough oxygen to cover the demands being placed on your body.
So, after the vigorous exercise stops, you’ll have increased respiration for a while. Once your breathing slows down, your oxygen demands have been met, and your heart rate will return to normal too. This is actually a mark of fitness. The quicker your heart rate and breathing return to normal, the more fit you are.
Finally, after a minute of rest, take the workload up to the top of the High Zone—to what feels like a 9 on a scale of 1-10. Remember, a 10 would mean you have to stop, so don’t go there—just get it up to a 9. Try to do the exercise for a minute. Then take it back down to the Low Zone for a minute to recover.
In my experience, most people underestimate what they are capable of, and in our group workouts, it was no different. So we did another minute at what felt like a 9, so they’d push it even closer to the limit. For it to really be a 9, you’ve got to be thinking about quitting at 30 seconds, and really wanting to jump off around 45 seconds. It takes all your will to just stay on the thing until a minute has passed, but you can do it. That’s a nine.
After a minute of rest, I had them do one more interval at what felt like a 9, because I still didn’t think they were there. This time, they were all dying—a few actually had to jump off. The rest were able to hang, but it was tough. That’s when I knew it truly was a 9.
For the ones who had to stop for a moment, there was no shame in that, because they’d actually pulled a 10. Now they know their limits. The interesting thing is that next time, there’s a very good chance they’ll be able to do it, because their bodies will adapt to the increased workload. They’ll come back with more strength and endurance, and likely be able to hang for the entire minute.
Once we finished the last interval, we rotated machines so people on the treadmill could try some intervals on the bikes, or elliptical machines and so on. All told, they did about a half an hour of exercise between the different machines. It was obvious that it was one of the toughest—for some it was the toughest—workouts they’d ever experienced.
This weeks Biggest Loser from the Friday night group was once again Scott Block, who lost 1.9% of his body weight and another 3.8 lbs. This brings him to 38.0 lbs overall, in just nine weeks! Second place was a tie between Jessica Trover and Lori Marietta, both losing 1.5%. Jess lost 2.2 lbs and Lori lost 4.2 lbs. Casie High placed fourth, losing 1.3% and 2.2 lbs, and Judy Rush finished fifth, losing 1.2% and 2.2 lbs.
In the Saturday morning group, our Biggest Loser was Jamie Wheeler who lost 1.4% and 2.2 lbs. Dale Rasmussen was second, losing about 1.0% and 2.0 lbs. Only six people made the weigh-in due to other activities and conflicts, but quite a few have also dropped. While the Friday night group is mostly intact, about half the Saturday people have fallen off along the way.
With nine weeks down, and just three to go, it’s time to start thinking about Biggest Loser and the summer groups. Once again, we’re going to do a Friday night group, and a Saturday morning group to give people some flexibility. Sign-ups start in a couple weeks, and the first meetings will be Friday, April 16th, and Saturday, April 17th.
If you’ve been looking for something to help you make a change this summer, you need to think about joining in. And just like the current groups, there will be no prizes—the only prize to win, is really the best prize of all—the chance to get your body back!
Monday, March 08, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK EIGHT -- "TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL"
This week marked the end of their second month, and it was time for something different. They spent the first month working on the machines (Level I), and the second month getting comfortable using free weights, primarily dumbbells (Level II).
Now that they know their way around the weight room, it’s time to take it up a notch and find something to bring them to the next level. Typically, if someone keeps doing the same thing, their results will start to slow, sometimes even grinding to a halt—that dreaded plateau in weight loss.
At that time, the thing to do is to change it up and find things that the body isn’t used to. Remember, if you can already do it, your body has no reason to change. That’s why you can walk several miles a day and not lose weight. Your body is already used to it.
That was the reason for the Level III workout this week. Where before each exercise consisted of performing one movement and using one muscle group, Level III workouts are made up of compound exercises. These are exercises that have two or more movements at a time, and use more than one muscle group to get the job done.
I split the group up into four stations that rotated between four exercises. Each group stayed with one exercise for a minute, and then moved on to the next exercise as the group rotated. When each group got through all four exercises they’d completed one round. The total workout consisted of five rounds of the circuit, for a total of twenty minutes.
It sounds pretty easy, but it’s not. By the time the Biggest Losers made it into the third round, most everyone was huffing and puffing, and sweat was flowing freely. In the fourth round, they were looking forward to finishing. By the time they got through the last four minutes, they were ready to stop. Here’s what they did.
Station One was “Wall Ball”, where they squat holding a 10-20 lb ball, depending on their size, as they come back up from the squat, they throw the ball up above them and bounce it off the wall, catching it when it comes back down. Then they squat again, doing the entire exercise again for a minute.
Station Two was “Single Arm Cleans” with a dumbbell. From a squatting position, they hold the dumbbell in one hand, between their feet. With an explosive pulling movement, they kind of jump up a bit while jerking the weight from the ground, all the way in a straight line up their body until they are holding it straight over head. Then they put the weight back down between their feet and repeat the exercise. After doing several, they switched arms, continuing for a minute.
Station Three was the “Ball Station.” Here, they partnered up back-to back, and passed a medicine ball back and forth by twisting from side to side. In later rounds they switched the direction that they handed off the ball, even catching it over one person’s head while the other one hiked it like a football. The final round consisted of “woodchoppers” where one person holds the ball on the floor between their feet, and then lifts it overhead while twisting to the side, before bringing it back down, and then back up to the other side.
The fourth and final station was “Kettle Ball Swings.” A kettle ball is basically a steel ball with a handle sticking out, that’s large enough to hold on to. Here they held it with two hands and brought it back between their legs while squatting down. As their arms bounce off the inside of the legs, they brought their arms and the kettle ball back up by using their hips and shoulders, continuing the movement until the kettle ball was straight overhead. It was important to keep a tight grip so the kettle ball wouldn’t swing down and bonk their noodles—but everyone survived!
All four exercises required a great deal of core activity to keep their bodies straight and in position, especially when holding the weights overhead. They also required both their upper and lower bodies to be active throughout the movements, which meant the core was working as well to help them transfer energy from one area to the other.
Another benefit is that the weight training almost becomes cardio, as evidence by all the huffing and puffing in the later rounds. By the time you get 15 or 20 minutes in, you’re pretty gassed, because using all those different muscles at the same time increases your energy demands significantly. That means you need more oxygen to keep things going, and that means you’ll get a cardio workout too.
1. Wall Ball
2. Single Arm DB Cleans
3. Partner Drills with Medicine Ball (Back and forth, side to side, over and under), and Wood Choppers
4. Kettle Ball Swings
All in all, I think the workout was a real hit. Even though they were all pretty tired after just 20 minutes, there was quite a bit of laughter throughout—always a good sign that a workout’s a success. You might give it a try yourself. Make sure you get with someone who knows how to perform the movements correctly, and try them with fairly light weights until you feel pretty comfortable with them.
Next week we’ll teach them another way to boost the intensity with some high intensity interval training. They’ll also get some more information about the required 5 K walk/run over in Charleston on Saturday, March 27th.
This week’s Friday night Biggest Loser was Donnie Bartos, who lost 2.4% of his body weight and 4.4 lbs. Second place went to Karen Brown, who lost 2.1% and 4.8 lbs. Scott Block placed third, losing 2.0% and 4.2 lbs. Leslie Rush and Scot Grimes tied for fourth place, losing 1.4%. Leslie lost 2.4 lbs and Scot lost 3.4 lbs.
For the Saturday morning group, the Biggest Loser was Brad Adams, who lost 1.6% of his body weight and 3.6 lbs. Scott Dosch placed second, losing 1.4% and 3.4 lbs while Dawn Stewart was third, losing 1.2% and 2.4 lbs. Fourth place went to Cheri Dosch, who lost 1.0% and 1.4 lbs and Shirley Fiscus placed fifth, losing around 1.0% and 1.6 lbs.
Now that they know their way around the weight room, it’s time to take it up a notch and find something to bring them to the next level. Typically, if someone keeps doing the same thing, their results will start to slow, sometimes even grinding to a halt—that dreaded plateau in weight loss.
At that time, the thing to do is to change it up and find things that the body isn’t used to. Remember, if you can already do it, your body has no reason to change. That’s why you can walk several miles a day and not lose weight. Your body is already used to it.
That was the reason for the Level III workout this week. Where before each exercise consisted of performing one movement and using one muscle group, Level III workouts are made up of compound exercises. These are exercises that have two or more movements at a time, and use more than one muscle group to get the job done.
I split the group up into four stations that rotated between four exercises. Each group stayed with one exercise for a minute, and then moved on to the next exercise as the group rotated. When each group got through all four exercises they’d completed one round. The total workout consisted of five rounds of the circuit, for a total of twenty minutes.
It sounds pretty easy, but it’s not. By the time the Biggest Losers made it into the third round, most everyone was huffing and puffing, and sweat was flowing freely. In the fourth round, they were looking forward to finishing. By the time they got through the last four minutes, they were ready to stop. Here’s what they did.
Station One was “Wall Ball”, where they squat holding a 10-20 lb ball, depending on their size, as they come back up from the squat, they throw the ball up above them and bounce it off the wall, catching it when it comes back down. Then they squat again, doing the entire exercise again for a minute.
Station Two was “Single Arm Cleans” with a dumbbell. From a squatting position, they hold the dumbbell in one hand, between their feet. With an explosive pulling movement, they kind of jump up a bit while jerking the weight from the ground, all the way in a straight line up their body until they are holding it straight over head. Then they put the weight back down between their feet and repeat the exercise. After doing several, they switched arms, continuing for a minute.
Station Three was the “Ball Station.” Here, they partnered up back-to back, and passed a medicine ball back and forth by twisting from side to side. In later rounds they switched the direction that they handed off the ball, even catching it over one person’s head while the other one hiked it like a football. The final round consisted of “woodchoppers” where one person holds the ball on the floor between their feet, and then lifts it overhead while twisting to the side, before bringing it back down, and then back up to the other side.
The fourth and final station was “Kettle Ball Swings.” A kettle ball is basically a steel ball with a handle sticking out, that’s large enough to hold on to. Here they held it with two hands and brought it back between their legs while squatting down. As their arms bounce off the inside of the legs, they brought their arms and the kettle ball back up by using their hips and shoulders, continuing the movement until the kettle ball was straight overhead. It was important to keep a tight grip so the kettle ball wouldn’t swing down and bonk their noodles—but everyone survived!
All four exercises required a great deal of core activity to keep their bodies straight and in position, especially when holding the weights overhead. They also required both their upper and lower bodies to be active throughout the movements, which meant the core was working as well to help them transfer energy from one area to the other.
Another benefit is that the weight training almost becomes cardio, as evidence by all the huffing and puffing in the later rounds. By the time you get 15 or 20 minutes in, you’re pretty gassed, because using all those different muscles at the same time increases your energy demands significantly. That means you need more oxygen to keep things going, and that means you’ll get a cardio workout too.
1. Wall Ball
2. Single Arm DB Cleans
3. Partner Drills with Medicine Ball (Back and forth, side to side, over and under), and Wood Choppers
4. Kettle Ball Swings
All in all, I think the workout was a real hit. Even though they were all pretty tired after just 20 minutes, there was quite a bit of laughter throughout—always a good sign that a workout’s a success. You might give it a try yourself. Make sure you get with someone who knows how to perform the movements correctly, and try them with fairly light weights until you feel pretty comfortable with them.
Next week we’ll teach them another way to boost the intensity with some high intensity interval training. They’ll also get some more information about the required 5 K walk/run over in Charleston on Saturday, March 27th.
This week’s Friday night Biggest Loser was Donnie Bartos, who lost 2.4% of his body weight and 4.4 lbs. Second place went to Karen Brown, who lost 2.1% and 4.8 lbs. Scott Block placed third, losing 2.0% and 4.2 lbs. Leslie Rush and Scot Grimes tied for fourth place, losing 1.4%. Leslie lost 2.4 lbs and Scot lost 3.4 lbs.
For the Saturday morning group, the Biggest Loser was Brad Adams, who lost 1.6% of his body weight and 3.6 lbs. Scott Dosch placed second, losing 1.4% and 3.4 lbs while Dawn Stewart was third, losing 1.2% and 2.4 lbs. Fourth place went to Cheri Dosch, who lost 1.0% and 1.4 lbs and Shirley Fiscus placed fifth, losing around 1.0% and 1.6 lbs.
Friday, March 05, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK SEVEN -- "FAMILIES"
The Biggest Loser from the Friday night group was a tie between Scott and Brett Block, who both lost 2.2% of their body weight. Scott lost 4.8 lbs and Brett lost 3.2 lbs. Now that’s a family who sticks together!
Scott’s a farmer who gets a lot of exercise every day taking care of the cows and all the other things that farmer’s do. But even with that daily grind, over time, he put on some weight that he wanted to take off.
Brett’s a science teacher who’d been pretty active working out while her kids were in Taekwondo. Even with working out regularly, she also had a little extra that she was hoping to make disappear.
So we have a couple of pretty active people (who are actually a couple), that wanted to lose some weight together. To all outward appearances, they didn’t look overweight—they both carried their weight well. But they weren’t satisfied.
Some people have a lot of weight to lose; for others, the journey will be much quicker. We have people that need to lose 100 lbs, and while it can be done in six months if they’re extremely dedicated and disciplined, it’s better to take a year doing it.
For others like Brett and Scott, almost the entire journey can be done in 12 weeks of focused effort. We just finished week seven, so we’re just a little more than half way through, and Scott has lost a total of 30.0 lbs. That’s a little over four pounds a week! His total weight loss percentage is 12.5% of his body weight, which is enough to put him in the lead so far.
While Brett wanted to lose a little weight, she primarily joined the group to support her husband, and do it together, as a family. While her total weight loss is only 8.2 lbs, that’s pretty impressive too, because it’s over a pound a week! Her total weight loss percentage is 5.4%.
You have to remember, that as weight loss goes, the American College of Sports Medicine says healthy weight loss is between 1-2 lbs a week. Our mantra here is “One pound is good; two pounds is great; and three or more is fantastic.”
The Blocks aren’t the only couple doing Biggest Loser together. You may recall from earlier weeks, Scott and Cheri Dosch from the Saturday morning group have also put up some great numbers.
Scott says that he’d just let himself go over the years. Active in coaching, and keeping up with his kids, he felt that this Biggest Loser was his chance to get his body back. Cheri had been active and working out, and when Scott decided to join BL 11, she joined with him to show her support.
Scott got started the week before Biggest Loser, and lost 9 lbs! Over the last seven weeks, he’s lost an additional 20.8! His percentage of weight loss (in BL 11) is 7.9%, and he’s doing and feeling great. Cheri’s lost a total of 14.0 lbs in the seven weeks, with a percentage of weight loss of 9.1%, leading the Saturday morning group that weighed in this week.
Shawn and Jennifer Bowers are another couple of Biggest Loser Veterans, with several sessions behind them. Shawn does Friday nights while Jennifer does the Saturday morning group. They’ve found a way to work around their work schedules.
Shawn’s in second place overall on Friday nights, having lost 30.3 lbs and 9.9% of his body weight! Jennifer’s lost 15.2 lbs in the seven weeks, which amounts to 7.2% of her body weight. What makes this work is their commitment to their goal, in spite of scheduling difficulties—which are many.
Another couple is Jim and Tammy Huxford from the Friday night group. Jim’s lost 12.4 lbs in seven weeks, while Tammy has lost 4.8 lbs. They’re regulars in the gym and it’s easy to spot them—they’re the couple over their doing the workouts together!
While Donnie Bartos and Jessica catch their workouts in their home gym, they’ve had some great results too: Donnie’s lost 23.0 lbs and Jess has lost 15.0 lbs. Even Donnie’s mom is involved. An avid runner, and after a lengthy illness, Penny Spinner is glad to be back in action, losing 11.8 lbs in the seven weeks.
And there are some other families training together too. Sheri Tyler has lost 16.2 lbs while her daughter Jackie’s taken off 11.0 lbs. Judy Rush has lost 13.2 lbs and her daughter Leslie has dropped 3.8 lbs.
Quite a few friends have gotten involved as well. While there are always some stars doing it solo, I think the best situation is where participants bring someone with them for support. That way they can measure their work against their partner, and regardless who wins that week, they’re both the better for it.
Like I said earlier, we had a two-way tie for first place. Scott and Brett Block both lost 2.2% of their body weight, with Scott losing 4.8 lbs and Brett losing 3.2 lbs. Third place went to Jackie Tyler, who lost 2.0 and 3.2 lbs. Scot Grimes came in fourth, losing 1.6% and 4.0 lbs. Keeping it in the family again, Sheri Tyler came in fifth, losing 1.3% and 2.8 lbs.
For the Saturday morning group, Dawn Stewart placed first, losing 3.4% and an amazing 7.0 lbs. Second place went to Melissa White, who lost 1.1% and 1.4 lbs. Dale Rasmussen was third, losing about 1.0% and 1.4 lbs.
Scott’s a farmer who gets a lot of exercise every day taking care of the cows and all the other things that farmer’s do. But even with that daily grind, over time, he put on some weight that he wanted to take off.
Brett’s a science teacher who’d been pretty active working out while her kids were in Taekwondo. Even with working out regularly, she also had a little extra that she was hoping to make disappear.
So we have a couple of pretty active people (who are actually a couple), that wanted to lose some weight together. To all outward appearances, they didn’t look overweight—they both carried their weight well. But they weren’t satisfied.
Some people have a lot of weight to lose; for others, the journey will be much quicker. We have people that need to lose 100 lbs, and while it can be done in six months if they’re extremely dedicated and disciplined, it’s better to take a year doing it.
For others like Brett and Scott, almost the entire journey can be done in 12 weeks of focused effort. We just finished week seven, so we’re just a little more than half way through, and Scott has lost a total of 30.0 lbs. That’s a little over four pounds a week! His total weight loss percentage is 12.5% of his body weight, which is enough to put him in the lead so far.
While Brett wanted to lose a little weight, she primarily joined the group to support her husband, and do it together, as a family. While her total weight loss is only 8.2 lbs, that’s pretty impressive too, because it’s over a pound a week! Her total weight loss percentage is 5.4%.
You have to remember, that as weight loss goes, the American College of Sports Medicine says healthy weight loss is between 1-2 lbs a week. Our mantra here is “One pound is good; two pounds is great; and three or more is fantastic.”
The Blocks aren’t the only couple doing Biggest Loser together. You may recall from earlier weeks, Scott and Cheri Dosch from the Saturday morning group have also put up some great numbers.
Scott says that he’d just let himself go over the years. Active in coaching, and keeping up with his kids, he felt that this Biggest Loser was his chance to get his body back. Cheri had been active and working out, and when Scott decided to join BL 11, she joined with him to show her support.
Scott got started the week before Biggest Loser, and lost 9 lbs! Over the last seven weeks, he’s lost an additional 20.8! His percentage of weight loss (in BL 11) is 7.9%, and he’s doing and feeling great. Cheri’s lost a total of 14.0 lbs in the seven weeks, with a percentage of weight loss of 9.1%, leading the Saturday morning group that weighed in this week.
Shawn and Jennifer Bowers are another couple of Biggest Loser Veterans, with several sessions behind them. Shawn does Friday nights while Jennifer does the Saturday morning group. They’ve found a way to work around their work schedules.
Shawn’s in second place overall on Friday nights, having lost 30.3 lbs and 9.9% of his body weight! Jennifer’s lost 15.2 lbs in the seven weeks, which amounts to 7.2% of her body weight. What makes this work is their commitment to their goal, in spite of scheduling difficulties—which are many.
Another couple is Jim and Tammy Huxford from the Friday night group. Jim’s lost 12.4 lbs in seven weeks, while Tammy has lost 4.8 lbs. They’re regulars in the gym and it’s easy to spot them—they’re the couple over their doing the workouts together!
While Donnie Bartos and Jessica catch their workouts in their home gym, they’ve had some great results too: Donnie’s lost 23.0 lbs and Jess has lost 15.0 lbs. Even Donnie’s mom is involved. An avid runner, and after a lengthy illness, Penny Spinner is glad to be back in action, losing 11.8 lbs in the seven weeks.
And there are some other families training together too. Sheri Tyler has lost 16.2 lbs while her daughter Jackie’s taken off 11.0 lbs. Judy Rush has lost 13.2 lbs and her daughter Leslie has dropped 3.8 lbs.
Quite a few friends have gotten involved as well. While there are always some stars doing it solo, I think the best situation is where participants bring someone with them for support. That way they can measure their work against their partner, and regardless who wins that week, they’re both the better for it.
Like I said earlier, we had a two-way tie for first place. Scott and Brett Block both lost 2.2% of their body weight, with Scott losing 4.8 lbs and Brett losing 3.2 lbs. Third place went to Jackie Tyler, who lost 2.0 and 3.2 lbs. Scot Grimes came in fourth, losing 1.6% and 4.0 lbs. Keeping it in the family again, Sheri Tyler came in fifth, losing 1.3% and 2.8 lbs.
For the Saturday morning group, Dawn Stewart placed first, losing 3.4% and an amazing 7.0 lbs. Second place went to Melissa White, who lost 1.1% and 1.4 lbs. Dale Rasmussen was third, losing about 1.0% and 1.4 lbs.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- WEEK SIX -- FREE WEIGHT ROUTINE #2
This week the groups learned their second free weight routine. If you recall, free weights have several advantages over machines:
1. Since they aren’t guided, you have to use more stabilizer muscles when lifting free weights.
2. Since there are no pads to press against for support, you have to use your core more to keep your body in the right position.
3. Finally, there is no leverage advantage with dumbbells (DB) or barbells—you have to lift the entire weight yourself.
At first glance, these may seem like a negative, giving machines the edge. In reality, these are all good things. Using more muscles, using your core, and doing all the work mean it’s a more effective workout. That means you’ll burn more calories in the same amount of time, and also get a stronger, healthier body.
During the first four weeks, both groups used the machines to get things started. It let them build some base strength, and got them used to working out. For the last two weeks, they’ve been doing the first free weight routine.
But even with free weights, your body quickly adapts to a routine, with diminishing results. That’s why it’s important to change things up. It’s a simple matter to swap out the exercises they’ve been doing with others that still hit the same body parts, but are a little different.
Free Weight Routine #2
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your routine:
1. Use proper form. If you don’t know how to do the exercise, find someone who does.
2. Do the movements slowly. This can help protect you from injury, and also makes it a more intense workout. I like to teach what I call the 1-2 rule: 1 second raising the weight, and 2 seconds lowering it.
3. Remember to keep breathing. Don’t hold your breath.
4. Shoot for a total of three sets of each exercise and 10-12 repetitions each set.
5. Try to keep moving. While traditional bodybuilders will rest 30 seconds, a minute, or even up to two minutes between sets, that isn’t as productive if your goal is toning, or losing weight.
Here’s how I teach them to do routine #2. Do the Pec Flys and then go right to the Walking Lunges. Once you’ve done them both, do them both again back to back, and then again for a third time.
Now, do the Pullovers and Dead-Lifts back to back without a break, and then repeat the combo twice. After that, do the Arnold Press, Double Biceps Curl, and Tricep Kick-Backs all back to back without a break, then repeat each of those twice more times.
Finally, do Ab Routine #1-5. You can do each ab exercise say 10, 15 or 20 times, and then move on to the next one. Then, you can go back and repeat them all two more times. Or, an alternative method would be to just do as many as you could of the first one, or say 50 reps, before moving on to the next one. Good luck.
Last week the two groups also got a new goal: to walk/run a 5 K in Charleston, IL on Saturday, March 27th. I like to have each group do a 5 K sometime before the end of the twelve weeks. They’ve had six weeks of workouts already, and now just a month left to prepare. Come out and join us.
One person that impressed me this week was Karen Brown. She’s lost 50 lbs, but hasn’t been able to run lately. Finally, she took matters into her own hands (or feet), walking 7 miles on Sat and Sun and then 6 miles on Mon through Friday. That was 44 miles total and enough to put her in the top five.
This week’s Friday night Biggest Loser was Shawn Bowers who lost 2.8% of his body weight and an amazing 7.9 lbs. He attributed it to his running schedule and racquetball. Second place went to Tina Cooper who lost 2.0% and 3.6 lbs.
Karen placed third by losing 1.9% and that 4.4 lbs. Sheri Tyler took fourth with a loss of 1.5% and 2.0 lbs, and Jessica Trover was fifth with a loss of 1.3% and 2.0 lbs. Halfway through the 12 weeks, we’ve only lost one person from the Friday night group!
We’ve not fared so well in the Saturday morning group. Only half of the 24 made this week’s weigh-in. While I’m pretty sure a few have quit, I know some of the others are still active—it’s just been a matter of convenience for them. Saturdays are tough sometimes.
The Biggest Loser from that group was Shelly Harper, who lost 2.0% of her body weight and 4.0 lbs. Melissa White placed second, losing 1.2% and 1.6 lbs. Dale Rasmussen and Danielle Keys tied for third, losing 1.1% and 2.8 lbs, and Brad Adams finished fifth, losing around 1.0% and 2.1 lbs.
1. Since they aren’t guided, you have to use more stabilizer muscles when lifting free weights.
2. Since there are no pads to press against for support, you have to use your core more to keep your body in the right position.
3. Finally, there is no leverage advantage with dumbbells (DB) or barbells—you have to lift the entire weight yourself.
At first glance, these may seem like a negative, giving machines the edge. In reality, these are all good things. Using more muscles, using your core, and doing all the work mean it’s a more effective workout. That means you’ll burn more calories in the same amount of time, and also get a stronger, healthier body.
During the first four weeks, both groups used the machines to get things started. It let them build some base strength, and got them used to working out. For the last two weeks, they’ve been doing the first free weight routine.
But even with free weights, your body quickly adapts to a routine, with diminishing results. That’s why it’s important to change things up. It’s a simple matter to swap out the exercises they’ve been doing with others that still hit the same body parts, but are a little different.
Free Weight Routine #2
DB Pec Flys
Walking Lunges
DB Pullovers on Ball
DB Dead-Lifts
DB Arnold Press
DB Double Bicep Curl
DB Kick-Backs
Ab Routine #1-5:
Side Twists with Ball Obliques Crunches (bent knees)
Crunches (legs up in air)
Side Crunches (L knee bent)
Side Crunches (R knee bent)
Leg Lifts
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your routine:
1. Use proper form. If you don’t know how to do the exercise, find someone who does.
2. Do the movements slowly. This can help protect you from injury, and also makes it a more intense workout. I like to teach what I call the 1-2 rule: 1 second raising the weight, and 2 seconds lowering it.
3. Remember to keep breathing. Don’t hold your breath.
4. Shoot for a total of three sets of each exercise and 10-12 repetitions each set.
5. Try to keep moving. While traditional bodybuilders will rest 30 seconds, a minute, or even up to two minutes between sets, that isn’t as productive if your goal is toning, or losing weight.
Here’s how I teach them to do routine #2. Do the Pec Flys and then go right to the Walking Lunges. Once you’ve done them both, do them both again back to back, and then again for a third time.
Now, do the Pullovers and Dead-Lifts back to back without a break, and then repeat the combo twice. After that, do the Arnold Press, Double Biceps Curl, and Tricep Kick-Backs all back to back without a break, then repeat each of those twice more times.
Finally, do Ab Routine #1-5. You can do each ab exercise say 10, 15 or 20 times, and then move on to the next one. Then, you can go back and repeat them all two more times. Or, an alternative method would be to just do as many as you could of the first one, or say 50 reps, before moving on to the next one. Good luck.
Last week the two groups also got a new goal: to walk/run a 5 K in Charleston, IL on Saturday, March 27th. I like to have each group do a 5 K sometime before the end of the twelve weeks. They’ve had six weeks of workouts already, and now just a month left to prepare. Come out and join us.
One person that impressed me this week was Karen Brown. She’s lost 50 lbs, but hasn’t been able to run lately. Finally, she took matters into her own hands (or feet), walking 7 miles on Sat and Sun and then 6 miles on Mon through Friday. That was 44 miles total and enough to put her in the top five.
This week’s Friday night Biggest Loser was Shawn Bowers who lost 2.8% of his body weight and an amazing 7.9 lbs. He attributed it to his running schedule and racquetball. Second place went to Tina Cooper who lost 2.0% and 3.6 lbs.
Karen placed third by losing 1.9% and that 4.4 lbs. Sheri Tyler took fourth with a loss of 1.5% and 2.0 lbs, and Jessica Trover was fifth with a loss of 1.3% and 2.0 lbs. Halfway through the 12 weeks, we’ve only lost one person from the Friday night group!
We’ve not fared so well in the Saturday morning group. Only half of the 24 made this week’s weigh-in. While I’m pretty sure a few have quit, I know some of the others are still active—it’s just been a matter of convenience for them. Saturdays are tough sometimes.
The Biggest Loser from that group was Shelly Harper, who lost 2.0% of her body weight and 4.0 lbs. Melissa White placed second, losing 1.2% and 1.6 lbs. Dale Rasmussen and Danielle Keys tied for third, losing 1.1% and 2.8 lbs, and Brad Adams finished fifth, losing around 1.0% and 2.1 lbs.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" -- KICKS, HOTELS & TRAVEL TIPS
This Saturday our Karate Kids had a Taekwondo tournament over in Bloomington, IN so we had combined the Saturday morning BL group with the Friday night group for a kickboxing workout. It’s a fun class, very practical, and it burns a lot of calories.
Once someone takes the regular kickboxing class, they usually pick up some 12 or 16 oz boxing gloves so their hands will be more protected. Then they can hit the heavy bags, and that’s an absolute blast!
For this introductory class to our Biggest Losers, we did mostly partner drills, where the partner held the pads, while they practiced the 1-2 combination (Jab-Cross). Then we added ducking (1, 2, duck, duck), where the partner then swings the pad at their head after they punch. Finally, we added movement toward the targets to hit it, and back away, after the combination.
Then we worked on the back leg round kick to a low target in the same fashion. Finally, we put the kick together with the punches (1, 2 to the head, angle kick to the leg). This is probably the most realistic and effect combination you can do, from a self-defense perspective.
It’s always fun watching groups have fun with the timing and coordination. At first it’s awkward, moving in ways they’re not used to. Once they’ve had a chance to practice the timing, things smooth out a lot. By the end of the class, they were bobbing and weaving, and putting some pretty effective hands on target!
From a calorie standpoint, vigorous exercise burns about 10 calories a minute. So if the kickboxing class was 45 minutes, that’s about 450 calories. If it’s an hour, that’s about 600 calories.
I told you we had to reschedule the Saturday group because I was at the Taekwondo tournament with our Karate Kids. Now that’s some exercise. They all competed in forms, which are a predetermined series of movements—almost like a dance, except for the martial arts techniques. Some have said it’s a “dance of death.”
The kids (and a few adults) also competed in sparring, which is a match between two people where they’re both trying to hit or kick each other in specified target areas. They all wear a bunch of protective gear, plus they’re trying to “pull” their techniques, or just touch the other person, instead of just pounding on the other person.
The kids especially are encouraged to just lightly tap their opponent on the head with their feet, and they’re wearing foam headgear with a plastic face plate that covers the front of the face. They also wear a thick chest protector, and foam hands and feet.
The primary benefit of competition is learning. In forms, it’s all about making yourself do exactly what you want to do, without being distracted or losing focus. That’s tough to do. For kids, it’s a priceless lesson, because if they can learn to concentrate on that, other things become easier.
During sparring, the goal is to hit your opponent (who’s trying to hit you), without getting hit. It takes a good sense of distance and timing, and the ability to react instinctively—all important self defense skills. For kids especially, it’s a fun, safe environment where they can learn these skills without much risk of getting hurt.
Sometimes you do well, sometimes you don’t. The main thing is to learn something. I love it when the kids do well, but it’s when things don’t go as well, that the real lessons are learned. Things like perseverance and self-control.
At times like that, I try to get them to focus on something they did well that they’d been working on. Then, we try to pick one thing to work on that might help them do better next time.
If they can learn to overcome the disappointments, that to is training for life, because there will always be disappointments—it’s how you handle it that makes the difference. If a kid (or adult) can come back and try to improve, and then go back and take another shot at it, that’s priceless.
Finally, I thought I’d tell you a little bit about how I roll when I travel. Just because you’re on the road and away from your usual gym doesn’t mean you have to leave all the things you’ve learned behind.
After the tournament (which meant a night in the hotel Fri), I turned around and left for Nashville to work on some new songs. That meant another couple of nights in the hotel. I was lucky on the way down there because there’s a gym I like to stop and get a workout at, just about halfway.
Once I was there, though, it didn’t work out to find a local gym (the one I’d always used had closed down), and the other ones weren’t open on Sunday. It was too cold to go out for a run. So, I did the next best thing—I made up a hotel routine:
• Handstand pushups on the wall (you could do regular pushups)
• Body Squats
• Arm curls—with a hotel chair
• Sit-ups (variety)
• (5 rounds)
The workout was fast and furious, and over in about 15 minutes—I don’t have much patience with people that tell me they don’t have time to work out. Each exercise hit a different area of the body, and they all worked the core very well.
As far as eating, I followed the normal routine (except for the Oreo Blizzard on the way back home): a nice salad, some kind of chicken, some veggies, and I just ate some of the starch (potatoes, pasta, etc…). I even took some yogurt, cheese, and grapes with me so I’d have some healthy snacks.
The main thing is to just be mindful of the portions—especially with restaurants, because they give you way too much food. If you combine good sense and moderation with some workouts, it’s easy to maintain your weight, even when you’re traveling.
This week’s Biggest Loser from the Friday group was Donnie Bartos, who lost 2.4% of his body weight and 4.6 lbs. Second place went to Danielle Foley, who lost 2.1% and 3.2 lbs. Jackie Tyler placed third, losing 2.0% and 3.2 lbs. Lorie Marietta was fourth, losing 1.8% and 5.2.Casie High was fifth, losing 2.0% and 2.7.
The winner from the Saturday group was Jennifer Bowers, who lost 2.0% of her body weight and 4.0 lbs. Cheri Dosch was second, losing 1.5% and 2.2 lbs. Vicki Riggen was third, losing around 1.0% and 1.2 lbs. Brad Adams placed fourth losing 1.9 lbs, and Jamie Wheeler was fifth, losing 1.2 lbs.
Once someone takes the regular kickboxing class, they usually pick up some 12 or 16 oz boxing gloves so their hands will be more protected. Then they can hit the heavy bags, and that’s an absolute blast!
For this introductory class to our Biggest Losers, we did mostly partner drills, where the partner held the pads, while they practiced the 1-2 combination (Jab-Cross). Then we added ducking (1, 2, duck, duck), where the partner then swings the pad at their head after they punch. Finally, we added movement toward the targets to hit it, and back away, after the combination.
Then we worked on the back leg round kick to a low target in the same fashion. Finally, we put the kick together with the punches (1, 2 to the head, angle kick to the leg). This is probably the most realistic and effect combination you can do, from a self-defense perspective.
It’s always fun watching groups have fun with the timing and coordination. At first it’s awkward, moving in ways they’re not used to. Once they’ve had a chance to practice the timing, things smooth out a lot. By the end of the class, they were bobbing and weaving, and putting some pretty effective hands on target!
From a calorie standpoint, vigorous exercise burns about 10 calories a minute. So if the kickboxing class was 45 minutes, that’s about 450 calories. If it’s an hour, that’s about 600 calories.
I told you we had to reschedule the Saturday group because I was at the Taekwondo tournament with our Karate Kids. Now that’s some exercise. They all competed in forms, which are a predetermined series of movements—almost like a dance, except for the martial arts techniques. Some have said it’s a “dance of death.”
The kids (and a few adults) also competed in sparring, which is a match between two people where they’re both trying to hit or kick each other in specified target areas. They all wear a bunch of protective gear, plus they’re trying to “pull” their techniques, or just touch the other person, instead of just pounding on the other person.
The kids especially are encouraged to just lightly tap their opponent on the head with their feet, and they’re wearing foam headgear with a plastic face plate that covers the front of the face. They also wear a thick chest protector, and foam hands and feet.
The primary benefit of competition is learning. In forms, it’s all about making yourself do exactly what you want to do, without being distracted or losing focus. That’s tough to do. For kids, it’s a priceless lesson, because if they can learn to concentrate on that, other things become easier.
During sparring, the goal is to hit your opponent (who’s trying to hit you), without getting hit. It takes a good sense of distance and timing, and the ability to react instinctively—all important self defense skills. For kids especially, it’s a fun, safe environment where they can learn these skills without much risk of getting hurt.
Sometimes you do well, sometimes you don’t. The main thing is to learn something. I love it when the kids do well, but it’s when things don’t go as well, that the real lessons are learned. Things like perseverance and self-control.
At times like that, I try to get them to focus on something they did well that they’d been working on. Then, we try to pick one thing to work on that might help them do better next time.
If they can learn to overcome the disappointments, that to is training for life, because there will always be disappointments—it’s how you handle it that makes the difference. If a kid (or adult) can come back and try to improve, and then go back and take another shot at it, that’s priceless.
Finally, I thought I’d tell you a little bit about how I roll when I travel. Just because you’re on the road and away from your usual gym doesn’t mean you have to leave all the things you’ve learned behind.
After the tournament (which meant a night in the hotel Fri), I turned around and left for Nashville to work on some new songs. That meant another couple of nights in the hotel. I was lucky on the way down there because there’s a gym I like to stop and get a workout at, just about halfway.
Once I was there, though, it didn’t work out to find a local gym (the one I’d always used had closed down), and the other ones weren’t open on Sunday. It was too cold to go out for a run. So, I did the next best thing—I made up a hotel routine:
• Handstand pushups on the wall (you could do regular pushups)
• Body Squats
• Arm curls—with a hotel chair
• Sit-ups (variety)
• (5 rounds)
The workout was fast and furious, and over in about 15 minutes—I don’t have much patience with people that tell me they don’t have time to work out. Each exercise hit a different area of the body, and they all worked the core very well.
As far as eating, I followed the normal routine (except for the Oreo Blizzard on the way back home): a nice salad, some kind of chicken, some veggies, and I just ate some of the starch (potatoes, pasta, etc…). I even took some yogurt, cheese, and grapes with me so I’d have some healthy snacks.
The main thing is to just be mindful of the portions—especially with restaurants, because they give you way too much food. If you combine good sense and moderation with some workouts, it’s easy to maintain your weight, even when you’re traveling.
This week’s Biggest Loser from the Friday group was Donnie Bartos, who lost 2.4% of his body weight and 4.6 lbs. Second place went to Danielle Foley, who lost 2.1% and 3.2 lbs. Jackie Tyler placed third, losing 2.0% and 3.2 lbs. Lorie Marietta was fourth, losing 1.8% and 5.2.Casie High was fifth, losing 2.0% and 2.7.
The winner from the Saturday group was Jennifer Bowers, who lost 2.0% of her body weight and 4.0 lbs. Cheri Dosch was second, losing 1.5% and 2.2 lbs. Vicki Riggen was third, losing around 1.0% and 1.2 lbs. Brad Adams placed fourth losing 1.9 lbs, and Jamie Wheeler was fifth, losing 1.2 lbs.
Monday, February 01, 2010
BIGGEST LOSER "10 & 11" WEEK THREE "HAVE A BALL"
This week we showed them how to “have a ball” in their training by using an exercise stability ball for their entire workout. Stability balls can be used for a wide variety of exercises, and are always a great addition to any exercise program.
They did three exercises, while their partner did jogged three laps around the outside of the room. Then they rotated. After everyone finished round one, they learned another three exercises while their partner jogged, and so on. Before they knew it, they’d completed four rounds, and learned 12 new exercises. I’ve included the routine here in case you’d like to try it.
Here’s what you do. To perform a crunch on the ball, you start by lying down backwards with the center of the ball around the small of your back. Be careful not to get to far back beyond the ball because you could flip backward over the ball. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen—and it happens quite quickly!
But you also have to be far enough back on the ball to use your core. If your upper back is on the ball, you won’t be working your core enough, so you have to find that perfect balance point. Since the ball will want to roll, you have to use more abdominal muscles along with your other stabilizer muscles to try and keep the ball from moving while you rise up to a sitting position. That’s why they call it a stability ball.
Once you get comfortable with regular crunches, I like to start on the pushups. This time, get on the ball face down, and roll out until your hands are on the floor in front of the ball, and your shins or feet are on the ball. Just doing that can be a challenge.
Once you’re comfortable with that, it’s time to hold that plank-like position while doing pushups. The ball will want to roll to the side, so you’ll have to tighten your core, especially your oblique muscles (sides). It takes concentration to hold that ball steady, especially when you’re doing pushups!
The next exercise is a squat while holding the ball out in front of you. It provides a good counter-balance during the squatting motion, and also requires you to keep your upper body nice and straight. This also works a lot of core and stabilizer muscles.
Once you’ve done the crunch, the pushup, and the squat with the ball, you can learn some other exercises to get you through another 2 or 3 rounds. This time, instead of just a crunch, lean backwards and try to touch the floor with your hands. Then, sit-up all the way forward, and cross over your hands to touch the opposite foot. Repeat on the other side.
This time, instead of a pushup, you’ll maintain the pushup position but try to bring your knees into your chest. You’ll basically be rolling the ball in toward you. These are pretty tough, but doable.
For the squat, this time, hold the ball directly overhead and then squat. It’s much tougher than the other way. Remember to try to always keep your upper body upright, with good posture.
For the third round, lay on the ball again, but at the same time, try lifting one foot off the ground. Then do the other foot. Once you can maintain your balance, try doing the crunch like that.
In the pushup position, instead of doing the knee-in, you’ll be trying for a pike on the ball. While keeping your legs straight, lift your hips up in the air as high as possible. These are called pikes.
For the squat movement, do sumo squats this time. While holding the ball to your chest, lift one leg up in the air and then put it down in a wide stance. Then lift the other leg up high and put it down in a wide stance, and so on.
For the fourth and final round, you perform the exercise on your back on the floor, holding the ball with your feet, between your legs. Bring the ball up by lifting your legs, and grab the ball with both hands. Touch the ball to the floor behind your head with your arms outstretched while putting your feet back down on the floor. Then bring the ball back so you can grab it with your feet again, and so on.
In the pushup position on the ball, this time you’ll combine all three movements by doing a pushup, then bringing your knees in, and finishing with a pike. Repeat. This is pretty tasking.
The last lower body exercise is to do walking lunges while holding the ball overhead. Step far enough in front of you where your knee is bent but you can still see your toes. Make sure you bend your back leg, and come off your heel so that only the ball of your back foot is touching. Then step forward again with a walking lunge with the other leg.
These 12 exercises will definitely help you develop a strong core, and you’ll be working your whole body at the same time. The goal is to start working some of these exercises into your regular routine. Give them a try.
The Biggest Loser in the Friday night group was Chris Chapman, who lost 1.9% of his body weight and 3.8 lbs. Second place went to Shawn Bowers, who lost 1.8% and 5.2 lbs. Heather Gill took 3rd place, losing 1.6% and 2.4 lbs. Jim Huxford was 4th, losing 1.5% and 3.2 lbs, and Sheri Tyler and Scott Block tied for 5th, losing 1.4% and 3.0 and 3.2 lbs respectively.
In the Saturday morning group, the Biggest Loser was Jennifer Bowers, who lost 1.7% and 3.4 lbs. Cheri Dosch scored 2nd, by losing 1.6% and 2.4 lbs. Third place was a tie between Dale Rasmussen and Joan Brown, who both lost 1.2% and 3.2 lbs and 2.0 lbs respectively. Melissa White finished 5th, losing 1.0% of her body weight and 1.4 lbs.
They did three exercises, while their partner did jogged three laps around the outside of the room. Then they rotated. After everyone finished round one, they learned another three exercises while their partner jogged, and so on. Before they knew it, they’d completed four rounds, and learned 12 new exercises. I’ve included the routine here in case you’d like to try it.
Here’s what you do. To perform a crunch on the ball, you start by lying down backwards with the center of the ball around the small of your back. Be careful not to get to far back beyond the ball because you could flip backward over the ball. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen—and it happens quite quickly!
But you also have to be far enough back on the ball to use your core. If your upper back is on the ball, you won’t be working your core enough, so you have to find that perfect balance point. Since the ball will want to roll, you have to use more abdominal muscles along with your other stabilizer muscles to try and keep the ball from moving while you rise up to a sitting position. That’s why they call it a stability ball.
Once you get comfortable with regular crunches, I like to start on the pushups. This time, get on the ball face down, and roll out until your hands are on the floor in front of the ball, and your shins or feet are on the ball. Just doing that can be a challenge.
Once you’re comfortable with that, it’s time to hold that plank-like position while doing pushups. The ball will want to roll to the side, so you’ll have to tighten your core, especially your oblique muscles (sides). It takes concentration to hold that ball steady, especially when you’re doing pushups!
The next exercise is a squat while holding the ball out in front of you. It provides a good counter-balance during the squatting motion, and also requires you to keep your upper body nice and straight. This also works a lot of core and stabilizer muscles.
Once you’ve done the crunch, the pushup, and the squat with the ball, you can learn some other exercises to get you through another 2 or 3 rounds. This time, instead of just a crunch, lean backwards and try to touch the floor with your hands. Then, sit-up all the way forward, and cross over your hands to touch the opposite foot. Repeat on the other side.
This time, instead of a pushup, you’ll maintain the pushup position but try to bring your knees into your chest. You’ll basically be rolling the ball in toward you. These are pretty tough, but doable.
For the squat, this time, hold the ball directly overhead and then squat. It’s much tougher than the other way. Remember to try to always keep your upper body upright, with good posture.
For the third round, lay on the ball again, but at the same time, try lifting one foot off the ground. Then do the other foot. Once you can maintain your balance, try doing the crunch like that.
In the pushup position, instead of doing the knee-in, you’ll be trying for a pike on the ball. While keeping your legs straight, lift your hips up in the air as high as possible. These are called pikes.
For the squat movement, do sumo squats this time. While holding the ball to your chest, lift one leg up in the air and then put it down in a wide stance. Then lift the other leg up high and put it down in a wide stance, and so on.
For the fourth and final round, you perform the exercise on your back on the floor, holding the ball with your feet, between your legs. Bring the ball up by lifting your legs, and grab the ball with both hands. Touch the ball to the floor behind your head with your arms outstretched while putting your feet back down on the floor. Then bring the ball back so you can grab it with your feet again, and so on.
In the pushup position on the ball, this time you’ll combine all three movements by doing a pushup, then bringing your knees in, and finishing with a pike. Repeat. This is pretty tasking.
The last lower body exercise is to do walking lunges while holding the ball overhead. Step far enough in front of you where your knee is bent but you can still see your toes. Make sure you bend your back leg, and come off your heel so that only the ball of your back foot is touching. Then step forward again with a walking lunge with the other leg.
These 12 exercises will definitely help you develop a strong core, and you’ll be working your whole body at the same time. The goal is to start working some of these exercises into your regular routine. Give them a try.
The Biggest Loser in the Friday night group was Chris Chapman, who lost 1.9% of his body weight and 3.8 lbs. Second place went to Shawn Bowers, who lost 1.8% and 5.2 lbs. Heather Gill took 3rd place, losing 1.6% and 2.4 lbs. Jim Huxford was 4th, losing 1.5% and 3.2 lbs, and Sheri Tyler and Scott Block tied for 5th, losing 1.4% and 3.0 and 3.2 lbs respectively.
In the Saturday morning group, the Biggest Loser was Jennifer Bowers, who lost 1.7% and 3.4 lbs. Cheri Dosch scored 2nd, by losing 1.6% and 2.4 lbs. Third place was a tie between Dale Rasmussen and Joan Brown, who both lost 1.2% and 3.2 lbs and 2.0 lbs respectively. Melissa White finished 5th, losing 1.0% of her body weight and 1.4 lbs.
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