The Misguided Trainer!

It is so funny to talk about to people about fitness, losing weight, weight lifting, or even athlete development these days because there is just so much blah, blah, blah, ba-blah, ba-blah, ba-blah. To me it's kind of like discussing politics with people because once someone is stuck in there own views or way there is no changing it. For me as a fitness professional and just being a person who is willing to learn new things not it can only make sense for me to learn  to learn and try new things. Learning and trying new methods to educate yourself is what helps you find out if something is more effective than another thing. Learning new ideas is what helps me be innovative in my own way to develop into my general templates that I use for programming on clients and myself.

I love discussing any sort of topic that I have general knowledge and experience in because I always want to expand and grow as coach/trainer and as fitness professional. I do not like discussing topics with people who legitimately think they have things figured out. I got caught into a conversation a few weeks ago about the most effective way for fat loss/weight loss. This is my area that I have spent my education and development as a trainer and coach in for the past 4 years or so. This is a topic that really I think right now does not have any debate in right now. It truly is black and white to me at this point.

The number one reason people hire a trainer still to this date is for weight loss. People are willing to make the investment in themselves and the trainer to help them accomplish a certain goal. When someone is willing to make the commitment with me it is and will be an educational experience I think more than anything. If someone wants and needs to lose 30lbs, how are they going to get there? Well, more often than not people these days only have a certain amount of time in their day and there week to grab a workout. The question is, What are you going to do in this limited amount of time each week that is going to give you the most "bang for your buck.?"

When trainers and people are being educated in the fitness field what are they being taught as to what is the most effective method of losing those last few pounds. Here's a little fun fact. The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), the American Counsel of Exercise (ACE), and the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) are 4 of the most well known fitness certifications in the world today. The 4 certification manuals have a combined total of 2919 pages of fitness certification information. There is only a total of 57 pages, which is 1.9% of the information in these manuals that is displayed for program design for weight loss. Mainly there is only talk about nutrition. That is absolutely mind blowing to me. The main reason people hire trainers is for weight loss and there is no information on program design when trainers and fitness people are getting educated. And if our fitness professionals are not being educated then what makes you think that you know it all?

When coming across all of this information it really makes you think. Does everything that we have every been told about getting fit and losing weight really make sense? What I have come to find out is that it really doesn't. If I told you to hop on 1 leg for 30 minutes for your workout out today you might think I was crazy. So why is it ok to hop back and forth on your legs for 30 minutes during a run? Roughly during a 30 minutes run you will have 1300-1600 repetitions. Also, there is about 4 times your body weight of added pressure on your joints per step.If you weigh 150lbs that would be a total of about 224,000lbs of pressure your body has to endure just in 30 minutes. From a safety standpoint not very smart. Running is a plyometric movement. Plyometrics are actually very advanced when it comes to using them in programming. Not an ideal starting point.

It really interests me when people are giving out advice to people on as to what to get started on when they first start an exercise program. Obviously, the information be giving out over the past 30 years or so has not been so great, considering we are the most overweight and obese nation ever and it is still rising. Basically, the last 30 years of losing weight has been to go for a walk, jog, elliptical ride, sit your a** on these machines, do some crunches, dance in one place to this ridiculous music, or take this magic supplement. (Great Advice!)

What information should we be giving people and what should our trainers be educated on? When it comes to program design I use Alwyn Cosgrove's Hierarchy of Fat Loss formula (If you don't know who Alwyn Cosgrove is...google him)

1.) Correct Nutriton
2.)See Number 1
3.)Activities that burn calories, maintain/promote muscle mass and elevate metabolism
4.)Activites that burn calories and elevate metabolism
5.) Activities that burn calories but don't necessarily maintain muscle mass or elevate metabolism

Training Formula

1.) Metabolic acceleration resistance training/strength training
2.)High Intensity Anaerobic Interval Training
3.) High Intensity Aerobic Training
4.)Low Intensity Aerobic Training

-If you have only 3-4 hours per week use only #1
-If you have 4-6 hours per week use #1 and #2
-If you have 6-8 hours available add #3
-If you have more than that available add #4

Its all about prioritizing your workouts. If only have 30 minutes to workout, what are you going to do in those 30 minutes to maximize your time. It's pretty black and white to me. Walking, jogging, ellipical, yoga, or pilates cannot compare to a quality resistance training program. If you are seeking out information from a trainer, coach, or your best friend and they are not talking about metabolic resistance training for fat loss/weight loss then I would total disregard what they are saying. The times have changed. The studies are there, we are just not being educated on these studies! Here are some studies again to help people understand more of what I'm talking about

Hunter et al

This study compared three groups:
Diet only, Diet plus aerobic training and aDiet plus resistance training group to determine what effect diet-induced weight loss in combination with exercise training has on body composition and resting energy expenditure.
With similar weight loss – the results showed that only the resistance training group maintained their lean mass and resting energy expenditure (metabolism). The aerobic training and diet only group actually lost muscle and lowered their metabolism. In other words – the strength training group lost more fat and maintained metabolism – meaning that if the program continued for a longer period of time or a greater weight loss, they could continue to lose more fat than the other groups.


Byrne et al

This study compared two groups – Resistance training and aerobic training (walking). The resistance training group increased metabolism while the walking group actually reduced their metabolism)

Bryner et al.Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate.
J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21.
The resistance training group lost significantly more fat and did not lose any lean muscle, even at only 800 calories per day. Additionally, the resistance training group actually increased metabolism compared to the aerobic group which decreased metabolism.
—

Kramer, Volek et al.

Overweight Subjects were assigned to three groups: Diet Only, Diet plus aerobics, Diet plus aerobics plus weights
The Diet-only group lost 14.6 lbs of fat in 12 weeks but when they added in the aerobic program – that group lost only one more pound than the diet group (training was 3 times a week starting at 30 mins and progressing to 3 x 50 minutes over the 12 weeks).
However the Weight Training group lost 21.1lbs of fat (44% and 35% more than diet and aerobic only groups respectively) in the same time frame.



JP