Losing Fat & Toning Up

The majority of our clients want to lose weight and tone up. Occasionally we get clients who want to bulk up with muscle, which, whilst having its own challenges, is often a lot simpler.

Weight loss in theory is actually rather simple: ensure that energy out is greater than energy in. Basicaly this means become more active and reduce caloric intake accordingly.

Some clients want to build muscle and lose fat at the same time - a very tricky task. To build muscle you generally need an excess of calories. The trick is to change the proportions of macronutrients in the diet and to time the intake of proteins and carbohydrates (carbohydrates should generally fall either side of training and, besides the post workout recovery drink/snack, should generally be low GI.

The fastest way to achieve that lean, defined look is to use specific loading parameters and time under tension (with incomplete rest between sets) in order to create high levels of blood lactate. This triggers a huge growth hormone response, and growth hormone not only helps us build muscle but also burns fat.

Optimal nutrition, effective training, and adequate rest (combined with increasing incidental exercise, such as walking to work) will ensure the best results.

The problem comes with adherence and motivation. Often, overweight clients are not entirely truthful about what they are eating (and drinking). If they are training well but go home and drink Coke and eat sweet foods or foods high in saturated fat they are likely to be disappointed with their rate of progress, and disappointment leads to despondency with training.

It is sometimes not enough to encourage clients to keep a food diary. Many will only make progress if their nutritional needs are spelled out for them - daily, easy to follow, menu plans. With some clients, appropriate supplements may make the nutritional side easier or more effective.

Generally, for those wishing to lose weight and build lean tissue, I recommend L-Carnitine (especially just prior to training), L-Glutamine (before and after training), Branch Chain Amino Acids (before and after training), a good quality whey protein, Conjugated Linoleic Acid, Essential Fatty Acids, and (for those who need an extra boost), a thermogenic supplement (i.e. Maximuscles Thermobol or Muscletech's Hydroxycut).

It's also important to protect the immune system with vitamins A,C and E and zinc and magnesium supplementation. Drinking soluble vitamin C (high potency) during training helps to blunt the effect of cortisol, thus preserving lean tissue.

Nevertheless, no matter how good the exercise programme and the nutritional advice, many clients simply lack the discipline to stick with it. Training not only needs to be effective, for some people, it also needs to be fun, and varied. If you don't achieve adherence in your clients then they may get short term results before returning to old habits. Long-term changes come long-term repetition of the desired behaviour. Is it better to have the "perfect" programme which the client won't adhere to, or the mitigated programme which keeps them coming back for more. At some point, perhaps after months or even years, the client may be ready for the most efficient way to train, but until then it's important to meet their psychological need for variety and enjoyment, leading them all the while towards better and more effective ways of training.

Persoanl Training Difficulties 1

One of the factors sometimes overlooked by Personal Trainers, and I have been guilty of this, is that of adherence and readiness to undertake a particular programme of exercise.

I tend to work very scientifically. After the initial sessions, which focus on technique and adaptation, I tend to formulate a programme designed to achieve optimal results most efficiently. Generally this involves compound exercises such as bench press, military press, squats, dead lifts, leg press, lat pulldowns (or chins for those who are strong enough), dips (again if strong enough), bar biceps and a triceps exercise (often pressdowns unless the client can perform dips or lying extensions).

I usually start with fairly high reps for safety reasons and to perfect exercise technique. Gradually there is a move towards lower reps and more sets. At some point there is a shift to a split routine in order to accommodate the increased work load.

Coupled with this is an optimal nutrition programme. Those clients who have managed to adhere to both elements have shown dramatic improvements within weeks.

However, most clients are not ready to train this way. The majority have only just reached the "action" stage of change. They still need motivating, they need to feel good, they need variety, fun, and progressive achievement if they are to keep coming back.

I'm never really comfortable with this. I tend to work on the premise that the client should get the best results for their money. The downside, though, is that is the client isn't meeting all their other, psychological needs, they will never move to the all-important "termination" stage, where they become exercise junkies. If they don't enjoy the sessions, or if they work too hard at first, they simply won't continue. This situation is bad for them - they'll soon return to old ways, and bad for the trainer - your ex-clients will generally inform others that they tried training with you but it didn't work.

In the early stages of training almost anything will bring some results. Therefore I think the emphasis should be on variety and enjoyment. If the trainer is particularly attentive, they can tune in to what works for the client and make changes accordingly. As long as the trainer keeps records of the session progressive overload can still be planned for.

In summary, it is not always the best approach to plan only the most efficient programme of training. The client has to be ready for this, and some never are. Perfectionism is great for those who are ready, but in the early stages, at least, variety, fun, and motivation are the keys.