I am a really new trainer and have an obese client who needs to lose about 150 pounds of fat. Has anyone had success getting an obese client down to close to normal bf? She is bound and determined to take the weight off with proper nutrition and exercise.
Here is what we are doing in the gym:
Right now she only has time to strength train 2 x per week, but is also walking about 2.5 miles, 4 days per week. She moves great for her size and we are able to do: squats, pushups (using smith machine bar set at her upper chest height), body weight split squats, db chest press, db rows, db shoulder press and horizontal woodchops. We also do some stretches to improve her posture. I have her doing circuits with the above exercises.
Any tips, success stories or advice would be greatly appreciated...
- It souds like your client is motivated - that's always a good thing...
- It's also a good thing that she has no apparent musculoskeletal issues - is that right? Just be cautious with body weight exercises as you want to keep her injury-free.
- Think about teaching her how to move correctly in addition to prescribing exercises. For example, observe how she climbs stairs - teach her how to properly activate her glutes. Teach her how to engage her trunk muscles - read Stu McGill's stuff on bracing.
- Regarding posture... stretches can be helpful, but be sure to include some stregthening exercise where needed. She can do these on her own once you've taught them
- On cardio - great that she can walk those distances - does she have other options to complement the walking? Something orthopedically-friendly would be a good adjunct exercise. Also, try playing with the intensity a bit if she can handle it.
Nutrition: What is she doing diet-wise?
Motivation/inspiration: How do you plan on helping keep her inspired? It's easy to be gung ho in the beginning but things can easily go off track. Does she have relapse plans? Does she fill out a food log? Does she have realistic short-term goals that are lifestyle-based as well as scale weight based?
Cultivating the right mindset is crucial. Be sure she is in touch with hunger cues and not eating out of emotion. Many diets fail because when people lose the weight, they don't lose the reasons why they over-ate in the first place. Why is losing weight important to her? What is she doing to control her environment? Does she have support other than you?
These are off the top of my head. Hope it gave you some ideas.
Think about teaching her how to move correctly in addition to prescribing exercises. For example, observe how she climbs stairs - teach her how to properly activate her glutes. Teach her how to engage her trunk muscles - read Stu McGill's stuff on bracing.
I work w/a kinesiology grad and am sure I can borrow Stu McGill's info from my co-worker...thanks.
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It souds like your client is motivated - that's always a good thing...
- It's also a good thing that she has no apparent musculoskeletal issues - is that right? Just be cautious with body weight exercises as you want to keep her injury-free.
She is very motivated and had no apparent musculoskeletal issues...yes very careful
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On cardio - great that she can walk those distances - does she have other options to complement the walking? Something orthopedically-friendly would be a good adjunct exercise. Also, try playing with the intensity a bit if she can handle it.
For the strength portion we do circuits and I do vary the intensity during the workout. For cardio: she can use the elliptical in the gym. I have had her do basic intervals on the treadmill using the incline for playing w/ intensity. Other than that what other ortho-friendly cardio can you suggest? I am not a fan of swimming for fat-loss.
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Nutrition: What is she doing diet-wise?
Motivation/inspiration: How do you plan on helping keep her inspired? It's easy to be gung ho in the beginning but things can easily go off track. Does she have relapse plans? Does she fill out a food log? Does she have realistic short-term goals that are lifestyle-based as well as scale weight based?
Diet is her big problem (of course!) She is seeing an RD who my client says is fat and is not connecting well w/ her. I gave her basic info (eating every 2.5 hours, small protein based meals, non processed foods,etc.) and she has been following my lead more than the RD. She knows her eating is psychological and has an appointment w/ a psychologist to address these issues. I am hoping the psych will have her log her food, and create a relapse plan for her. Yes - her short term goals are there...she is on the right track and very realistic.
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Why is losing weight important to her? What is she doing to control her environment? Does she have support other than you?
She wants to get back to a normal size as she is pre-diabetic and just turned 40. She is tired of living in the big body she has now and wants to be fit and healthy for her family. Her kids are a tremendous support as are family, friends and neighbors. Controlling the environment is an issue...I need to speak to her about this.
Thanks again Mike...any other success stories or comments are greatly appreciated!
Anne
Diet is her big problem (of course!) She is seeing an RD who my client says is fat and is not connecting well w/ her. I gave her basic info (eating every 2.5 hours, small protein based meals, non processed foods,etc.) and she has been following my lead more than the RD. She knows her eating is psychological and has an appointment w/ a psychologist to address these issues. I am hoping the psych will have her log her food, and create a relapse plan for her. Yes - her short term goals are there...she is on the right track and very realistic.
I'd pay attention to what the RD is telling her. On a diet board I hang out on I see some insane stuff coming from both doctors and RDs (or people purporting to be so). Encourage her to find a way of living that she can maintain after finishing her weight loss. This is something I've worked hard on - eating things I like, trying to learn what reasonable portion sizes are, etc. Experimenting with making things I enjoy more healthy, better for me.
Oh, and make sure her eating is psychological. I know it's a common thing with those overweight, however, it's not always the case. As someone who is down ~120 lbs with another ~160 to go I can see that some of my aborted attempts to lose weight (or eat healthier) failed in the past simply because I did not eat enough. Sounds stupid, but true. I was chronic 'skip breakfast', 'light lunch', 'reasonable dinner'.... however, this led to uncontrolled hunger at certain times of the day. This would lead to overeating of course. I never was the 'having a bad day so let's eat' kind of person. Sure, bad eating habits and such, but to my mind there are no deep emotional issues I need to deal with. (But hey, I could be wrong. )
On the exercise front, I'd say watch for tendencies to overdo it. I'm like that a little. When I finally got back to regular exercise in January I went at it 90mins cardio a day, 6 days a week. Although to be fair it was brutally cold out this winter and I was pretty much in the house all of the time. At this time of year I do more outside in the garden, however, I do 2 days of cardio (walking only, 60 mins total) and 3 days of weights (60-90 mins). This is less than I was doing 6 months ago, also eating more, and losing more consistently. Since she's approximately my age she may have a mindset that she has to work very hard and eat very little. You may need to overcome that as well.
I'd pay attention to what the RD is telling her. On a diet board I hang out on I see some insane stuff coming from both doctors and RDs (or people purporting to be so). Encourage her to find a way of living that she can maintain after finishing her weight loss. This is something I've worked hard on - eating things I like, trying to learn what reasonable portion sizes are, etc. Experimenting with making things I enjoy more healthy, better for me.
Oh, and make sure her eating is psychological. I know it's a common thing with those overweight, however, it's not always the case. As someone who is down ~120 lbs with another ~160 to go I can see that some of my aborted attempts to lose weight (or eat healthier) failed in the past simply because I did not eat enough. Sounds stupid, but true. I was chronic 'skip breakfast', 'light lunch', 'reasonable dinner'.... however, this led to uncontrolled hunger at certain times of the day. This would lead to overeating of course. I never was the 'having a bad day so let's eat' kind of person. Sure, bad eating habits and such, but to my mind there are no deep emotional issues I need to deal with. (But hey, I could be wrong. )
On the exercise front, I'd say watch for tendencies to overdo it. I'm like that a little. When I finally got back to regular exercise in January I went at it 90mins cardio a day, 6 days a week. Although to be fair it was brutally cold out this winter and I was pretty much in the house all of the time. At this time of year I do more outside in the garden, however, I do 2 days of cardio (walking only, 60 mins total) and 3 days of weights (60-90 mins). This is less than I was doing 6 months ago, also eating more, and losing more consistently. Since she's approximately my age she may have a mindset that she has to work very hard and eat very little. You may need to overcome that as well.
Thanks realcdn - her eating is definitely psychological. She eats regularly throughout the day. It is when she has a "bad day" will she eat enormous amounts of junk...during the middle of the night is her worst time. This may sound weird too, but I think she hides behind her weight...she has told me she has taken off 30 pounds in the past, then freaks out and binges and puts it right back on.
My client is having difficulting connecting with the RD because she seems to be talking down to my client and also is close to obese herself. My client sees that the RD is not living what she is preaching and is having a hard time with following her directions because of that.
This may sound weird too, but I think she hides behind her weight...she has told me she has taken off 30 pounds in the past, then freaks out and binges and puts it right back on.
This is SOOO important to acknowledge. Many people gain weight because they are hiding (even if totally unconscious of this reason)... and losing weight takes away the armor that protects them from dealing with pain and attention... it also takes away your invisibility "cloak" and you start to get noticed more by people - both in general and by men... It's great that you and your client are aware of this issue - it can become a problem at any point along the journey, so make sure she works on it (either with you, alone, or with a therapist if needed).
Good luck - the fact that you are asking for help makes me sure you will be an excellent trainer for her.
This is SOOO important to acknowledge. Many people gain weight because they are hiding (even if totally unconscious of this reason)... and losing weight takes away the armor that protects them from dealing with pain and attention... it also takes away your invisibility "cloak" and you start to get noticed more by people - both in general and by men... It's great that you and your client are aware of this issue - it can become a problem at any point along the journey, so make sure she works on it (either with you, alone, or with a therapist if needed).
Good luck - the fact that you are asking for help makes me sure you will be an excellent trainer for her.
Bytsi - thanks for the kind words...I have sooo much to learn still.
My client has an appointment with a therapist, so hopefully this will be a big help. She knows what to do...its just a matter of getting her mind there.
Like any service if she isn't comfortable with the provider, she needs to change providers what ever the reason. If she not clicking with the RD, I would move on. That's what makes capitalism great. I wish her the best of luck.
__________________
Past performance is not indicative of future success.
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Just understand that if she is large, dyn mobility or stretching might be less of a flexibility issue than a tissue issue - example, if you are doing a standing quad stretch (heel to butt) - her calf might hit her thigh & limit the motion before her actual quads are getting a stretch if you know what I mean. Or she'll feel her skin pulling and getting tight and think it is her quads stretching. Same with her belly - it could be getting in the way of things you might not otherwise expect it to. And she might not be comfortable telling you when she is too big to do something.
Thanks realcdn - her eating is definitely psychological. She eats regularly throughout the day. It is when she has a "bad day" will she eat enormous amounts of junk...during the middle of the night is her worst time. This may sound weird too, but I think she hides behind her weight...she has told me she has taken off 30 pounds in the past, then freaks out and binges and puts it right back on.
People will always have huge boulders in their way, which are actually small pebbles. Meaning - it could be mostly in her head. If it were my client, I would definitely have her log her food. If she has "bad days" often - I would try giving her some cheat meal options.
My feeling is that her problem would be consistency, not compliance. If she's super strict for a week and then breaks down mentally, than you're not getting anywhere. If she could be consistent with eating breakfast, drinking enough water and cutting the junk in half - then all you need is long term consistent effort.
Congrats (to both of you). I suspect the tough part will be if the initial weight loss slows. I see this a lot on a diet board I sometimes post on. Everyone is all giggles and sunshine until they have a 1 pound loss.
And I'm specifically talking about those of us with a large amount, at least 100+ to lose. I generally avoid doing the math myself, but it can be hard to motivate if you have 150-lbs to lose and you lose less than a pound one week. Make sure she's not a fan of the Biggest Loser.
good to see that she's motivated to lose the weight. It's pretty surprising that she has the mobility to do those exercises. My obese friend is an orthopedic mess (huge kyphosis, ankle and knee issues, radiating back pain). I've been trying to get him into the gym more often, but i'm sure everyone knows how that goes with unmotivated people.
I know people stress diet in the beginning because it's important, but has anyone noticed people that start eating better once they become more active? I know that my diet improves when I work out regularly. I was just wondering if anyone had better compliance with their obese clients when they increase their training frequency and give general nutrition advice vs giving a strict nutrition program.
sweet! thats motivating... this also made me realize that im hiding from attention every time i get completely ripped i stop until i have to do it all again... lol i never realized that. ha!
The Obese Client - new trainer
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