Category: Fat loss

In Training the Obese Beginner: Part 3 I basically summarized everything to date to conclude that the best approach to target all of the various issues going in this population on was a combination of progressive volume higher rep weight training (to deplete muscle glycogen) along with dietary modifications (both carbohydrate and/or calorie reductions).

This would ideally be combined with progressive amounts of cardio as fitness improves to both burn of fatty acids directly and start to retool mitochondria to overcome that defect.   Which is all well and good but doesn’t provide much in the way of practical guidance.

And, make no mistake, I’m going to talk about those very things in the last two parts of the series (again, remember this is all leading into a brand spanking new video at the end of this mess).  Today, I want to take a slightly different approach to the topic by looking at of how not to go about training the obese beginner.… Keep Reading

Ok, having discussed far too many tedious physiological details in Part 1 and Part 2, let’s go ahead and get into some of the actual details and practicalities of training the obese beginner.  Oh…wait, there’s one more.

Fat Loss vs. Improved Health

.Mainly throughout this series, I’ve focused on fat loss as the primary end-goal for the obese trainee but it’s worth noting that this is absolutely NOT the only (or even necessarily the primary/best) end goal when we talk about exercise and dietary modification.

Certainly it’s the one that most people are concerned about but that doesn’t mean that’s automatically correct.  Because there is also the whole health thing to consider.

Yes, yes, I know, “getting healthier” is not nearly as sexy a goal as “looking better naked” (perhaps literally) but that doesn’t make it any less important.  There are a lot of things that can make you look better naked that don’t necessarily make you healthier and there are things that make you healthier that don’t automatically make you look better naked.… Keep Reading

In Training the Obese Beginner: Part 1 I took little bit of a complex/technical look at some of the physiological “defects” that are often seen when obesity develops.   Continuing with that I want to look at a few more physiological issues including muscle mass, metabolic rate (mainly to bust a common myth) and the realities of exercise in the beginner/obese beginner population.

Increased Muscle Mass

Perhaps surprisingly, one of the consequences of developing obesity is that some proportion of the total weight gained is lean body mass (LBM).  Quite in fact, this may make up an average of 25% of the total weight gained.  So if someone gained 100 pounds, as much of that could be 25 pounds of LBM.   I’d note that the process is not unlimited.   At some point, obese individuals come up a maximum limit on LBM (similar to the one seen in natural lifters).  From that point on, weight gain is 100% body fat.… Keep Reading

Previously I provided some feedback from a Biggest Loser contestant along with my personal comments on what they told me.  At the end I opined that, like most in this industry I find the show infuriating and appalling doing far more harm than good, especially for it’s target population.   So today I want to present a 6-part series on training the obese beginner for both trainers and trainees.

2020 Addendum: A Note on Terminology

I originally wrote this piece many years ago and, well, the world has changed.  In modern times it’s becoming more accepted to refer to individuals with obesity or individuals with excess weight rather than as being obese or overweight.  This seems like a semantic nitpick and, to me, it kind of is.  Ok, boomer.

But the purpose of the change is primarily to shift focus from obesity defining who the individual is to it being something that the individual is I guess “dealing” with would be the right way to describe it. … Keep Reading

Although this article is old, it’s as relevant now as it was then.  The TV show The Biggest Loser is on and it’s still a travesty.  The trainers are both morons, it does enormous harm to people’s attitudes towards weight and fat loss, the things it teaches are appalling and I’m waiting for them to kill somebody.   Well years and years ago, one of the former contestants emailed me with some inside details on the show.  And it all just makes it that much worse.

Feedback on The Biggest Loser

What I’m going to do below is first quote the feedback I got from the contestant along with giving my comments or thoughts on it.  As an initial comment, I will say that what he sent me is interesting for at least two reasons.

1. What can be accomplished in a short period when you put your mind to it.
2. How unrealistic some of the changes on the show actually are relative to normal people.

… Keep Reading