The Fitness Guru

By now, if you haven’t seen, you have, at the very least, heard all about it at the water cooler. And this week, The Biggest Loser, NBC’s juggernaut prime time TV “reality” show, will be hosting a reunion show for many of the people who have played their game.

Now, before I launch, full disclosure is necessary: of the 68 prime time hours of television that are filled with TBL episodes every year, year after year, I have watched only a few select episodes and additional clips on Hulu and YouTube ( and wrote a little something about one of the clips.) I spend my days in a reality show of weight loss called “My Life.” I meet hundreds of people day after day, year after year, who come to my studio looking for health and fitness answers. Maybe they have put on weight, maybe they aren’t as active as they would like to be, maybe they just want to feel a little better. And, in the midst of their quests, they have all the responsibilities that they have to fulfill: kids and jobs and mortgages and spouses and dogs and cats and friends and more kids and on and on and on. And these people fight to find a balance between healthy living and the craziness that occasionally overwhelms living life. And, with some help and some support, they do it. They balance and their quality of life improves.

My problem with The Biggest Loser has always been that the TV execs are removing people from the natural environment and placing them in this artificial reality of a “reality show.” I have heard many people complain of the show, “sure, send me away to a resort for 5 months where all I have to do is eat right and exercise and just watch how much weight I lose!” And I agree. It’s not practical and I always figured that the weight would come back when the contestants returned to their outside lives. Hopefully, some people do find it inspiring and get their own acts together.

This morning, unfortunately not to my surprise, The New York Times had a big story on The Biggest Loser, the reunion show and some pretty bad stories that are coming down the pike about what happens when the cameras are off. Ryan Benson, the winner of the very first competition, will not be in attendance. Mr. Benson thinks that the producers are avoiding him because a) he is back up to over 300 pounds, his starting weight before the show and b) he admitted to dehydrating himself to the point where he was urinating blood in order to lose weight. I’m not a doctor but urinating blood doesn’t sound quite right. Dehydration, starvation and over-exercise seem to be rampant primarily because, though it is a “reality” show, TBL is actually a game show where the person who loses the most weight wins a giant pot of money. So why not risk you life to drop a couple extra, right? But we’re not talking about a few extra minutes on the elliptical machine, we’re talking about STARVATION AND DEHYDRATION. For entertainment. Our entertainment.

JD Roth, producer of TBL, as quoted in the Times: “(The show) needs to be extreme in my opinion. For some of these people this is their last chance, and in a country right now that is wrestling with health care issues and the billions of dollars that are spent on obesity issues per year, in a way what a public service to have a show that inspires people to be healthier.” Nicely done, JD. But, for that matter, what about the grocery bills? Starvation is great for saving at the supermarket.

Ryan Benson is back to his original weight, taxing his body, his heart and his psyche in ways that he probably hadn’t experienced prior to his Biggest Loss. As much as we all want that silver bullet, that divine answer, we all know that weight loss and physical fitness takes time and PATIENCE. No TV exec would ever green light a healthy weight loss show because there is no drama in it. Someone wants to lose 100 pounds AND keep it off? You’re looking at a year of patient work at the very least. Faster weight loss leads to yo-yoing. And this is especially true when the goal is something external like a financial prize.

In the end, is a “reality” show like this much different than the gladiator spectacle in the Colosseum? Sure, the gladiators might kill the lions and emerge victorious. But they may also be ripped to shreds (no, not that kind of ripped to shreds.) And that sells tickets. There’s no business like show business.

Thank God! The Times Wellness Blog has been kind enough to post the results of yet another study suggesting that we can get fit in six minutes a week. Think of everything else we will have time for now. More work, more Blackberry, more emails, more Facebook, more Twitter, more blogs on wellness, more reality television. It’s like a dream come true.

Needless to say, I’m bothered yet again. You’d think by now I would stop reading these articles. The truth is–I have. This one was sent to me by my buddy, Seth, so I read it. Some day I will learn. My time could be spent doing other things.

The study is an interesting account of endurance training. The results suggest that endurance gains made through long term training can be matched through six minutes of very intense interval training per week. Great! For all the endurance athletes out there, that is good to know. As I am training for a marathon, it warms my heart to know that, if I am in a pinch, I can train for six hardcore minutes each week and that will benefit my endurance.

Here’s the problem: there is a suggestion, though no proof in the study, that the intense intervals will improve weight loss. Also, there is only brief mention of how INCREDIBLY taxing these all out intense intervals need to be. So Joe Average American is kicking back with the morning coffee and reading that maybe he can get rid of his gut (and 2 out of every 3 Joes in this country has a gut to get rid of) by running all out intervals for six minutes. He wanders off to his neighborhood gym where there is little in the way of supervision and he busts a move on the treadmill. His body, in no way, shape or form ready for such intensity, starts to break down, and in little to no time at all, Joe is injured, out of the game, and spends the next six months bemoaning his ill-fated attempt to lose his gut, which, due to his inactivity, continues to grow.

And even that doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is this: this is all being written up in the Times WELLNESS blog. Wellness. Well-ness. That word, for me, suggests a balance of mind, body and spirit. Where is the balance in reporting on a study like this?

In this day and age, we have too much interference on a minute-to-minute basis with our well-being. We are so busy focusing on everything around us that we rarely take the time to take care of ourselves. Disagree? Fine. Turn off your email for a day. Avoid Facebook or Twitter or your cell phone or your television or Youtube. Let’s go Hardcore Thoreau and just focus on you and the world around you, in that moment. Won’t happen. Can’t happen. We’re not wired like that anymore. And, consequently, we are left doing damage to our bodies and souls because of this unconscious addiction to stress. If you like studies, check out the one from MIT regarding Blackberry addiction (Crackberry) and stress. (Author’s note: the iPhone, with its 15.2 billion apps, ain’t a whole lot better.)

Exercise is your opportunity to free your body and your mind. Take an hour to do something that you enjoy doing and the benefits are tremendous, from healthier organs to happy moods and greater productivity in the workplace. A gentleman mentioned in the NYT Wellness article that six minutes is perfect for him because, as a 41-year old father of two, he doesn’t have the time to exercise “for hours.” I’m the 42-year old father of two and I say “Horse Feathers!” It’s not a question of hours. It is a question of making time on a regular basis to tend to yourself. Weight loss becomes the added benefit of that care. You want to lose weight? Feed yourself the right fuels, stay active and do things to reduce your stress level. It’s always the people who say that they don’t have an hour to spare that are most in need of sparing the hour. It’s your personal meditation. Not hippy-dippy-trippy Eastern meditation (though, folks, if you haven’t tried it, you really really should), but meditation in the spirit of relaxing and refocusing your energy to better serve your well-being, your family’s well-being, your goals and your quality of life.

Wellness Blog: get it together. There is no room in my schedule for six minutes a week. I’d rather run for an hour.

Here are some great stories out there for this week:

• From the good folks at Men’s Health, some quick ideas in the kitchen to help get you ripped up and in shape.
• The Ten Ingredient Shopping Trip
• And from Women’s Health: 11 Most Common Running Mistakes
• Exercise your way to a Better Sex Life
• Stretching in Bed
• President Obama’s Personal Battle Against Cigarettes
• Debunking Myths About Warm Ups and Eggs

The New York Times Wellness blog published a piece the other day about “core” training. “Core” is one of those words that has seemed to overwhelm the fitness industry, as certain terms will every so often. Everyone is focused on training their cores. “My trainer focuses on my core and training my core and so my core is powerful and I love my core.” I hate “core”–not the muscles but the term. I run a certification program for instructors and one of the first things I say to them is “Never, ever use the word ‘core’. At least not in my presence.” The word core is a crutch, a catch-all term that has made its way into the trendy magazines to the point where everyone uses it, regardless of whether or not they know to what they are referring.

The NYT blog is quick to point out that all this core-centric talk may not be doing much to insure the health of the modern American back. I agree 100%. There is absolutely no benefit from focusing on the abdominal muscles to help to strengthen the lower back. In fact, if you focus on just the abdominal muscles, you may be doing yourself far more harm than good. But I don’t like the idea that the focus is without merit; rather, I think it is necessary to expand the focus.

First point: pain is usually the result of an imbalance in the body. The imbalance may be create by a traumatic force, like a fall, or it may be created by repetitive stress, like sitting poorly in a desk chair or sleeping on a non-supportive mattress. If you focus simply on the abdominal muscles, you are working hard to create that imbalance.

Second point: the problem with SO MANY trainers and training techniques is that the focus is on muscular activation without regard to structure. The spine has an ideal state, an ideal form which allows it to serve as support to the body and as a shock absorber for any trauma that body may experience. When an individual moves away from that ideal position, the individual is doing away with all the support that the spine natural offers. When we exercise in that compromised position, we are ASKING for trouble.

Solution: trainers have to have a better understanding of posture in its ideal state and how to evaluate the postures of the clients they train. Right now, many trainers lack that ability. Consequently, all this “core” focus serves to reinforce bad, and sometimes painful, habits. Secondly, trainers have to understand that in order to attain balance in the body, all the muscles of the “core” must be trained: the many muscle groups of the abdomen, pevis and lower back. In addition, balance must be reach in the limbs in order to preserve balance in the torso.

It’s not as simple as making people do crunches or stand on a wobble board. That’s simple linear thinking that is a disservice to all who would look to the training profession for answers.

It would help to get people on the same page. Why is it that the government insists on licenses for massage therapists and physical therapists, but there is absolutely no criteria for personal trainers, Pilates and yoga instructors, et al. All the people in these professions are charged with the care and well being of human bodies. Shouldn’t the bar be set as high as possible?

There is a great article in the New York Times today. Diet betting is all the rage. Go ahead, bet your friend or a member of your family that you can lose more weight than they can and, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, you will lose more weight than you would if you just tried it without gambling. Apparently, the financial incentive greatly increases the likely hood  for success. Hmmmmmm. That doesn’t quite explain all the people who bought annual memberships for gyms a month ago, only to go two or three times and then retire. Their checking account still has that automatic debit for the next eleven months. That would strike me as financial incentive. So maybe its not the financial incentive that does the work. Maybe its the thought of losing a bet, having someone you know point a finger and say “ha ha I told you that you couldn’t do it.” If our friends and loved ones try to go and lose weight and then fail, odds are we would try and be positive, maybe suggest that they try again only this time they should use this trainer and that diet. But if we are winning their money becasue they have failed where we have succeeded, that’s usually a different reaction altogether.

I’m not saying we have to go negative in order to inspire people to become healthier. Everybody’s favorite, Bob Harper tried to go a little negative on a recent episode of NBC’s The Biggest Loser. The incident got a lot of play because the normally sweet Harper went off the deep end, shouting expletives at a contestant in a crowded gym. This isn’t necessarily the way to go either.

I think Harper, the fitness professional (or at least he plays one on TV) betrays a trust by hurling foul language at his client. He belittles the woman which will do nothing but cement her attitude. His frustration got the better of him and sure enough, accomplished nothing in terms of getting the woman to reach any of the goals that he had set.

So where do you go? I think it is important to set goals but to make them very specific and small. Build a goal for this month and then build off that goal for next month. But, even more important, and I’ll say it agin, it comes down to community. Ages ago we were living in tribes in caves. The sense of community is deep and instinctual. Within the community, there can be jabbing and teasing as a means of pushing members further, but in the end, there must be a sense of trust amongst the members. The gambling isn’t what is creating the change. The gambling is heightening the stakes. The coming together of community members toward a common goal, in this case, to lose weight, is what is bringing about results.

2008 was a very big news year. And in the midst of all that news, the New York Times reported that one of the top emailed stories for the entire year was “ The 11 Best Foods you Aren’t Eating.” The list is quick:

·     Beets

·     Cabbage

·     Swiss Chard

·     Cinnamon

·     Pomegranate Juice

·     Dried Plums

·     Pumpkin Seeds

·     Sardines

·     Turmeric

·     Frozen Blueberries

·     Canned Pumpkin

Quickly go over the list and one thing is certain: the title of the article is right on the money. I know that I eat blueberries, Swiss Chard and pomegranate juice regularly. But canned pumpkin? It never occurred to me. And its claim to fame is that it is low calorie, high in fiber and high in vitamin A. Does anyone have a good pumpkin recipe? Something we can share so it will inspire all of us to try to get one of the magic 11 into our diets?

Jonny Bowden, a nutritionist and author of the book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, compiled the list. The man likes lists. It is a terrific book, though. Funny, well thought out and well documented, he travels through various categories (including beverages and spices), impressing which items are good for you and why. The book never descends into preachy. I especially enjoy the section where he begs people to give up the egg-white omelet. Here is a man who believes in the benefits of the yolk. He gets my vote.

So if you are confused as to what you should be eating and you want to go spend some money on a “diet”, go out and a buy a copy of Doctor Bowden’s book. Give it a read and try to add these “power” items into your day-to-day meals. Even better, create some recipes using these items as main ingredients and then share the recipes with the Guru community.

Rock on.