I am going outside the realm of what EliteFTS usually covers a little this week because I deal with this all the time and many of you may as well if you are working in this industry.
This week we’ll be talking about changing body composition and discussing the female training population for the most part.
At TPS and many other places, the primary client that we service is the LBN seeker. Virtually all clients that come in for Personal Training have the same goals.
This is not the ones who are here for Sports training, this is the average Mr. and Mrs. Jones as Dr. Hatfield would say.
They all want to:
- Be more fit for everyday life
- Be stronger
- Have more endurance
- Look Better Naked (LBN)
Of course they may have other goals, but the four listed above are always the top reasons they seek coaching. We lump them all into one term, LBN because who doesn’t want to look better naked?
We also see that if we train them appropriately all of the other goals will happen at the same time.
So with this in mind, when consulting a new client one of the things I always discuss is to stay off the scale. Weight means nothing.
I tell them the mirror is the scale and we always take before and after shots.
The issue we deal with the most is that the ladies have been poisoned by society to think they must be a certain weight or have a certain BMI number.
I am not going to go into why BMI is maybe the single worst indicator of health and fitness ever devised and is totally useless, but I bring it up to illustrate the amount of bad information propagated by the media and the medical industry.
With new clients I explain that we take weight and body composition measurement to track progress. I also explain why weight is not something to focus on.
Here is an example:
BEFORE:
AFTER: This is 4 weeks using a custom meal plan and training elsewhere.
The scale went up, the body comp went down!
Let’s say that we have a 30-year-old female who weighs 165 pounds and is about 5’7” tall. She has a body comp of 35% fat.
This breaks down to about 58 pounds of fat and 107 pounds of lean body mass or muscle.
I’ll explain that if they stay off the scale, train their asses off and follow a solid meal plan (which we provide) they will make drastic changes positively in their body comp. I also tell them the scale may go up and in the short term it probably will.
This is caused because frequently we see a disproportionate amount of lean body mass gained to fat lost. Especially when the client eats a low protein diet that is calorie restricted and does not strength train.
The scale may go up. I repeat it. I then explain it like this.
The same female goes from 35% body fat to 25% body fat in about 12-16 weeks depending on compliance but weighs 167 at the checkup appointment.
She is now at about 42 pounds of fat and about 125 pounds of muscle.
She has gained 18 pounds of lean body mass or muscle and lost 16 pounds of fat.
That’s a positive change of 34 pounds composition wise and untold inches lost as well.
The after pictures tell the story, how the clothes fit tell the story, the mirror tells the story.
Here is another example:
After:
She followed one of our energetic meal plans and worked her ass off in the TPS Method. Lost fat, gained muscle, scale went up.
I explain the weight will come off due to the metabolism being increased and we need to manage caloric intake to see the scale move downwards. Many times this is all we need and we have a happy client.
I’d be pretty happy if that happened to me after signing up for some training if LBN was my goal, but sometimes we get sad faces.
Sometimes they are only concerned with the scale. I don’t know why.
This takes some discussion with them and you need to tread lightly as the media puts forth an image for girls that is unhealthy and the medical profession is seemingly only concerned with weight and BMI, not health or body composition.
Chances are that the girl I used as an example will have a high BMI but her health has improved dramatically. Her fitness has improved dramatically and chances are her self-image has improved dramatically.
If she is one of the ones who is focused on the scale we suggest a Nutrition Consult and provide a customized meal plan the get them to the goal weight without sacrificing lean body mass. This is a topic for another article!
When we set up a meal plan for someone like this they are generally surprised at how much food they are eating and can’t believe it will work. We review the fact that eating clean healthy foods makes it hard to overeat.
We generally do not give them a meal plan that places them in a caloric deficit as this is the only way to lose fat and weight but we set it up so they are full.
Being full helps.
I recently got an email from a high school girl asking questions after following our clients result on the Instagrams.
Here is an excerpt:
I've seen your progress on Instagram a couple times and I've decided to ask a question and for a little help.
My name is REDACTED & I'm a senior in high school. I've been eating super clean and healthy and working out right after school (fighting the urge to take a nap) at least 4 days a week and starting now, everyday - 7 days a week. I have egg whites for breakfast, salads (spinach, red/yellow peppers, red onion, & some grilled chicken) with 12 almonds or an apple for lunch (I take it to school with me) or some brown rice and grilled chicken, and then either grilled chicken again with some spinach for dinner because im not really sure what else to have and my mom makes chicken almost everyday. I don't eat any bread or deserts or anything. I count my calories and stay from 800-1000.
I burn at least 200 calories on my elliptical (at my house) and then use some weights to work out my arms and do squats and lunges and bridges and all different exercises for different parts of my body. I've been thinking of even incorporating running with all of this even though I dislike running.
So today I weighed myself and I've actually gained a pound from what I last weighed myself last week. I'm super annoyed and frustrated because I expected to see a lower number, not higher. I know muscle weighs more but shouldn't I be losing fat so shouldn't the number go down first? I've been working to change my body and I see nothing so far. I'm also stressing because I want to look for when a musical festival on the BEACH.
Anyways, this is like a little background on me. If you have any thoughts/advice/tips for me or things to help me improve that'd be great. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. Some people have said its that I'm eating too little. I thought that range of calories was good and under 50 carbs would help me lose weight but I'm not even sure anymore about calories or carbs. I have an example of what I ate one day -
This is pretty much summing up what we see all too often. Severely calorically restricted diets followed by girls with goals but without the knowledge to achieve them.
My reply was as follows:
It's great to see you getting fit and addressing your health.
What you are asking of me is a nutrition consult and that we don't do that via email.
However, it sounds like you are not eating enough. Someone your age needs adequate calories to keep your body maturing. By consuming too few calories you may be doing more harm than good, but it is too difficult to make an assessment via email.
Don't look at the number on the scale. As you gain lean body mass via exercise, your weight may go up. This happens when you gain muscle, this is good. Instead of the scale, use the mirror. The mirror should be your scale.
If you are getting leaner you will see it. Your pants will get looser in the waist and your muscles will be more visible. This is what you are trying to do!
I am very reluctant to offer any nutrition advice via email to people that I have not worked with. Too many things can get confused.
If you are in the Boston are, feel free to schedule a consult. If you are not, you can do a search for a qualified Sports Nutritionist to get some advice.
It’s hard to not help this person out but you just can’t. There is too much room for interpretation and potential litigation.
However, this is the reason I wrote this article. There is so much information and misinformation in the media and on the internet that it is almost impossible for the average person to disseminate the good from the bad.
So the take away message for the coaches and the ladies out there is to stay off the scale. Use the mirror, how your clothes fit and how much more visible your muscles are getting.
Take photos about every two weeks in the same outfit to see the small changes that are occurring in your body and embrace the newer, healthier you.
If the scale goes up a little but you are stronger, leaner and feel better, the scale is worthless.
Ask me a question-Be sure and Type to Murph in the header
Find me on Google-search for Total Performance Sports Malden, Mass. The Best Gym in Boston, Facebook too.
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#bostonsstrongest
Vincere vel mori
