The Biggest Loser - Opinions?

[Zen]

Ive taken several different classes, the good instructors have enthusiasm, energy, and a desire to motivate everyone to work hard.

Those sound like the job qualifications of a cheerleader. I won't comment on group instructors, just personal trainers.It's far too easy to get certified, there need to be state licensure requirements.

Edit to add: And its not ALL about losing the weight too, its about adopting the healthy lifestyle.

Which is why at least one and preferably two semesters of college level nutrition classes should be a requirement. Sadly, they aren't.
And that's how we end up with Jillian selling diet pills.

[Trek420]

We end up with Jillian selling diet pills because broccoli and leeks don't have an advertising budget. Neither do bikes. I blanched at an episode this season (yeah, I watch. I work out while I do, sit ups, Cycelops, push ups, boken) featuring some gizmo that's not a bike, not a trikke, I dunno what it's called. It looked like the only place to ride this 4 wheeled space hog would be an empty parking lot. Another peace of junk to end being sold used at Play it Again Sports.

On the "where are they now" show I did not see the previous player who took up cycling after the show, did a cross country ride. I bet he kept the weight off.

http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6...8350-5,00.html

[PinkBike]

NoNo - you can catch it on nbc.com I think.

About personal trainers - what DOES it take to get licensed? I just joined a gym and after the 2nd freebie training session the guy turned into a salesman, and when I told him I just couldn't afford my own personal trainer he dropped me like the proverbial hot potato. He was a pup anyway so I don't know what he knows about training and nutrition for women my age.

So I'm going to this gym and doing a program I invent as I go along - mostly a compilation from weight training books.

[Dogmama]

NoNo - you can catch it on nbc.com I think.

About personal trainers - what DOES it take to get licensed? I just joined a gym and after the 2nd freebie training session the guy turned into a salesman, and when I told him I just couldn't afford my own personal trainer he dropped me like the proverbial hot potato. He was a pup anyway so I don't know what he knows about training and nutrition for women my age.

So I'm going to this gym and doing a program I invent as I go along - mostly a compilation from weight training books.

Commercial gyms are in business to make money, period. They want to sell personal training and the competition is huge. At my gym, I see trainers cycle in & out constantly. Some are good, most of them stink.

Some certifications are quite stringent & others are candy. My wish is that every cert required a hands-on test. You can read a book, take an on-line test & presto - you're a trainer. But how do they know that I can correctly teach somebody to squat? It's like swimming - you can't learn it reading a book.

Spinning - I was certified through Maddog (I always flub the spelling) and they, too, are quite stringent on the do's & don'ts of spinning. I also see certified Maddog instructors do contraindicated moves like push ups on the handlebars, spinning at crazy fast RPM's, etc.

[Dogmama]

Which is why at least one and preferably two semesters of college level nutrition classes should be a requirement. Sadly, they aren't.
And that's how we end up with Jillian selling diet pills.

It's about the money and how it is presented. Andrew Weil is in business of making money but it's presented differently. Yet, his website was slapped by the FDA by promoting pills that would prevent swine flu.

Look at the celebrities pushing diet plans - they have NO background and their only claim to fame is that it worked for them. Big deal. If I had unlimited time to exercise & unlimited money to buy this stuff, I'd drop tons of weight too. Of course, there is always the disclaimer that basically, "this probably won't work for you, buddy, but if it does you'll be golden!"

It's about commitment & lifestyle, not quick fixes for the upcoming class reunion.

[Crankin]

In my modest opinion, a real personal trainer is someone with a degree in exercise science and a certification from ACE or ACSM. However, someone with the ACE or ACSM certification, who has a degree in something else, is also qualified in my book. That doesn't mean, of course, that someone with these qualifications will not end up peddling some weird "diet" or training plan that doesn't make sense.
Although I recently let my gym membership lapse, I have spent about 25 years hanging out at various gyms, as both an employee and a user. The field has evolved slightly since the mid eighties when I got my group exercise certification from ACE; back then, just about anyone could walk in and call themselves a trainer. At my last club, all of the trainers had degrees in exercise science. Many of them had private clients outside of the ones they worked with at the gym. They knew what they were doing. I worked with one for about a year, before my cycling trip to Austria and I never felt like he was doing anything contraindicated or giving me a hard sell. Of course, there was a price tag for this, that a lot of people would not or could not pay.
Don't get me started on the certified spin instructors who continue to do the push ups on the bike and the crazy rpms. While I don't love riding my bike on the trainer, I don't miss the characters and weird stuff that went on in spin class.

[katluvr]

Ok, I DVR's Tuesday's episode and just watched it last night.
I am about to rant (so ignore this if you want).
I do think it is great they show them running. I think they should do "exercise" outside a gym. But 60 days to train for a marathon?? What are we telling the average out of shape person? I am "in shape" and doing a 16 week program. I just worry it sends the wrong message. True "anyone can do it"...but is the message being sent correctly?

So they started off looking a big sweaty....but by the end they didn't look sweaty at all. Nor was anyone "red faced". I swear Liz had full makeup on that was still there in the end. Yeah, the one young girl was "crying". No running mascara and eyeliner for her! And Danny....he was really hurting. I understand pushign thru some pain...but really...was it wise for him to do that?

I swear after my 7 mile run I look WAY worse than they do. My goal is a 4:30 marathon...that is a 10 min mile --it isn't easy...but Rudy was just about 5 hours. I shouldn't doubt it. Many a person is faster and finds running easier than me. But it just didn't look as real. A marathon is hard!

Ok, that is my rant. I just had to let it out. I just wish they did a better job about discussing proper training etc w/ endurance sports. And about sports injuries. Ok, ok, I am done now!

[channlluv]

I've had two experiences myself with personal trainers. One through a gym where I was a member - it was a short-term promo thing trying to attract new clients. They rotated trainers depending on who was next in line, not who would be a good fit for me. I got a 23-year-old, 6'4", former pro-baseball player who'd blown out a knee or something, and was now doing personal training since he couldn't play ball anymore. Lovely guy. Literally. He was really handsome. And he had me doing some stuff that I wouldn't have tried on my own, and was amazed at my ease with the yoga moves, how strong I already was (I'd been taking yoga for a while, so the planks, warrior lunges, and such were a piece of cake), but his nutrition advice for me? Calories in, calories out. I could eat anything I wanted. He actually recommended, yes, recommended, Chik Fil-A because they use a healthy oil or something. Didn't last long after that. Maybe he can eat whatever he wants, but not me.

The next was that older woman trainer at the Y who took one look at me and advised me to stop eating potatoes and chips and things, because you know that's what every heavy person's problem is, all those bags of chips and cheesecakes we scarf down when no one's looking. Sheesh. We did not connect, needles to say.

Now I've getting great results working out with DH, who is doing the Core Performance workout that Lance Armstrong's trainer recommended. I'm feeling really strong - muscles I didn't know I had and all that. I still haven't lost any weight, but I've been laying off the aerobic stuff for over a month. Not on purpose. I just had an emergency trip to Florida, and then another a week later, and I got out of my every-day Y/cycling habit. And Daylight Savings happened, and I don't have lights on my bike.

Alas.

I don't watch the Biggest Loser. When I read about how those people game the system, it's not about getting in shape. I'm not learning anything new there that I can't learn here, and with a lot more love and support. And nobody here is going to vote me off the island, you know?

Roxy

[Catrin]

My current fitness club requires that all personal trainers have at least a B.S. degree (almost all of them have a Masters) in fitness/exercise science, and have ASCM certification (at least, most of them have multiple certifications). Our spinning instructor has all of the above, as well as certification in spinning and is a life-long avid cyclist.

I've never seen such a high level of qualification required by a fitness club for their training staff - but my club IS medically based and is part of an Osteopathic hospital (the fitness club is a massive facility). Their primary focus is wellness, and they will even waive the initiation fee if your doctor officially prescribes exercise.

My last fitness club did not seem to really have any requirements, at all, for their training staff other than a willingness to work for X amount an hour. I am taking full advantage of the trainers, there are two I work with, but I doubt that I would have ever done that if they were less qualified. From what I can tell, there seems little consistency between club to club regarding this.

[Pedal Wench]

Ok, I DVR's Tuesday's episode and just watched it last night.
I am about to rant (so ignore this if you want).
I do think it is great they show them running. I think they should do "exercise" outside a gym. But 60 days to train for a marathon?? What are we telling the average out of shape person? I am "in shape" and doing a 16 week program. I just worry it sends the wrong message. True "anyone can do it"...but is the message being sent correctly?

60 days to train, after a few months at the ranch - they're were all running on treadmills quite a while before they heard about the marathon. I thought that too, but then realized they were already running since they got to the ranch.

[Ritamarie]

From Trek420's link about the biggest loser guy who cycled across America "Now, I spend my days thinking about my next adventure instead of my next meal."

I never saw this show, but THAT'S cool.

[Dogmama]

Ok, I DVR's Tuesday's episode and just watched it last night.
I am about to rant (so ignore this if you want).
I do think it is great they show them running. I think they should do "exercise" outside a gym. But 60 days to train for a marathon?? What are we telling the average out of shape person? I am "in shape" and doing a 16 week program. I just worry it sends the wrong message. True "anyone can do it"...but is the message being sent correctly?

Rant on,sister. That was way over-the-top.

[lph]

Rant on,sister. That was way over-the-top.

Hey, this reminded me. I stumbled over a blog earlier this year, turned out to be a Norwegian sports journalist who had a plan to get back in shape.

He used to be fairly fit, played football regularly, had at one point run a marathon, but had settled down to family life, put on weight and stopped working out over a period of several years. So his plan to get back in shape? Sign up for the Norseman Xtreme triathlon, apparently the worlds's hardest Ironman, with nine* months to go...

I... this is just mindboggling. I mean, I'm all for big dreams and all that, but there is a point where optimistic turns plain stupid. And I dunno, to me it seems a bit disrespectful, to all of the talented, determined athletes out there who train hard and well and healthily over a long period of time and prepare themselves properly to be able to do something like this without killing themselves or sustaining long-term injury.

I know, this doesn't really hurt anybody but him, but since he did start a blog and post this in the paper, and made a point out of wanting to be "followed" I felt he was sort of putting himself out there as an example. "Hey, this isn't hard!"

He ended up being pulled from the race because he was so far behind at some point.

So anyone but me thinking... "Men!"

*eta: I just googled him. Per January 1st 2009 he was, in his own words, 20 kg overweight, hadn't worked out regularly for 3 years and couldn't swim freestyle. The Norseman was August 8th.

[Trek420]

I wish they would have 'em do a century as the Great Test of Strength at the end. Even after weeks at the ranch they are so heavily taped, obviously major joint problems. I questioned it since two were really struggling early on I didn't think they'd make it and still would not be surprised to hear if they "take a shortcut" in the car.

But cycling's easy on the joints, with the spinning they've been doing that's both very hard and doable.

[Deborajen]

I... this is just mindboggling. I mean, I'm all for big dreams and all that, but there is a point where optimistic turns plain stupid. And I dunno, to me it seems a bit disrespectful, to all of the talented, determined athletes out there who train hard and well and healthily over a long period of time and prepare themselves properly to be able to do something like this without killing themselves or sustaining long-term injury.

Well said. I've never cared for "Biggest Loser" because it's - well, it's not smart. The idea of losing weight, looking better, doing things you never dreamed you could do is great. But sometimes the long way is the better way and the healthier way, and this "Hollywood shortcut" does in some ways seem to mock those who worked hard over a period of time to do something big like lose a lot of weight or run a marathon. At the very least, the show promotes a quick-fix, which in this case can be downright dangerous.