The Question I Receive the Most from Prospective Clients

This post will be of interest to two different demographics: (1) fitness professionals who deal with a general fitness/fat loss clientele & (2) Individuals interested in potentially hiring a personal trainer/coach to help them reach their fat loss goals.

The question I receive the most from prospective general fitness/fat loss clients is the following (or some variation of the following):

"If I don’t change my eating habits and do nothing else in the way of exercise besides train with you 2-3 days per week, what can I expect in terms of results?”

I always give the same answer:

• Increased strength in all major muscle groups

•  Maintenance or increase of lean muscle tissue and resting metabolic rate

• Improved cardiovascular fitness and work capacity

• Improved mobility, flexibility, and soft tissue quality

• Improved, more efficient movement with less pain

• Improved motor skills and overall athleticism

• Less stress, improved confidence, better sleep and improved psychological well being

• A comprehensive, safe, progressive, balanced and systematized training program based on 21st century training methods and principles

• A source of accountability (you are paying me and I am expecting you to be at the facility for your scheduled appointments) which will ensure better compliance to an exercise training program.

• Prevention of numerous chronic and acute injuries and diseases and possible improvement in numerous health biomarkers

Notice I didn't list a specific number of pounds lost, a certain percentage of body fat lost, etc. (refer back to the original question...the prospective client suggested they don't intend to change their eating habits or perform any additional exercise). In fact, what I tell prospective clients who ask this question, or a variation of this question, is that they likely won't gain as much weight as they will if they don't train with me. Read that again: what I'm basically telling these people is "You are going to continue to gain weight but just not as much."

If you are a trainer/fit pro reading this blog, and you answer the above question any other way, you are not being completely honest with the prospective client (or you lack knowledge). If you are an individual who is contemplating hiring a trainer, and they answer the above question in any other way, keep searching for a trainer until you find one who gives you an honest and ethical answer similar to the answer I gave above.


If you go back to the post I made a couple of weeks back on HOW MANY CALORIES YOU CAN BURN IN A WEEK THROUGH EXERCISE, it becomes clear someone, realistically, can only burn a certain number of calories-even if they are working with a trainer-training 2-3 days/week. Let's crunch some numbers:

3 60 Minute Workouts/Week (mix of strength, conditioning and flexibility/mobility work)

• 30 minutes of weight training @ 7 calories per minute (*keep in mind only about 20 of the 30 minutes is actual work): 140 Calories.
• 20 minutes of conditioning/cardio @ 10 calories per minute: 200 Calories
• I'm not going to factor in the calories burned while doing stretching, foam rolling, mobilizations, etc. 
• I'll give you 10% EPEOC/"after burn"

340 total calories+10%=374 calories expended per workout

1122 total calories expended for the entire week

4488 calories expended for the entire month

If someone was eating at weight maintenance calories (an unrealistic assumption), they could lose 1.28 pounds of fat over the course of a month by working with a trainer 12 times per month for an hour. If we go back to the original question (go back and read it again), I don't think it's a stretch (and that's why I answer the original question the way I do) to say the typical individual won't lose any fat at all. It's likely the typical individual is going to overshoot their calorie needs by more than 4488 (that's only an additional 150 calories above weight maintenance calorie needs each day in a 30 day month). Unfortunately, many people who start an exercise program end up eating EVEN MORE than they had been previously because they think they can get away with it now that they are exercising a little bit under the guidance of a fitness professional.

If someone is not keeping tabs on their caloric intake, I can almost guarantee they'll end up in a surplus and wipe out any calories expended through exercise. If they are lucky, the exercise they perform (even if the program is very sound) might allow them to maintain their current weight. More than likely, they just won't gain as much additional weight going forward, assuming they continue training 3 days/week (again, a huge stretch).

So what's the take message here for both fitness professionals/trainers/coaches and the "end client" who is considering hiring a trainer to help them reach their weight loss and fat loss goals? Stop back later in the week for an audio blog where I'll discuss this.


http://www.personaltrainerscincinnati.com

"What is the Maximum Amount of Calories I can Burn in a Week Through Exercise?"

I received the following question from a blog reader, and I thought it-and my response-would make for a good post.

PJ Striet

PJ:


I have a spurt of motivation and I'm really trying to drop weight so I can look great for the holidays. Here is a question I have: realistically, what is the maximum amount of calories I can burn on a weekly basis if I were to exercise every day? Thanks!


Justin from San Diego, CA

Great question...and I think the answer may surprise you. Instead of making a lot of work for myself-and because I can't summarize it any better-go read THIS POST & THIS POST from Lyle McDonald. He lays it all out for you.

For those of you who chose not to read the two posts linked to above, here is the "Mel Brooks Short Short Version":

Cardiovascular Activities, on average, burn about 10 calories per minute. A beginner with a very low level of fitness and poor work capacity will burn less. A trained individual can withstand intensities which will burn more (up to 20 calories/minute). But, let's call it 10 calories per minute on average.

Weight training burns roughly 7-9 calories per minute. I should note, as Lyle did in the posts linked to above, that there is huge variability here. The type of exercise you are performing (multiple joint vs. single joint), the loads you are using (high percentage of repetition maximum vs. low percentage of repetition maximum), the overall volume of the workout, your momentary effort level on each exercise, etc. all will influence how many calories are burned. Also, keep in mind, strength training workouts are basically interval workouts: you do a set, rest a minute or so, do another set, etc. So, while you may be in the gym for an hour when you strength train, probably only 30-40 minutes of that is actual metabolic work.

Ok, so let's say you were to exercise 7 days/week for an hour: 3 strength workouts (maybe mon/wed/fri) and 4 cardio type workouts (tues/thurs/sat/sun). Let's assume the strength workouts, on average, burn 7 calories/minute and you are performing actual work for 40 of those 60 minutes (this is generous). Let's also assume you are doing 60 minutes of continuous calorie burning work at an average of 10 calories/minute on cardio days. Again, this is generous. So...

• 3 strength training workouts: 120 minutes of work @ 7 calories/minute=840 total calories burned
• 4 cardio workouts: 240 minutes of work @ 10 calories/minute=2400 total calories burned

Grand Total for the Week: 3240 calories

Pretty shocking huh? Most people who exercise assume they are burning thousands upon thousands of calories. The reality is it's not all that much. 3240 calories is less than 1 pound of fat (3500 calories roughly).

This is why people who don't change their eating habits (which doesn't require any actual time I might add...beyond planning) and try to "exercise off" body fat fail miserably, become discouraged, and say "screw it". Here is some more food for thought...

1. What percentage of the population actually exercises 7 days/week for an hour??? Have you seen the statistics on physical activity in the U. S.???? Most people get 1/4 to 1/2 of this amount...and I'd say these people are probably in the top 25%.
2. It can take up to 6 hours-based on the calculations above-to burn 3240 calories. How long does it take to eat an extra 3240 calories each week? How long does it take NOT to eat 3240 calories each week?

Before I get a lot of people emailing me ranting and raving about EPOC, the "after burn" from workouts, etc. let me just say that all of that stuff is drastically over stated and misinterpreted. If you look at the research on post workout calorie burn and metabolic rate elevation, it's not significant enough to even be considered. I'll be generous and give you an extra 10% (based on what most research has shown). So, someone doing a mix of strength and cardio 7 days per week for an hour each workout might burn an extra 300-400 calories for the week. Wow.

Here is a table (which is even more depressing) which Lyle McDonald presented in the posts I linked to above:

Calorie Burn	Duration	Burn/Workout	3X/Week	Estimated Fat Loss	6X/Week	Estimated Fat Loss
5 cal/min	30 minutes	150 calories	450 calories	0.128 pounds	900 calories	0.25 pounds
5 cal/min	60 minutes	300 calories	900 calories	0.25 pounds	1800 calories	0.51 pounds
10 cal/min	30 minutes	300 calories	900 calories	0.25 pounds	1800 calories	0.51 pounds
10 cal/min	60 minutes	600 calories	1800 calories	0.51 pounds	3600 calories	1.1 pounds

I'm going to leave you to reflect on this information, and then I'll come back next week and talk about this stuff some more. Have a good remainder of  the week and weekend.

http://www.personaltrainerscincinnati.com