Personal Trainer at the Gym

Jammin' Jan · Post by **Jammin' Jan** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 12:35 am

I mentioned in my daily check-in that my husband and I had joined a gym so we could work out together, and I wanted to make a comment about that here, since it really connects with No-S.

At our first session, we were assigned a personal trainer to take some basic measurements (bp, body fat, weight, tape measures) and to assess our fitness level (how many sit-ups in a minute, push-ups, how fast we could cover a mile on the treadmill). She recommended a program of exercise for us.

Then she started in on diet.

According to her, we should be eating about 6 meals each day and carefully combining carbs, proteins, fats, according to the meal being eaten. Definitely not allowed to put walnuts on my Optimized Oatmeal at breakfast, although walnuts at mid-morning snack, along with yogurt, would be fine. She went on and on with this. I speeded up on the treadmill just so I could tune it all out.

Good grief.

Now, my dear husband is not a No-S guy, but when we got home, he really started in on this six meal business, starting with what the trainer said, progressing to forming (bad) habits in kids, and continuing to the National Obsession with Permasnacking.

I felt much better!

Is this standard advice from the fitness world? Sounded a bit like Jorge Cruise's "Three Hour Diet" to me.

Well, I have no further point to make about this. Just needed to vent. But I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience?

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 1:10 am

Yes, this is absolutely standard advice. (I work the desk at a gym to get free access to a pool).

And if you're trying to diet down to 10% body fat as a female bodybuilding competitor, that minor metabolic advantage is necessary. But to get it, you have to eat an incredibly rigid amount of calories at regular intervals, and say hello to your scales, and measuring cups, because if you eyeball something, you're sure to be wrong. We're talking about dieting that's described by someone who did it as "You'd kill your Mama for a cheeto" style dieting.

Your hair will fall out and you'll stop menstruating, too. Those female bodybuilding competitors have hair weaves and fake nails. They're NOT healthy, even if they're called fitness competitors. Not only that, they yo-yo going between 10% and 20% body fat regularly. They have to, as the very low body fat percentages they have isn't something that a healthy human survives on.

To get down to about 20-24% body fat, No S is perfectly all right. That's not model skinny, but guess what? That's not actually healthy. Imagine!

Nod and smile at the trainer. No S isn't about having a hobby of bodybuilding or other extreme measures. It's about genuine sustainable habits.

It drives me CRAZY that fitness professionals model their advice on competitive bodybuilders. (This is different from people who are just into strength training. That's actually pretty good for you!) What you need to do to be HEALTHY and what a competitor needs to do to win a competition that has a decidedly UNHEALTHY physique are two different things.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 4:04 am

Noel, Very interesting!
I don't have much to add, except that I spend a fair amount of time on a couple of fitness boards, and I've read several diet/fitness books, and this advice has appeared in several of the books.

Jammin' Jan · Post by **Jammin' Jan** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:50 am

Noel, you really know what you're talking about! You have described her diet and physique perfectly.

She is a bodybuilder, with photos of herself on her desk. Looking at the pictures, and at her, all I see is skinny, stringy, and emaciated. No fat and no curves. Not feminine at all.

I don't want to look like this when I grow up!

Moderation is the key to health and fitness...No-S with sensible exercise is a better deal all around.

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 12:12 pm

Jammin' Jan wrote:She is a bodybuilder, with photos of herself on her desk.

*snip*

I don't want to look like this when I grow up!

I promise that you won't just from pumping iron a few times a week and doing No-S. Do the strength training. You'll thank your younger self when you're in your eighties. (Shovelglove and walking is more than adequate, by the way).

Women are sometime afraid they'll accidentally look like a competitive bodybuilder if they lift anything heavier than a soup can. You won't. It takes years of dedication and spending hours a day in the gym to get there.

Remy · Post by **Remy** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 1:32 pm

Noel, I hesitate to correct you when I have always found your comments spot on. However, some women do develop muscles very easily. I know we are not the norm but we are still out there.

I have extremely muscular arms (with a bit of fat!!). I am self conscious about them and never wear sleeveless tops. If anyone does notice them when a short sleeve rides up they always says I must push really heavy weights. I don't, I never have. In fact I haven't done any arm exercises in nearly a year and that was only yoga.

I have biceps that a wharfie would be proud to own. So please take pity on us and accept that we can be naturally endowed.

Sorry for the threadjack but I am a little touchy about the subject. (Can you tell?)

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 2:58 pm

*wince*

I'm sure you do put on muscle easily. I did not mean to hurt your feelings.

Forgive my cynicism, but it's so very common in a gym environment for women to claim gains of large amounts of muscle when the scale changes. For the AVERAGE women, and even some of the genetically gifted hard trainers (I was one), if you put on half a pound of muscle a week (unsupplemented), you're doing GREAT.

Anything else is just way out on the sigma six level of the bell curve. Instances like you EXIST, of course, but you're incredibly rare. So much so, that I feel pretty comfortable eyerolling fears of getting huge for the most part, even though I'm terribly sorry to have flicked you on the raw.

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 3:55 pm

Hmmm, well I eat three meals and two snacks. Cheese is one and yogurt with granola is the other. It keeps my energy up. I've actually been told on this board that these are more like "mini-meals", but I usually call them snacks. I don't want to start a debate, but snacking isn't really all that bad for you unless it is abused or you are eating really unhealthy stuff, such as a bag of potato chips. I know for some it's hard to even have a small snack because it can lead to binging, and prevention is absolutely understandable. Afterall, I don't keep sweets in the house because I will eat them, so I understand this mentality. But two small snacks during the day isn't a completely insane idea, not in my opinion.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 12:26 am

Remy, I'm another one who puts on muscle easily. Back when I was doing moderate/heavier (but not heavy weight traning), my biceps and quadriceps got pretty big. I've backed off of heavy weight training quite a bit over the past couple of years, and I'm much happier with my size. I still do pilates, yoga, light weight training, cardio (to burn fat) and I carry around my 34 pound toddler.

Nichole, I don't think there's anything wrong with eating 3 meals and 2 mini meals (snacks) as long as you can control it. I know for me, though, if I eat a small snack, my body wants more food afterwards, so it turns into a meal.