Monday, May 24, 2010

Five More Pounds!

"Nutrition & smart exercise have become a natural part of Tony's days, just like driving to work or getting ready for bed." - Perfect Personal Training

News:
This morning, Tony's weight was down to under 171 lbs!  This is down nearly five more pounds from last week's weigh - in.  Because some of this weight loss was coming from lean tissue as opposed to body fat, we've recommended an increase in Tony's protein intake, and are increasing the intensity and duration of his strength training.

We've gotten several Email requests and blog comments that asked for specifics regarding Tony's workouts. While every workout that he does is very different from the last, below is Tony's entire workout from Friday, May 21st  -- with details relating to his trainer's decision-making. Happy reading! 

Heart Health Parameters:
  • Estimated maximum heart rate is 169
  • Training heart rate is targeted at 135-145 throughout 70% or more of the workout
  • Training heart rate should not exceed 160 for more than 30 seconds
These values are only safe considering Tony's regularity of training, duration of training, and lack of any history of cardiac issues. These would not be safe values for more sedentary individuals or for those who have a recent history of medical cardiac concerns.

Priorities:
Fat loss is still our main objective
Secondarily, we are concerned about gaining back lost lean tissue
Lesser priorities involve improving balance and sustaining/improving cardiac function

Strategy:
  • 34 minutes of session time will be devoted to high-rep resistive training, with the intention of burning body fat, gaining muscle tissue, improving metabolic factors, and strenghtening bones and joints
  • 9 minutes of session time will be devoted to rest, cool-down, & flexibility promotion
  • 9 minutes of session time will be devoted almost entirely to cardiovascular benefits
  • 3 minutes of session time will be devoted strictly to core training
The Workout --  In Full Detail:

#1. Lateral raises, 15# dumbbells - 36 seconds (builds shoulders)

#2. Isometric planx - 90 seconds (improves spinal health and balance)

#3. Boxing with resistance tubing - 45 seconds (cardiovascular)

#4. Upper back & Lower back rowing with tubing - 70 seconds (improves posture, core, back muscles & metabolism)

#5. Pushups - 18 reps in 40 seconds (improves metabolism, chest, triceps, core)

#6. Isometric planx - 60 seconds (improves spinal health and balance)

#7. Supermans for the Lower Back - 20 seconds (improves lower back endurance & flexibility)

#8. Bent-over lateral raises, 15# dumbbells -- 13 reps (back and shoulders)

#9. Jumping jacks for 30 seconds (cardiovascular, lower extremity bone health)

#10. Wide-arm pushups (chest, core ability, metabolism)

#11. Bent-over lateral raise, 15# dumbbells -- 13 reps (back and shoulders)

#12. Alternating rowing exercises with tubing (posture, core, metabolism)

#13. Flies with 15# dumbbells on stability ball (chest, core, metabolism)

#14. Chest press with 15# (this is our only "super-setting" of the day -- improves chest strength and endurance, core endurance, and musculature of the upper arms)

#15. One-arm row with stability ball and 25# -- 17 reps (core, spinal health, back mmuscles - latissimus dorsi, spinal health)

#16. Jumping jacks -- 40 seconds (cardiovascular)

#17. Alternating kicks -- 45 seconds (cardiovascular, upper body muscles rest)

#18. Pushups with wide arms - 15 reps (chest, core, metabolism)

#19. Planks -- 60 seconds (core, balance, spinal health)

#20. Dynamic side planx -- 20 second ea (core, balance, spinal health)

#21. Jumping jacks -- 40 seconds (cardiovascular)

#22. Boxing with resistance tubing -- 40 seconds (cardiovascular, upper body endurance)

#23. Standing rows with 25# dumbbells -- 40 seconds (latissimus dorsi, metabolism)

#24. Pushups with feet on ball -- 15 reps (core, chest development, metabolism)

#25. Shrugs with 55# dumbbells -- 30 seconds (trapezius back muscles, spinal health, bone health)

#26. Pushups with wide arms -- 20 reps (metabolism, chest, core)

#27. Overhead Press with 15# dumbbells -- 30sec (shoulders, metabolism, triceps, bone health)

#28. Shrugs with 55# dumbbells -- 15 reps (spinal health, metabolic factors, trapezius muscle development for postural reasons)

#29. Hybrid exercise: Squats combined with bicep curls using 15 # dumbbells (excellent metabolic work, sustains total body physical ability, improved joint health in many areas, stronger bones of lower and upper body, improved core endurance, reduced risk for injury)

#30. Jumping Jacks -- 30 seconds (cardiovascular, muscle recovery)

#31. Shrugs with 55 # dumbbells -- 14 reps

#32. Flies with 25 # dumbbells, on the stability ball

#33. Cool-down begins with heart-rate at 140, gradually letting to fall to his resting level over several minutes.
 
Below:  Tony performs chest "flies" on a stability ball.
Below:  Tony performs a "boxing" to improve
cardiovascular ability & strengthen the arms
Below:  Tony performs a planking exercise to improve
core endurance, & to promote spinal health
Congratulations on your continued hard work, Tony!  You're training hard and getting closer to true Physical Wellness.

We'll post more about Tony's progress next week!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Tony's Transformation


It's with great excitement that we bring you this blog about our friend & client, Tony from Michigan. This blog serves to chronicle his past & current training. His goal is to reach a healthy body fat score of 15% or lower, which is a value associated with significantly lowered risk for physical disorders. (We've recommended a body fat loss of 1% weekly.)

"It feels amazing to be this close to my goal!"

- Tony G


Tony Before He Began:



At over 220 lbs, high risk for chronic disease


Tony Today, In Training:


Now 176 lbs, still working hard toward greater fitness


His Story, So Far:

Tony began sessions with Perfect Personal Training 2-3 times weekly. Achieving his goal of a healthy body composition would mean a regimen of resistance training, cardiovascular exercise, careful nutrition, and flexibility training. As you can see below, his initial progress (over his first few months) showed a steady decline in body fat percentage, body weight, and circumference measurements. He was off to a great start!

Apr 22nd, 2009
35.5% body fat | 218.1 lbs | 131.0 lbs lean tissue
Over 45 inch abdominal circumference

May 21st, 2009
31.3% body fat | 204.8 lbs | 133.8 lbs lean tissue
43.5 inch abdominal circumference

July 4th, 2009 -- now under 200 lbs!
27.3% body fat | 199.0 lbs | 134.0 lbs lean tissue
41.5 inch abdominal circumference

Aug 5th, 2009
25.9% body fat | 192.1 lbs | 135.2 lbs lean tissue
39.2 inch abdominal circumference




"Tony used to expend this energy into wishing he was getting fit. Now, he's actually doing it -- in a big, yet safe, way!" - Perfect Personal Training


Then, Tony reduced his PPT training schedule to less than once weekly, and his progress reflected it. From September through March, with a schedule of only 2-3 PPT sessions per month, Tony's bodyweight was still over 190 lbs and wasn't coming down. His reduced training schedule had sadly led to a frustrating plateau... And, while he was much healthier than he was before he began training originally, he'd decided that it was now time to return to a regular 3-day per week training schedule with Perfect Personal Training. After months of staying stagnant, he was now re-focused, and finally ready to fully reach his goal of 15% body fat once and for all. His new and dramatic successes since returning to this vigorous, difficult schedule, are below:

Apr 23rd, 2010
24.8% body fat | 178.6 lbs | 127.8 lbs lean tissue
Back on track with exciting weight loss of nearly 13 lbs in four weeks!

May 10th, 2010
20.4% body fat | 176.2 lbs | 133.2 lbs lean tissue

We're back on track!

With his return to a 3-day per week schedule, Tony has now reached his best body fat score to date! His goal of 15%, which is a statistically ideal score for a male his age, is now less than 6% away! Please post words of encouragement here, and FOLLOW THIS BLOG to get weekly updates on Tony's continued progress. We'll keep you posted on his exercises, his diet, and his new body composition scores in the next post!

(877)698-DO-IT (3648) -- Perfect Personal Training