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by Jim Coughlin Just got done training a client this morning by the name of Christy. Christy signed up for my "Total Body Makeover" program and wants to lose about 20 pounds. If you don't know, TBM is a 5 day a week program that is strength training 3x a week and cardio 2x a week. Quite simply the most comprehensive and intense program my company offers. But unlike most people I help with this program, Christy wanted it to be a bit more extreme. She is a lawyer, so she has virtually NO time to exercise and even five times a week is a stretch. Not making an excuse for her, but the girl works like 12-14 hour days...So like I said she doesn't have time to breathe. As I was saying, she wanted to get the most bang for her buck and make each session as INTENSE as humanly possible. Well, as many of my past clients can tell you, I KNOW intense...having said that, I'm all about safety first. So when Christy had asked for this vigorous type of workout, I was a bit apprehensive to have her do it because I DID NOT want her to hurt herself. Mainly because she isn't familiar with strength training and she had also torn a rotator cuff, so again, I was very concerned for her safety. But she insisted. And I was like "Ok, but there's no turning back...You want intense - you got it." Anyway, the psycho workout was basically this. For her strength training 3x a week, Christy was to perform 3 sets of 8 exercises with NO REST in between (ok, maybe a couple seconds, but that's it) for 40 minutes...THEN run at about 80-90 percent of her maximum heart rate for another 20 minutes. Again, for someone who is first starting off - this is i-n-s-a-n-e. Christy easily burns in the neighborhood of a thousand calories a session. No problem. For her cardio that's 2x a week, she runs for a whole hour, again, at about 80-90 percent of her maximum heart rate and yes, I'm trucking right along with her. She burns at least 800 calories a session here.
Well, after completing her first week, Christy annihilated any type of worry I previously had. She proved that she could hang and was even hungry for more. I love it. She is well on her way to dropping those twenty pounds. But the point I want to make to you today is what I told Christy as well. You can perform the most insane workout ever, but if you DON'T couple it with proper nutrition you can kiss your results good-bye. Many people have the false perception that if you exercise a lot or very intensely they can or allow themselves to do one of two things. Number one, eat like crap. Number two, eat virtually nothing at all. WRONG. If you're performing a psycho workout like Christy is, you need to eat EVEN BETTER then how you did before, when you were doing nothing or your routine was moderate. The simple fact is, the harder you exercise, the more vital it is to get the correct number of nutrients to your body for proper recovery. If you eat poorly or eat very little, you're gonna create deficiencies in your body such as in your muscles, internal organs, blood sugar, etc. This leads to possible injury, malnutrition and basically not getting the results you want. Not good. Some good tips for proper nutrition is to eat small meals every 2-3 hours eating portions the size of your fist. Eat natural foods such as lean meats, fruits, vegetables and healthy starches as much as possible. Always combine a protein with a carb and always drink water throughout the day. Please note that I will soon be coming out with a nutrition program called "Nutrition Secrets to Success" about the same time when I launch "The In-Home Personal Trainer" program that will cover nutrition in MUCH greater detail. Stay tuned! Have a great weekend. Yours in Total Fitness & Maximum Success,
Jim Coughlin
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