CLIENT WHO HAS LOST OVER 10 INCHES, BUT NOT ONE POUND!
Hey All,
Hope you guys can help me out with one of my client. He is 22 years old, 5’10”, 276 LBS. We have been training together since January and he has lost over 10″, BUT HAS NOT DROPPED ONE POUND! He is the exact same weight as when we started.
I have NOT done body fat on him because one of my fellow trainers told me that when a person is that heavy you should only measure them because 1. The pinches are all going to be “60” 2. It is really hard for their self esteem.
So, is this true? Also, could my client be replacing all that fat with muscle???
Thanks!!!!
Hi Rachel. Congratulations on the progress that you and your client have made so far!!! Your story is just one more example of what I’ve been preaching for years, and that I wrote about in one of my articles “Pounds versus Inches.” The fact that your client has lost a total of 10 INCHES certainly points to his probable loss of unhealthy body fat. Generally speaking, body fat, NOT pounds is one of the prime indicators of health, and also ties to the sometimes equally important (at least to many of our clients) goal of fitting into smaller clothes.
With the wonderful progress that you two have made, I would try to keep your client’s focus on the reduced inches (i.e. body fat). Since he has made such wonderful progress in that department, I’m not so sure that I agree with your colleague about NOT wanting to do a body fat test on him. As a matter of fact, I’m hoping that you conducted that as part of your “fitness assessment” before you two began. Taking another now will only validate your client’s wonderful progress now. I also would say that, in my opinion, I believe that when you’re working with a heavy client, the focus should be on the body fat numbers NOT scale numbers anyway. Again, it’s the body fat numbers that will be most closely tied to your client’s improving their health by reducing unhealthy or unnecessary body fat. Look to keep moving that number towards the norm, and you’ve done your client a wonderful service!
If you’d like a copy of the article that I mention above, just send me an email and I’ll forward a copy to you.
Great job!
LaRue, CSCS
www.lecfitness.com
[email protected]
I would think this would be pretty common knowledge for any trainer. And its to bad you didnt do a % body fat test at the begining…. if for some reason you think it would ruin self esteem, i still take it, but just dont give them the answers. Tell them its specificly for charting purposes.
aside from that, congradulations, thats great progress!
I agree with Greg and LaRue
I take it that you did measure him since you say that he’s lost 10 inches?
Whatever method you started with is the method to continue on with.
Sometimes taking the advice of a fellow trainer isn’t always in your best interest.
It’s important to do a detailed assessment of your own so that you can have a comparative basis.
At this point focus on the positive, set new specific, realistic goals with him and you will succeed.
Hello Rachel,
I thought I might add to the mix.
If your client has lost ten inches, then he/she ought to see/experience.
1. More definition
2. Better coordination
3. Stronger
4. Greater kinesthetic awareness
5. More energy
6. More confidence
If that doesn’t give your client more confidence, I don’t know what will.
These are great answers. I can see why you didn’t take a body fat measurement to begin with, however, this is an important part of the “numbers game.” I like the answer “don’t tell your client the numbers” and talk about how you want to track the progress.
Rachel,
10 inches is almost one foot. That’s a heck of a lot of inches! Do what I do sometimes and explain BMI to the client. When I wieghed over 200 pounds and was still lean (9%), my BMI was between 27 and 28. I was considered overweight (normal is between 18 and 24.9), but I was perfectly healthy according to my doctor. The trick of it is… Body Fat!!! I would never have known how much of my body was lean mass unless I calculated body fat!
It’s never too late to get this measurement and then see how it changes in the future.
Have your client focus on image or sense of well-being as primary motivators until the weight falls off. Just some suggestions. I know how hard it is to work and work and work, and the pounds just don’t come off of a client. Use food logs and see what the client is eating, just another suggestion.