Biggest Loser - Overtraining?

[martina92685]

I mean - aren't they overtraining? They do a bunch of cardio and I see many compound exercises. They HAVE to be overtraining. Why does the show not address this?

Aren't the contestants sore ALL the time?

[fitopia]

I watched just the season premiere. I'll return to this thread when it comes on here.

[adoniscomplex]

id say no
generally when someone over trains they get sick
we dont see people being ill on the show

in the end they all lose 100lbs or so
and they all seem very healthy on the finales

even if science says yes they are over training
ill take results over science any day of the week


edit being sore all the time isnt over training
between working out and submission grappling i am sore all the time
but the key signs for over training arnt there

Common warning signs of overtraining include:

* Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
* Pain in muscles and joints
* Sudden drop in performance
* Insomnia
* Headaches
* Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
* Decrease in training capacity / intensity
* Moodiness and irritability
* Depression
* Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
* Decreased appetite
* Increased incidence of injuries.

[crupiea]

Why dont they address their diet. Thats about 80-90% of the reason they lose weight. People come away with the impression that the only way to lose weight is to have someone on your ass in the gym for a couple of hours everyday.

I wouldnt want to go to the gym if were going to be like that.

Of course the show is sponsored by a gym so thats what they want you to think.

They should have a secondary group that just diets with regular cardio and weights and goes to wrok everyday.

They should at least give the menus the people eat a more prominent role on the show.

[martina92685]

Originally Posted by adoniscomplex

id say no
generally when someone over trains they get sick
we dont see people being ill on the show

................

Common warning signs of overtraining include:

* Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
* Pain in muscles and joints
* Sudden drop in performance
* Insomnia
* Headaches
* Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
* Decrease in training capacity / intensity
* Moodiness and irritability
* Depression
* Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
* Decreased appetite
* Increased incidence of injuries.

If you go to NBC.com, there is a video of Tara repeatedly puking afer winning a challenge. The challenge was to jump over a bar more times than anyone else. She was throwing up like you would not believe, and I refuse to believe that that puke session was strictly from that one challenge.

Also, NBC shows what they want to show. Why would they show someone getting sick? People at home don't want to see contestants consistently complaining of pain and being in a bad mood.

But I do think they can show the contestants having a day off. The message of the show is cardio, cardio cardio, yay you lost 20 pounds! They never show them pass out in their beds or get taped up. That is REAL!

[souperpump]

they show a disclaimer at the end of each show that says each participants diet and training was tailored and watched specifically or something like that so they do workout hard but they are also amazingly overweight and eating right can put them into huge weightloss mode

[Wild_Weasel]

I think people are way too concerned about overtraining. The human body can take way more than we think.

It's like plateus or gyno on here, people hear about it, then they think they've got it.

[maffmace]

I watch the US, Australia and UK versions of the show, diet is mentioned in nearly every episode. They train 8-10 hours a day, nearly all of that is cardio and only do weights with their trainers there. There's medical staff there all the time, every day they are in a recovery room covered in ice packs. The trainers push them to their body's limits, it shows people throwing up all the time (usually after legs or something similar, who hasn't done that?). I don't see the problem with it, everything is monitored all the time (calories, heart rate etc) and there's plenty of professionals around, look at when that old guy collapsed on the 1st day, medics were around him as he hit the floor!

[Gabriel01]

Originally Posted by martina92685

I mean - aren't they overtraining? They do a bunch of cardio and I see many compound exercises. They HAVE to be overtraining. Why does the show not address this?

Aren't the contestants sore ALL the time?

well, the start of the show i bet yeah, yes. but the there body get adjusted along the way.

Over training is the least of there concerns. its FAT loss they care about week in week out. So weather its FAT or muscle loss, they wouldn't care less. It's overall weight loss.

overtraining is more endorsed and practiced in bodybuilding, as we all know the benefit of recovery, growth of muscle fibers etc but not so much on this show .

[maffmace]

seems most of them still follow a healthy lifestyle after the show
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28239000/


also, during the shows they show body composition, everyone usually puts on muscle

[Babylon1023]

Originally Posted by maffmace

seems most of them still follow a healthy lifestyle after the show
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28239000/


also, during the shows they show body composition, everyone usually puts on muscle

Long bump, but I've been searching for a while with no answer to the question: HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? These guys and girls are really big and they're working their asses off for hours on end. Their TDEE's must be through the roof, yet how can they build muscle after all that? They'd have to eat like elephants to get enough calories to break maintenance, yet some of the stuff you see them eating would be appropriate for a skinny girl just trying to lose a few pounds. Something does not add up. If they admitted they lost a ton of muscle along with the fat, I could understand that, but to actually gain muscle with the kind of deficits they were in just dumbfounds me.

[Gr3g_Lycan]

In the Australian version just finished, there were people with stress fractures & others sent to hospital for days. The winner Bob was over 50 and kept up with the 20yos with his work rate.

The key to this show is diet, which is mentioned but not to the same extent as exercise. They are given diets to follow but they make their own food most of the time so they can overeat or undereat.

[dinger8]

Originally Posted by Babylon1023

Long bump, but I've been searching for a while with no answer to the question: HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? These guys and girls are really big and they're working their asses off for hours on end. Their TDEE's must be through the roof, yet how can they build muscle after all that? They'd have to eat like elephants to get enough calories to break maintenance, yet some of the stuff you see them eating would be appropriate for a skinny girl just trying to lose a few pounds. Something does not add up. If they admitted they lost a ton of muscle along with the fat, I could understand that, but to actually gain muscle with the kind of deficits they were in just dumbfounds me.

i think that they had so much fat on them that their body justr used all the fat for fuel sparing all or most of the muscle plus they probably had lots of muscle from hauling around their 350 pound ass"s

[Babylon1023]

Originally Posted by dinger8

i think that they had so much fat on them that their body justr used all the fat for fuel sparing all or most of the muscle plus they probably had lots of muscle from hauling around their 350 pound ass"s

Oh I'm sure they had it coming into the show, but to claimed they kept that and gained even more is just incredulous to me. The only plausible explanation I can see (apart from out and out lying or doing their math wrong) is perhaps the "muscle gain" comment was out of context and in reference to another point later in the show where they've lost most of the fat and ate/trained in the body recomp zone or something. Still, that's not they way they put it. Something is up, and I would love to find out what secrets that show is keeping under wraps. Even specifics would be nice, like how many calories they were eating or what their total deficits were. I tuned into the show for the first time this season hoping to hear some specifics but instead got a series of 2 hour long drama fests where nothing is actually learned. Sad, really. So much potential for education and more time goes into terribly scripted product plugs than it does into telling people how to estimate their caloric needs. Ugh.

[trance__dreamer]

Originally Posted by dinger8

i think that they had so much fat on them that their body justr used all the fat for fuel sparing all or most of the muscle plus they probably had lots of muscle from hauling around their 350 pound ass"s

Originally Posted by dinger8

i think that they had so much fat on them that their body justr used all the fat for fuel sparing all or most of the muscle plus they probably had lots of muscle from hauling around their 350 pound ass"s

Originally Posted by dinger8

i think that they had so much fat on them that their body justr used all the fat for fuel sparing all or most of the muscle plus they probably had lots of muscle from hauling around their 350 pound ass"s

^^ this!!!! i think starvation mode, along w/ overtraining, are definately exaggerated in the health/fitness industry.

Originally Posted by Babylon1023

Sad, really. So much potential for education and more time goes into terribly scripted product plugs than it does into telling people how to estimate their caloric needs. Ugh.

ahaha. no doubt.

anyway. i'm still really proud of tara. she reminded myself of me SO much. but wtf...helen looked absolutely disgusting @ the finale. that's what happens when you drop the fat too quickly. she looked like a deflated elephant. like...loose skin everywhere. my jaw dropped when i saw her in a bad way. =S she worked herself HARD, for sure. but jesus christ. she definately dropped the fat too quickly. now, she's gunna definately need surgery to remove it.

...although i do understand why she did it. it was a competition to get 1/4th of a million $. & if it wasn't for the $, she probably would have taken her time a bit more @ home. 'cause oh man. i seriously can't get over her loose skin on the finale last month. =S =S =S

[Elfie.]

Aren't they supposed to do 5 hrs of excersise every day? I can't even imagine that. Their feet (and everything else) must be so fing sore.

[WhatDidYouDo]

Originally Posted by trance__dreamer

anyway. i'm still really proud of tara. she reminded myself of me SO much. but wtf...helen looked absolutely disgusting @ the finale. that's what happens when you drop the fat too quickly. she looked like a deflated elephant. like...loose skin everywhere. my jaw dropped when i saw her in a bad way. =S she worked herself HARD, for sure. but jesus christ. she definately dropped the fat too quickly. now, she's gunna definately need surgery to remove it.

...although i do understand why she did it. it was a competition to get 1/4th of a million $. & if it wasn't for the $, she probably would have taken her time a bit more @ home. 'cause oh man. i seriously can't get over her loose skin on the finale last month. =S =S =

Even if she would have dropped the weight slower she probably would still have to get rid of loose skin.......all those competitors get loose skin because they were so big........but i agree with you on how she looked extremely skinny.

[trance__dreamer]

Originally Posted by WhatDidYouDo

Even if she would have dropped the weight slower she probably would still have to get rid of loose skin.......all those competitors get loose skin because they were so big........but i agree with you on how she looked extremely skinny.

true that. i, myself, have some on my upper arms & upper legs. but w/ my arms, it's slowly going away as my bi's & tri's get bigger. (no brag. )

tara didn't seem to have a lot. but then again, she's fairly young like i am, wheras helen is in her late 40's, I think.

but yea. hah. boo to working out multiple hours a day. i would crack metally, let alone physically. i know that the body can handle more than we think it can. but yeesh. o__O no wonder most of them relapse/rebound afterwards. it's not realistic. & they never learned moderate exercise, let alone much about portion control/healthy nutritious eating. like, this past season on the u.s.a. one, they had a challenge where they were supposed to keep a video food diary for bob. they all failed miserably w/ not eating enough, being scared of olive oil, not eating enough protein, etc.

but i can't blame 'em. they got obese in the 1st place for these very same reasons.

[xvicknumber7x]

I don't think it's possible to overtrain on cardio...

[Hellcraft]

They have a lot of excess energy reserves.

[trance__dreamer]

Originally Posted by Hellcraft

They have a lot of excess energy reserves.

Originally Posted by dinger8

i think that they had so much fat on them that their body justr used all the fat for fuel sparing all or most of the muscle plus they probably had lots of muscle from hauling around their 350 pound ass"s

^^ once again, THESE. if you're obese, i doubt you can over do cardio physically (...although probably mentally,) if you're doing it @ an intensity that doesn't over-stress your joints.

[Babylon1023]

It's just so "in the face" of all these new people in the fitness realm that say cardio is bunk and all you should do is lift lift lift. The growing consensus is that a balance is called for, and a bit of a calorie deficit will help too. Sure it may not be the absolute safest, healthiest way to go about things, but carrying around a 100+lbs of fat is not healthy either. Neither is going on a program where you only lose 1 lb per week and it could take over two years to get all the weight off. Plenty of time to get discouraged and give up if you ask me.

[SeanEH]

Originally Posted by trance__dreamer

^^ this!!!! i think starvation mode, along w/ overtraining, are definately exaggerated in the health/fitness industry.

I think it depends on whether you're talking about somebody who needs to lose 300 pounds or somebody who needs to lose 30 pounds. Very big people can get away with very big losses, and if there is some risk from extreme weight loss it probably doesn't compare to the risk of being grossly obese.

The effects of extreme calorie restriction have been studied. Here's a summary of an experiment where healthy subjects were put on a 50% calorie deficit.

http://www.possibility.com/wiki/inde...SemiStarvation

Read some of the things that happened to these people. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say this was very bad for them. I see a lot of posts here from people who are in a deficit that big or contemplating it. And I mean people who are under 200 pounds, young, and have absolutely no need to do this to their bodies.

[Jetvictor]

They train 5-8 hours a day as they told on the news and everything. Of course they're sore then get used to it in a month or so. Jullian was telling the guys to eat 1800 calories and burn 5000 calories a day on their BodyBugg arms and for women 1500 calories. They go for weight loss overall. They may have lose muscles.

Btw that "loose skin" is because she's an old mommy

[Babylon1023]

Originally Posted by Jetvictor

They train 5-8 hours a day as they told on the news and everything. Of course they're sore then get used to it in a month or so. Jullian was telling the guys to eat 1800 calories and burn 5000 calories a day on their BodyBugg arms and for women 1500 calories. They go for weight loss overall. They may have lose muscles.

Btw that "loose skin" is because she's an old mommy

So let's see if I have this right. Mike on TBL was 18 years old, 388lbs, I'm guessing 5'8" and also guessing 45% body fat (can't remember the stats). Plugged into www.phord.com/cc it says his BMR is 2300 calories per day not counting any activity at all. Assuming the BodyBugg tracks all burnt calories including the kind that are factored into RMR that puts his TDEE at 7300 calories per day, for a grand total deficit of 5500 calories per day! Holy sh!t. Here I thought my 1,000/day was pushing it, but then again I only have 40lbs to lose in comparison.

[Takestate76]

The thing about loose skin is when your someone that big, or for instance me myself, your not concerned about loose skin cause you have so much to lose. I've thought to myself if I lost a ton of weight and had loose skin the surgery would be worth it.

BTW the 1800 calories a day for men is correct, and they were burning around 5,000 a day at the start and of course as their weight got lower they started to burn a little less. I couldn't imagine burning 5,000 calories. I go to L.A. boxing for their 800-1000 calorie burn workouts and they whip my butt good.

[SeanEH]

Originally Posted by Babylon1023

So let's see if I have this right. Mike on TBL was 18 years old, 388lbs, I'm guessing 5'8" and also guessing 45% body fat (can't remember the stats). Plugged into www.phord.com/cc it says his BMR is 2300 calories per day not counting any activity at all.

Typo or bad calculator? No way somebody could maintain 388 pounds on 2300 calories, even if they stayed in bed all day.

[Babylon1023]

Originally Posted by SeanEH

Typo or bad calculator? No way somebody could maintain 388 pounds on 2300 calories, even if they stayed in bed all day.

That was just his BMR. His RMR for a sedentary lifestyle is around 2789 per day, however I used the BMR on the assumption that the BodyBugg device recorded the everyday activity that makes up your RMR. They wanted a total 5000/day expenditure, not 5000 in the gym alone. Still, I wonder what they do burn after getting whipped for 6 straight hours...