Is my personal trainer right?

I recently joined a gym and as a courtesy they set you up with a trainer who goes over your goals, body fat, etc. and then gives you the option of signing on with him. I met with him today and he says I have 35% body fat and 123 lbs. of lean body mass. He says I have 66 lbs of fat. I want to lose 60 more lbs. to get to goal. He says I can not lose anymore muscle and the only way to maintain and not lose it is by increasing my protein to 129 g a day (right now I get about 65g, what my doc requires). This trainer doesn't know anything about WLS. He has told me that I should not do cardio 6X a week, like I have been doing, but instead decrease to 2-3X a week because I will burn more muscle. He also said the more I work with weights, the more muscle I will burn -unless I double my protein intake. Is he right? Should I decrease my cardio? I only eat about 700 cal a day (I am 3 months post-op) and wouldn't be able to add much more protein. Should I even worry about maintaining my muscle mass right now? Thanks! Marcia

Marcia, Talk to both your doctor and your dietician. Your personal trainer is sort of right, but for non WLS patients. Maintaining you lean muscle mass is very important and needs to be a primary focus. You can maintain lean muscle mass by weight training, low weights lots or reps...12-20 reps of each exercise, use as much weight as you can to stay within that range. If you can do more than 20, increase the weight, if you cannot do 12 decrease the weight. Cardio does not burn lean muscle mass, it burns calories and you have plenty of fat stored up so if you drink your water, eat as much protein as your doctor and dietician recommend AND keep up with your exercise you should be just fine. Good Luck Mike Lap RNY 10/12/05 383/310

Marcia, My name is Jeremy Gentles and I am a Bariatric Professional with Obesity Help. I have a formal education in exercise physiology, I am a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and I will tell you now, your trainer is completely off base. Exucse me while I go on a ranting tear for a moment.....but before I do so, I want to congratulate you on your successes to come and for making the decision to become an active exercising person. Exercise is the the cheapest, most dependable, and all encompassing medicine in the world. OK, here comes the rant.....I apologize on behalf of your trainer; there is enough misinformation about exercise, nutrition, and all that is healthy, without the "so called professionals" of the fitness industry propogating absolute rubish. Unfortunately not many trainers know anything about WLS. Additionally, there are many trainers who know very little about exercise. Many of them know what they have learned in the gym and from "Flex Magazine," and that is it. One thing I would advise you to do is to find out who your trainer is certified through (if certified at all). Some people slip through the cracks, but if he is not certified through one of the following organizatoins, he is not worth speaking to about your exercise needs: -National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) -American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) -Cooper Institute -American Council on Exercise (ACE) Plain and simple, you are not going to get 129 grams of protein a day. Sure it would be great if you could get more than 65 grams a day but this is not necessary. Even if you did get 129 grams of protein a day, you would still lose muscle tissue (lean tissue) after WLS. If you could consume 300 grams of protein a day, you would still lose lean tissue after WLS. As you said yourself, you are eating 700 calories a day. You are in essence eating a very low caloric diet (VLCD). THis is not to mention the malabsorptive aspect of the surgery if this applies to you. Anyway, the goal is to maintain as much lean tissue as possible. Resistance or weight training will help you do this without eating 129 grams of protein a day. Yes you should worry about keeping all the lean tissue you can but your trainer is misleading you. Keep up the weight training and do as your physician has advised....shoot for 65 grams of protein a day. As far as the cardio goes; if you are doing cardio 6 days a week, keep it up. The American College of Sports Medicine suggests that everyone do some form of physical activity everyday of the week if possible. Your trainer is acting like he is training a bodybuilder and a bodybuilder you are not. You are someone who wants to increase their level of health via exercise, not someone who wants to gain 150 pounds of muscle. Above all, do not let this frustrate you. I know all this exercise stuff can get confusing with so many people telling you different things. But you have done the right thing; you heard something you thought sounded a little "off" and have brought it to the attention of other members. That is what you need to continue to do. As I close, please find out your trainers level of education and who he is certified through. Furthermore, if he continues expell crap out of his mouth, email me his name along with the number to the gym he works at, and I will clarify it for him. [email protected] Best Wishes, Jeremy Gentles, CSCS Bariatric Professional for Obesity Help

Hi Jeremy, Thanks for your ranting, it was great information as I am soon cleared for exercise post op. Do you have a beginning exercise regime organized that you could share? In my home I have a treadmill which I do 3x a week for 30 min and then an ab-doer and a fitness ball I got for Christmas. I also have a Bally's membership. I am an active person overall and look forward to adding an exercise component to my WL program. I'd be interested in any suggestions for a starter.... Thanks and all the best, Tiffany [email protected]

I am 2 months out, and i would like to know what to do for exercise too. There isn't much info given to us.

You rock!! Thank you so much for this post. I was wondering about the strength training vs. cardio/ protein intake controversy since my surgery and you really cleared it up for me. Some (very wrong) people have told me to jack up my protein intake since my WLS because I'm an avid exerciser (always have been). Needless to say.. it's been frustrating realizing that it's impossible for me to get in more than 70g of protein in a day and that's on the best of days. So yeah.. this whole protein issue has kinda made me feel like I'm failing at yet another goal of mine all over again. It's so hard because with our new lifestyle changes we are so eager to finally get things right.. and it's so easy to get caught up in the wrong information. So I really appreaciate your posting this infromation for us and essentially looking out for those of us who aren't educated in these matters. It's really pretty damn friggin' cool if you ask me! thank again April

Gerry, Enjoyed your post. I'm also post-RNY and have a fitness-related question. I get in one hour of aerobic exerice 3-4 four times a week and also lift weights for strength three times a week. My philosophy has been to keep the two types of exercises as different as possible. In other words, I let the aeorbic stuff stay aerobic, by keeping 130-40 heart rate. Conversely, I let the weight lifting do its thing by using heavy weights, 3-4 sets, failing at 5 reps. I try not to let me workout time exceed 1 hour to 1 and a quarter hours. Just wondering if this sounds like a good philosophy? My muscles appear to be getting bigger and I'm losing 2-3 pounds a week. (Getting in 50 grams of protein three times a day) Sorry to but in and Thanks So Much in Advance, Dave

Gerry, How are you? Feel free ask a question any time. I will try to answer as many as I can. On the cardiovascular end of things it seems you are doing well; I just have a couple of things to say about the resistance training aspect of things. First of all you need to take a look at what you would like to achieve lifting weights. Maybe you want to gain as much strength as possible. Maybe you would like to gain as much lean tissue (muscle) as possible. Maybe you want to become more functional. All of these and a number of other factors should influence how you resistance train. For instance the repetition range you are currently training in, 3-5, is optimal for producing gains in muscular strength. This however does not mean training in this repetition range all the time is going to be best for producing gains in muscular strength. Although the majority of your training should be done in this repetition range if your goal is muscular strength, inceasing the repetitions will also help in the long run. I will not go into great detail about program design, but the principle I am speaking of is called periodization. Good one to look up. The repetition range for optimal muscular growth or hypertrophy is generally considered to be 8-12 repetitions. Again, this does not mean you will gain the most muscle training in this repetition range all the time. The repetition range for increasing local muscular endurance is 15 & beyond. Gerry, it really depends on what your goals are and what you enjoy. If your focus is to gain as much strength or muscular growth, there are some things you could change. If this is the manner in which you love to lift weights, so be it. I am assuming at this stage in your life you are not trying to become a professional athlete with specific performance needs. Your focus right now I would guess is just staying in shape and living a healthy life. Again, if this is the way you like to lift weights, and training this way is why you go to the gym, stay with it. If you think you will enjoy it just as much trying some new things, then go for it. Finally, you should also keep in mind that the higher intensity exercise you perform, the higher the risk for injury. Lifting in a 3-5 repetition range should only be done if you are using proper form and technique (as with all exercise). It would be helpful if you could find someone like myself to show you and guide you through proper techniques if you have not already. It is also advised you use a spotter. It is great you are so committed to regular exercise. Just keep doing what you love to do. Jeremy Gentles, CSCS ObesityHelp Professional

Ive got to agree with Jeremy 100% on what he has said , a lot of so called personal trainers get by on 10 % knowledge and 90% bull**** , and from your post it sound like yours may even exceed that ratio . How can he make such assertions , Im guessing he done a skin fold test on you to come up with his figures , this test is at best a best guess how dare he make those statements.