By Tory Zwanziger – My name is Tory and I am a certified personal trainer at McLeod Health and Fitness Center and was the winning trainer for the competition last year. Last year’s Biggest Loser was a lot of fun and an enjoyable experience.
I had an all-female group that was eager to make changes but quite afraid of the gym and all it entails. Anyone new to fitness is generally intimidated by not knowing what to do, which often carries over to either poor results, or no results at all. People often discontinue their training regimen because of this. Therefore, it is critical to work with a trainer in order to learn not only proper form and technique (along with avoiding injury), but also get comfortable with the environment and maintaining a consistent routine you can follow on your own.
When training groups, you have to consider each individual as well as the group dynamics. My group had a lot of fear but shared the commitment for change. They had to change their lifestyle and work schedules, along with all their eating habits. By having these common goals, they showed their commitment to overcoming fear by gradually taking ownership of their workouts. We quickly began working hard, and the weight started coming off.
Once they increased their work load and their fears had been reduced, we came together as a team and pushed our workouts harder and harder. The contestants were always there to encourage each other when things became difficult, if someone felt like giving up. The team training, along with “friendly” competition at every workout, kept the fire alive and they were soon doing things they never thought possible. They went from being out of breath climbing one flight of stairs to running laps, jumping rope, racing up and down flights of stairs, battling at rowing challenges, as well as being able to swim laps in our pool. Things got really interesting when they came up from stationary plank competitions with bloody elbows. The continual goal setting and increasingly “competitive” nature of our team really set fire in these women. They would not be outdone or outworked by anyone and pushed each other to the limit. My belief in progressively overloading the body seemed to work, as they kept bringing more and more to our training sessions. I am a true believer in functional training, and as their abilities grew, we were able to do high-intensity squats, thrusters, strength-training circuits, walking lunges, along with kettle bell movements including my favorite, the “swing,” which works virtually every muscle in the body.
It was a pleasure being able to train such a wonderful group for the “Biggest Loser” and I was so proud of all their accomplishments. The most important thing was that they all learned so much about themselves along their journey. Living healthy has to become a lifestyle choice, and each and every member of “Tory’s Team of Terminators” made the commitment to that choice. The feeling they received from all of their hard work was written all over their faces every time I saw them, and that was priceless.
Read the full story and watch the video on Tory’s workout at SCNOW.com!