BY MELISSA ROLLINS (Morning News)

Biggest Loser contestants got a taste of the big league recently, or at least the minor league, when they took to the basketball court to work out with the Pee Dee Vipers. The gym at the Moore Intermediate School transformed into a basketball boot camp.

Stephanie Navarro, community resource manager for United Way of Florence County, said the Tuesday night event was a fun way to help push the contestants out of their comfort zone.

“The idea really was to put people out of their element and push them to try something new,” Navarro said. “That is why the challenges are so far into the competition. In the last six weeks they have developed a lot of new muscle, a lot of new strength and agility.”

On a weight-loss journey, people often replace a physical barrier with a mental one, Navarro said.

“It really becomes a mental block where you don’t want to try new things because you’ve never been able to do them before,” Navarro said. “Doing something like this, where it is completely out of their element, it really shows them how their capacity has moved forward during the competition.”

Contestants were broken into six groups to try their hand at several basketball exercises including dribbling, suicide runs, passing and rebounding.

Vipers player Niko Brooks worked the contestants’ brains and bodies. He challenged them to dribble a basketball while looking up at him and shouting the number of fingers he was holding up.

“Look at me,” Brooks said. “Don’t look at the ball. How many fingers am I holding up? Come on, shout it; let me hear you!”

Navarro said the Vipers were so great with the contestants last year that it was a no-brainer to invite them back.

“All of the players were so supportive last year,” Navarro said. “I think they only get nice guys to play for the Vipers because they have been so great to work with.”

Trainer Kim Fredrick said making sure that your workout is varied is an important part of losing weight.

“It is important to keep variety in your weight-loss journey,” Fredrick said. “It keeps your interest up that way, so you’re not bored doing the same thing over and over again. Your body will also get used to the same movements and exercises unless you vary things. This is a fun way to keep the heart rate up and keep moving.”

Fredrick said that with basketball you are getting a full-body workout in a way that doesn’t seem like hard work.

“Generally when it comes to sports, specifically basketball, to really be doing the moves correctly in a practice you are going to be using your whole body,” Fredrick said. “You are going to be running, getting low like squats, jumping to rebound. You will be doing chest passes using your back and shoulders. There will be a lot of movement in your legs, from your hips on down, so it really is a whole – body workout playing basketball.”

Having put week four in the history book, Navarro said t she was extremely excited to see how many contestants have stuck it out. Last year’s competition saw a huge number of dropouts around week four. While she was hoping not to have a repeat of the inaugural year, Navarro said she was preparing to have at least a few contestants decide not to continue.

“We have only had six contestants who have dropped out,” Navarro said. “Retention is way up. I am really proud of everyone.”

Near the end of the night, contestants were pitted against their teammates to see who could make the most free-throw shots. Family members and friends waved pompoms and signs cheering the Losers on throughout the night.

Biggest Loser contestants also got the chance to watch the Vipers in action Friday night when they had a group outing to the Florence Civic Center.

 

Read the story and watch the highlight video at SCNOW.com!