Client weight loss plateau - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[Charles]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and I like it a lot! Apologies for the long
post:

I have a 43-year-old male client with pre-diabetes. He started
with me on March 8, 2010 at 186.2 pounds and he's 5'10. His
goal is to no longer be overweight, which would be 173 pounds.

At the start, he was playing tennis for three hours a week. I
did two 30-minute training sessions with him a week where we
did interval training on the stationary bike along with some time
on the rowing machine.

His progress was not linear. He'd gain some, lose some, gain
some, lose some. He stopped tennis on May 31 for the summer,
and I had him walking at home maybe three times a week for
30-60 minutes instead. By July 2nd, he weighed 177 pounds, down
9.2 pounds.

However, since that time, the trend has been upwards to the
point where he's now at 180.8 pounds. I was thinking maybe there
was a one month delayed reaction with him stopping tennis. He
does better with scheduled, more intense exercise like tennis
rather than walking on his own.

Here are the steps I've taken to help him get over the plateau:

1. I have him record his food intake everyday. We've made positive
changes to his diet by eliminating a lot of simple carbs, adding more
veg and quality protein.

2. He has shin splints, and is unable to go on the treadmill or
elliptical. So we've been stuck biking or using the rowing machine.
On the bike, I've done some more intense interval training, but that
causes leg pain (maybe from trigger points/muscle knots in his
quads or overuse). So now we stick to level 5 and peddle faster
and do a higher level of resistance on the rower.

3. I've started doing a medicine ball workout with him against a
wall --- chest throws, overhead throws, etc. I'm doing less cardio
and more circuit training with the medicine ball. We only have 30
minutes in the session as he owns his own business, so I try to
keep the session fast versus doing dumbbells.

Now he doesn't like to get weighed at the start of the session
any more, and he feels discouraged. LUCKILY, he's just started
the three hours of tennis again, so HOPEFULLY this will help.

It was SO easy for him to lose weight at the beginning, but perhaps
this was because his body wasn't used to it and now he has adapted.

Any suggestions about how to get his weight loss started again? He is
willing to extend his sessions to 45 minutes each, but that is all.

Thank you in advance!

Charles

[Arami]

Have you taken his Body Fat percentage, either through a handheld device or via SkinFold Calipers?

Do you track his HR and keep it at a certain range during your workouts?

Do you constantly remind him to keep up with exercise OUTSIDE of your sessions (texting, hammering it into his brain, etc.)?

Are you sure he isn't having any cheat foods/junk foods?

Just a few things that I have done to get success with clients.

You can keep the session fast while using dumbbells at the same time. I don't see why you would neglect such equipment.

Remember: Total body workouts, multi-joint/compound exercises, and maintaining the appropriate intensity (HR, RPE, or Poundage used).

[Charles]

Hi Arami,

I appreciate your help. I actually have incorporated some upper body dumbbell exercises into the routine, so my post wasn't totally accurate.

I'm actually just starting out with weight loss clients -- In the past I've trained a lot of seniors for osteoporosis prevention, daily functioning, balance, etc. So I do need to invest in a handheld body fat device. Is there one you can recommend?

I have kept track of his HR in the past, but less so recently. I will consider doing that again.

Food intake is now excellent after we made adjustments. Amazing how eliminating most simple carbs has an immediate effect.

He is back to tennis, and I'm pleased to say he's back down to 178.4 pounds today.

I do keep hammering him through e-mail about exercising on his own.

Thanks again,

Charles

[Conr1]

Good advice in last post.

I'd add to that - how are determining that your client is in a deficit? How are you tracking calories?

Is there any sort of portion control in place? Someone can still not lose weight on a healthy diet.


You should also explain that measuring ie. weighing or taking bodyfat readings means you can be certain that everything you're doing is going in the right direction and allows you to make the necessary changes for continued progress.



If 'hammering' isn't working sit with your client and ask him what he thinks is holding up his progress, what he struggles with the most.

If you find he's not compliant for extra training you give him, at the end of each week make a mini agreement on what he would find doable on his own. Come the end of the following week, if he's not been compliant with either training or diet, you should spend time talking about this - I like to do this after the session. Any problems can be dealt with then and clients feel in control of the week ahead.

Harpenden skin fold calipers are a good one - not sure if available in North America. They're only as good as the operator, though, and if the points where readings are taken aren't the same there's room for error.

A cheap tape measure (like a tailors tape) works just as well in my opinion for general weightloss. I used to use bodyfat measuring and switched over a couple of years ago. Clients understand clothes sizes more than body composition readings. And in the end, if the numbers aren't moving down, there's something up.

[mindguru]

The pattern you describe combined with his goal of "goal is to no longer be overweight" make it likely he is perating out of away from motivation.

Meaning he is moving away from what he doesn't want - typically people following this pattern will be motivated to lose weight when they reach their own personal "overweight trigger" and then as they lose weight and they see themselves as less overweight their motivation begins to slide. At some point they areso far from their personal overweight triger that their motivation is gone. Then the weight drifts back on and the cycle repeats.

The thing with people thinking like this is that towards goals actaully bounce right off them They are not naturally motivated to move towards what they want.

I'd suggest, using a mixture of his natural patterns of away from motivation - then gently begin to turn him around by getting him talking about what he'll be doing when he isn't overweight....

That'll be a start...

Hope this helps,

Dave.