This week I spoke with the Team Camo Trainer Andy Calise to see how things went during weeks 3 and 4 of the "You Chose to Lose Weight Loss Challenge at Seekonk Total Fitness." Team Camo still holds first place and overall lost a combined 254.4 pounds in week 3 and 297 pounds in week 4 - with the average weight loss per person of 17.5 pounds in week 4.

This being the fourth week that Team Camo’s been on top, trainer Andy Calise says, “This is the stage where some complacency can start to set in. Team Camo has had three great weeks and remains on top. That being said, at this point it’s natural for some people (for lack of a better way of putting it) to get a little cocky, now we just need consistency.” Personal training sessions and team workouts are great, where things get tricky is each individual sticking to the diet and “self-paced” cardio.   

Keeping an Eye on Intake

According to Andy, at this point diet occupies 80 percent of his attention.

"I can easily control the exercise portion of it, but now I’m finding many participants start looking forward to their next meal, and one of my goals is to get them looking at it as fuel they need, eat the meal, and carry on with your day.”  

The majority of people see food as a treat, enjoyment, or comfort, so trying to keep focus on what food truly is for us (fuel) is a challenge.  Participants need to keep an eye on what they’re adding to their food for seasoning and as condiments, these additions to our food can often sabotage a very healthy meal.

Interval Training

All the challengers have their individual session and group session with the team, but what will make or break their success is what they do on their own. Andy explained that at this point in the challenge he has added interval training into the equations. For those of you who are not familiar with interval training it is cardiovascular training that involves bursts of high intensity work coupled with lower intensity. This type of training is used in athletics because it is so effective in stimulating the aerobic system to adapt. These adaptations promote aerobic efficiency and power thus giving you the capacity to burn more calories.  

Most individuals, unless you take part in regular sports such as basketball, you’re missing out on this great training tool. For the challengers, this is all new to them.  Andy explained one of the biggest goals with their self-paced cardio sessions is to keep up the interval training & with the ultimate goal of weight loss you can see why this is key. When I asked the Challenge participants about their training experience one explained, “for me, the exercise has increased my stamina exponentially. Since that first week I have improved so much. I am now doing Kickboxing Classes, Boot Camp Classes and Spin classes. I can handle so much now that I couldn't when I first started the challenge. It's pretty empowering. I just turned 50 and I feel better now than I have in the last 20 years."

Functional Training

Throughout this program Andy explains that Functional Training is the main component for strength training. Many of us wish for shapely arms and legs, but really what does that do for us? Andy said his goal for the group is to train their body to do all the things it should be able to do, but can’t any more, to train for output. All of the exercises focus on using one’s own body weight as the resistance; push-ups, proper squatting, people are shocked when they can’t move their own body weight, but for many that’s the reality.  

At this point in the challenge participants are now seeing the benefits, climbing the stairs with less effort, picking up their niece or nephew without strain, increased stamina – benefits that make a difference. Andy explains that in the military this is how you train, to climb the wall, to pull your buddy to safety, and often uses these analogies with his team which works for them (they are “Team Camo” after all).

For many of the participants, prior to this challenge, they never fathomed doing the exercises and activities they are participating in now.  As another Challenge participant explained, “This challenge has demonstrated to me that I can do many exercises that I thought would be more or less impossible after a severely broken and dislocated ankle two years ago. Frankly, I wasn't in great shape before that. However, I never anticipated that I would be able to do all the things I am now doing in classes like Boot Camp, and improving each week!  It is empowering.  I am 53 and feeling better than I have in many years.” 

And others learned preparation was the key to success.

“Well, for me the exercise has increased my stamina exponentially," said one Challenger who preferred to remain anonymous. "The first week that I worked with Andy, I actually almost passed out.  Thank goodness Andy happened to have a banana in the back room, which saved me from fainting. It taught me to make sure I had some carbs before working out. “