When I was at school I studied physical education. When I was in the RAAF I underwent training as a Physical Training Instructor at the Defence Force Physical Training School. I spent a significant amount of time learning anatomy, physiology, exercise biomechanics, exercise techniques and various training methodologies. All from reputable reference books, manuals and instructors. I learnt exactly the same information as anyone else studying physical education and physical training. Part of my training also required me to actually undertake all the training myself as well as instruct classes in a range of fitness and sporting techniques. There were basic rules to follow such as exercise safety, type of exercise, intensity, duration and frequency which are a big part of any fitness regime or program.
I have always used the basic rules as a starting point when training myself or others and then building specific and varied training onto the basic principles depending on the health, fitness and goals of the individual. Safety always, is very important because without it all the best plans for training can amount to nothing without monitoring things like overall wellbeing, correct technique, previous or current injuries. As a PTI and Personal Trainer I followed those rules to ensure I did not set someone up for an injury.
Now, I have to put my hand up and admit I am interested in what happens in and do watch The Biggest Loser. The Biggest Loser, that reality television show where obese contestants undertake quite heavy and frequent training routines and challenges for a few months. They compete against each other to lose the greatest amount of weight in order to win money at the end, not to mention improving their health. They are trained by 4 personal trainers who appear passionate and well qualified. I absolutely agree with the concept of the show, that is, to lose weight and get fit – and to entertain! But what I do wonder about is some of the ways it is achieved.
I know most people would have an image of a PTI in the military being quite authoritarian and quite hard on a class. Yes, sometimes I was and I would quite often push my classes physically and mentally with training that involved running, circuits, log (yes you read that right!) and medicine ball drills, abseiling and climbing, canoeing and a whole range of other things at my disposal. But one thing I was very strict on was safety which involved correct technique, knowing what hazards to look for in the training environment (such as trip hazards), and knowing personal limitations (such as lifting an achievable weight). If there was and still is, something that always makes me cringe in a training environment it is poor technique.
Watching some of the contestants on The Biggest Loser I note that in order to do things fast they quite often use poor technique. With the weights I note there is quite often a limited range of motion used as opposed to a full range of motion which stretches, flexes and develops the muscle fully. For example, dumbbell (bicep) curls which only go part of the way down, there is no full extension of the arm and, leg presses which are only done as a half movement. I know the idea is to get the contestants heart rate up in order to burn more calories, but I think using part movement when using weights is a bad habit to get into. Done consistently this will lead to injuries and poor muscle development which leads to a muscle imbalance. Another exercise that pains me to see done incorrectly is push ups. Watching contestants bounce off their bellies, well that is just not a push up! Again push ups done incorrectly, such as sagging or dropping hips, can cause back injuries.
Other things I noticed was a contestant holding a weight over their head while on a treadmill. I don’t know, call me old fashioned, but I see a number of safety issues with that, particularly for someone who is not fit, is not familiar with the training concept or a treadmill. Not surprisingly the result was the contestant fell off the end of the treadmill and dropped the weight. A couple of weeks ago one of the contestants was told to train while suffering the effects of a cold. He was told that it was just a cold and to train through it. One of the things I was taught and always followed was that if suffering a significant cold it was far better to rest rather than train so your body was not put under any more stress, which it is when fighting an infection.
I know contestants only have a limited time in which to lose as much weight as they can and ultimately it is a competition. I just wonder what affects the show has on the everyday person who may have underlying health and injury issues and thinks they could just throw themselves into their own training program. I know it is a television show – but I don’t think it should be underestimated as to its influence. It definitely has the power to make people think about their own health and fitness as the health and fitness message is repeated by the trainers and the contestants, and you can buy the books and food products with the brand mark.
I know that sometimes things don’t always go quite right in a training environment no matter how fit you are, or technically correct or safety conscious, but I just think by exposing unfit individuals with health or injury issues to some quite extreme, technically incorrect and unsafe practices (regardless if they are being monitored) then I think fitness training is going back to the bad old days of ‘no pain, no gain’.
No comments:
Post a Comment