How do they do it on Biggest Loser?

roguex_1979

I don't understand how these people on Biggest Loser can get through their training and exercise every day. Yes, I know they have 'personal trainers' shouting and screaming at them to say they can do it, but HOW do they do it??

I went to a legs, bums and tums class a few weeks ago and I could not do it. I didn't make it all the way through and I threw up in the toilet. This was after no exercise for several months. The people on BL are two-three times heavier and have spent more time on the couch than I have, but THEY can get through 6 hours of training. Fine, they have doctors and medical staff on site to ensure they don't have any real serious problems, but they can still get back up and work it out. After the LBT class, I couldn't walk properly for two days. How do THEY get up the next morning and work it out?

Saree1902

I have no idea! But I record the episodes and use it to motivate me when I do my in-front-of-the-telly workout. I figure that if someone who weighs 2-3times what I do can do all those bench presses, then I can hold a plank for a little bit longer, do another set of press ups and maybe some stair stepping...!

jpwic

There is a lot of creative editing I'm sure :P

Nanba007

They do not have there family, work or any other distractions.

swingsintherain

Creative filming and editing? LOL I have no idea. I wonder if they start them off with a few days of less intense stuff before they really grill them? Because coming from a lifestyle of no exercise, even light exercise can be a challenge after 6 hours of it?

plaingirly

I don't know - I wouldn't survive a workout there!! x

leahestey

They only show what will keep the watchers watching. They are human and will give up time to time.

toddis

Persistence? I recall when I first ran I blacked out. The second time I didn't...etc.

NaomiJFoster

All reality shows are edited like crazy.

It really bothers me though, that they push people to exercise so hard on their first days. I'm a believer in 'building up to it'. Slow and steady. Allowing your body to adjust and adapt and develop strength. I don't like that they take a person who is 200 pounds overweight and has never done more than walk to the mailbox, and they push them to run for 30 minutes until they get sick. That doesn't seem healthy to me.

Victoria2448

It's a TV show...don't believe everything you see.

libbymcbain

$250,000

Plus it must be pretty humiliating to be sent home in the first few weeks...

jimmer60

I have had four knee operations added a ton of weight , let myself go from a tight jock, to completely out of shape.

it's not easy. I use to run for ever and drop a night of partying in an hour. Anything aerobic are pretty much out of the question. I have doubled my size and lost a ton of flexibility. So I started Yoga. I am funny to watch but I'm committed as I am to walking and strength training.

So how do they do it, just like you committed. You'll be fine the pain is temporary. If you hurt treat yourself to a massage. The big deal is push past the pain. Keep going stay on track you will be successful.

Good Luck

JJ

haroon_awan

I don't watch the show, but the general rules apply:

Good pre- and post-workout nutrition.
Proper overall nutrition and supplementation.
Eating enough food.
Adequate warm ups and cool downs.
Workout not lasting too long or too short.
Not doing too much cardio and mixing weight training in there.
Getting enough sleep.
Not being stressed about going to work, taking care of kids etc.

SeaJenni

I've wondered the same thing. It took me three months to build up to 24 minutes of racquetball after four years of being sedentary. Before that, I had phenomenal endurance and had always been trim and athletic. Health problems brought me to a screeching halt. Yet these people just start out of nowhere like freight trains. It actually makes me feel bad about myself.

pamcuster

I always wonder how the bigger folks run without hurting themselves, especially on some of the older seasons I watched on Netflix when they had them running the marathon. A year ago, I hurt my hip flexor (to the point of being on crutches) jogging an easy 3 miles, and weighing 125-130. :O

meshashesha2012

they only work out with the main trainer once every 7-10 days. the other days it's much lower intensity/high volume stuff.

also if you notice, many of them end up with some type of injury. i see tons of braces and wraps being worn.

MuslimFitnessInstructor

for 250k I will runn for 6 hrs stright hahahah

VelociMama

Peer pressure via the competition and "all or nothing" mentality can do a lot.

samantha1242

I am pretty sure we, as viewers, don't really see what they actually do at the "ranch". I have read an interview somewhere (posted on another thread) from a contestant saying that the trainers would push them to work out even if they were injured and the doctor had told them to take it easy.

BigGuy47

There is a lot of creative editing I'm sure :P

Editing is what I do for a living.

Scenes of vomiting may work on certain cable channels, but they don't work on prime time broadcast channels. If a contest gets sick from over exerting themselves, that scene is cut out.

A contestant may be curled up in the fetal position bawling for 45 minutes because they can't take it anymore. The producer and editor will select about 10 seconds of the crying and then choose a good take of Bob yelling at the contest to get moving. The time is magically compressed to tell the story in a compelling way.

If a contest nearly passes out due to dehydration and is tended to by medical personnel the scene is edited out. Because this sheds a poor light on the show itself. Dehydrating contestants getting ready for a weigh in is dangerous.

All shows on television have been altered in some way to craft the story line. Reality type shows are the most altered shows on television today. The shortest trip to craft reality television is the careful placement of the reaction shot (aka cutaway shot). Reality shows involve recording hundreds of hours of footage to put together a single one hour show. That footage is carefully logged resulting in a library dozens of reaction shots from the various characters. The reactions range from joy to sadness to everything in between (anger, fear, curious, confused, etc.).

Consider two versions of a scene:

version A
Sally: "I just can't take it anymore - I'm thinking about quitting"
***cutaway to Larry (sad) ***

version B
Sally: "I just can't take it anymore - I'm thinking about quitting"
***cutaway to Larry (laughter) ***

In version A, Larry is a caring and sympathetic person. In version B, Larry is a shallow insensitive jerk. The producer and editor have the power to present Larry to the audience in whatever form they choose regardless of Larry's true nature. This is what reality television really is, the producers altered version of the story.

I don't understand why some users here on MFP hold up the Biggest Loser as some sort of real life example of how to lose weight. The show is so far from the truth is should be labeled as fiction. On this site you'll find real people with real lives (not a game show) that have found reasonable, healthy ways to lose weight. Stop looking to reality television for motivation.

candicejn

I haven't watched all of the season, but I do remember on the ones I watched - on the first major workout some of them throw up, pass out, or just give up. And I do remember seeing lots of wraps/braces as well. So I'm sure we just don't get shown the details of all the injuries/issues.