Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.

How do people on the Biggest Loser workout so long?

FiberousJ
FiberousJ Posts: 82 Member
I don't understand. How can people 450 pounds be able to work out for 5 or more hours? They aren't in shape, so how are they able to last? Do they get put on PEDs or something? Out of all people, it should be hardest for them to last that long. I don't see how they would even recover, when the average person can't last as long as them.
«1

Replies

  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,514 Member
    Low-intensity, long workouts. Like a day of yard-work.
  • FiberousJ
    FiberousJ Posts: 82 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    They don't work. They just live on the ranch all the time they are there. So out of 16 hours awake, they split up working out 4-5 hours a day.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png


    But I'm still amazed they can actually do it. Most people their size can't even do 15 minutes without really struggling.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,452 Member
    FiberousJ wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    They don't work. They just live on the ranch all the time they are there. So out of 16 hours awake, they split up working out 4-5 hours a day.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png


    But I'm still amazed they can actually do it. Most people their size can't even do 15 minutes without really struggling.
    Well many times they aren't really training that hard. Just walking on a treadmill or elliptical is challenging enough due to the weight they carry already.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • thelastnightingale
    thelastnightingale Posts: 725 Member
    I don't understand this show.

    The contestants are very obese and they compete to lose as much as possible each week by restricted eating and insane workouts. Eating better and working out more are both great things, but they happen too quickly.

    See here for an insight into why this is a bad idea: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/oby.21538
    Mean [Resting Metabolic Rate] after 6 years was approx 500 kcal/day lower than expected based on the measured body com-position changes and the increased age of the subjects.


  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,452 Member
    I don't understand this show.

    The contestants are very obese and they compete to lose as much as possible each week by restricted eating and insane workouts. Eating better and working out more are both great things, but they happen too quickly.

    See here for an insight into why this is a bad idea: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/oby.21538
    Mean [Resting Metabolic Rate] after 6 years was approx 500 kcal/day lower than expected based on the measured body com-position changes and the increased age of the subjects.

    Like most crash dieters, 90% of all the contestants REGAINED a significant amount of weight.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • thelastnightingale
    thelastnightingale Posts: 725 Member
    Exactly. Exercise makes people fat, the more exercise you do the fatter you get. That's why marathon runners are all 400 pounds and couch potatoes are so underweight. People don't understand the power of hormones, somebody should write a song about it.

    I actually lost weight when I gave up running.

    I didn't run very often, so it really messed with my appetite, as my body would be starving the next day, in anticipation of needing to fuel for another run that wouldn't ever happen. I also used to go out for food with other runners afterwards, and it would be at places with no calorie count. I'm sure I ate more than I burnt off.

    I know runners of all levels of fitness, shapes and sizes - the ones who 'look' like 'proper' runners are the ones who always seem to be eating, but that's because when you don't see them eating, they're busy running. They have a really consistent routine of running and refuelling, so their bodies know what's going on and they don't get confused and overeat. It looks like they're eating a lot, but they're actually just eating an normal amount of food, plus extra food to cover all the exercise.

    I think it comes down to consistency and routine - if you're burning a consistent amount of calories each day, whether it's a lot or a little, just consistent - you get better at judging how much you can/should eat to maintain/lose.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
    @thelastnightingale

    My theory is that most people eat the way their genes and upbringing predispose them to, within their means, and the ones who become athletes gravitate to sports that their body type works well at. Because those are the ones they find rewarding.

    I have a good friend who runs, she does several marathons a year, and one 50 miler most summers. She's very slender. I'm saying she isn't low body fat because she runs long distances; she runs long because she's skinny.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,899 Member
    edited May 2021
    Exactly. Exercise makes people fat, the more exercise you do the fatter you get. That's why marathon runners are all 400 pounds and couch potatoes are so underweight. People don't understand the power of hormones, somebody should write a song about it.

    I actually lost weight when I gave up running.

    I didn't run very often, so it really messed with my appetite, as my body would be starving the next day, in anticipation of needing to fuel for another run that wouldn't ever happen. I also used to go out for food with other runners afterwards, and it would be at places with no calorie count. I'm sure I ate more than I burnt off.

    I know runners of all levels of fitness, shapes and sizes - the ones who 'look' like 'proper' runners are the ones who always seem to be eating, but that's because when you don't see them eating, they're busy running. They have a really consistent routine of running and refuelling, so their bodies know what's going on and they don't get confused and overeat. It looks like they're eating a lot, but they're actually just eating an normal amount of food, plus extra food to cover all the exercise.

    I think it comes down to consistency and routine - if you're burning a consistent amount of calories each day, whether it's a lot or a little, just consistent - you get better at judging how much you can/should eat to maintain/lose.

    I think your last paragraph is right on. I lost weight running and biking -- and at one point I lost weight training for a triathlon without changing the way I was eating or tracking cals, but that's because the way I was eating at the time was quite consistent and I had been maintaining. I tend to eat well when I exercise consistently or, perhaps, exercise consistently when I'm eating well, so the two go together for me mostly.

    I can definitely see that if adding in an activity causes a shift in appetite and one doesn't do it consistently enough to get used to it, that it could feel unhelpful. (I don't find that running makes me extra hungry, but I do know the "did my long run so can eat what I want" thing.)

    This all aside, I completely agree with NorthCascade's dismissal of the intense exercise doesn't help with weight loss but makes you FAT because SUGAR comment he was responding to (which wasn't from you).