A guy named Dave.
In my first year as a trainer, I was given a client by the name of Dave. I was only twenty-one at the time; he was a couple years older than I was. At a height of 5’6” he weighed 270 when we began, and I quickly learned to improvise with different types of people. Up to that point, I had been putting people through somewhat cookie cutter workouts, but the problem with Dave was that I couldn’t fit him on several of the machines such as the Hammer Incline Press. I did put Dave on that machine once, and that was the last time for months. The handles dug into his sides painfully as he sat down and I realized he was too large to use the machine properly.
The first month or so of training Dave was a learning process for me. I learned that there were better exercises for him than I had others do, how to open someone up a bit in conversation who didn’t really seem to want to talk, and how to motivate someone who felt not only hopeless but also worthless when they looked in the mirror. The first month of training, Dave didn’t lose a pound on the scale, though I did try to talk to him about cleaning up his nutrition.
After the first month, Dave found a little motivation and cut out the Wendy’s chili which he ate religiously every day, then something else, and something else, replacing all of these with the natural foods he needed to incorporate into his day.
At about the two-month point the pounds began coming off. Once he started seeing progress we began some light supplementation with
protein powder because though he was eating better, he wasn’t eating frequently and didn’t eat enough – therefore he was having a hard time getting all the protein he needed to reach his goals.
I trained Dave for roughly a year. The further we got, the more weight he lost and the better he felt about himself. He began to really dial in on the food and get excited about the workouts. He was doing fantastic. Dave had an ending bodyweight of 177 when I stopped training him, just 7 pounds short of his 100-pound goal. A few months later we weighed him in again at 165. I’m happy to say that, even though the first time I met Dave he wouldn’t look me in the eye, last time I saw him (just a couple years ago) he was running on the treadmill at another local gym. He had kept the weight off for the last 8 years. I asked him what he was doing to keep it off, and I’ll never forget his words – “Everything you taught me Jason.”
I had Dave on a simple plan that I remember to this day. I trained him on Monday/Wednesday/Friday, and on the first day we did mostly upper body. Two chest exercises, two back, one bi, one tri, and abs – followed by cardio. The second workout we would do four leg exercises and three shoulder, abs, and cardio. The last day of this workout he would do one exercise for each muscle group with 3min on the elliptical machine in between exercises.
We kept his food plan basic back then and looking back, I think I should get more basic with my clients again. In the morning he had a multivitamin and a protein/carb (i.e. egg whites and oatmeal). The second solid meal was a protein, a carb and a veggie (i.e. tuna, brown rice and green beans). The third solid meal was another
multivitamin followed by a protein and a veggie (i.e. salmon and asparagus). In between meals he drank a meal replacement such as Schwartz MRX1 (twice daily). The increased meal frequency and non-processed foods helped boost his metabolism to support the fat loss he was working so hard in the gym for.
Always keep in mind, the workouts are important, but so is eating and supplementing for your goals the other 23 hours of the day.
Jason Michel
