SUCCESS-STORIES: WHEN DIETING ISN'T THE ONLY PATH
Hung Nguyen
April 26, 2024
Even though the idea of personalised training is not new, the Vietnamese fitness industry has been slow to fully adopt it. The #Success-events series of articles by STEEL is based on real events and aims to show how personal trainers and clients with different physical issues, personalities, and ways of life can work together and communicate. It mostly has to do with how we find the best training environment, meet the needs of every customer, and make sure that everyone has the most success possible. Since no two people are exactly the same, there is no one solution that works for everyone.
There is a common misconception that when it comes to achieving an attractive figure, the first things that come to mind are "dieting" or "fasting". This approach is based on the idea that fat development is mostly driven by food intake, hence cutting off the body's supply of nutrients is the quickest way to lose fat. However, thoughtless fasting may have harmful consequences because the body requires specific amounts of energy to renew and function.
Furthermore, eating excellent meals is a crucial aspect of life. Is giving up this pleasure entirely the sole way to get a good figure again? Shared by STEEL Coach The Hưng, a story of Ms. Cindy who lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City will inspire you that even with little changes to your everyday diet and the correct training strategy, you can occasionally accomplish astonishing results.
Portrait of the client:
- Age: 30 years old
- Training goals: Fat loss, muscle gain, overall health
- Training period: 4 months - from mm/yy to mm/yy
- Pre-training condition: Low physical activity, enjoys eating, recently gave birth
Ms. Cindy has boundless energy, but she wasn't putting enough of it into training until she came to STEEL. She seems to have a relaxed attitude towards food, at least from what I can see. She would not give up one of life's pleasures—eating delicious food—in favour of an extreme diet. Due to her job's frequent client meetings and the fact that she had just given birth, dieting seemed like an impractical option because of the risk it posed to her breast milk supply.
Although Cindy does not suffer from any acute medical conditions, her lack of physical activity has left her with weak upper-body strength and endurance.
Ms. Cindy's fitness goal is to lose weight, gain muscle mass, and have a more attractive and healthier body.
During first assessments, I observed Ms. Cindy's upper body was still weak and lacked the strength to push weights. The simple explanation for this problem is that her body has not been appropriately exercised. Based on this, I concentrated my strategy on increasing the intensity of workouts that targeted her weaker muscular groups, such as the shoulder press and bench press. In addition, I introduced other workouts to capitalise on her current capabilities and assist drive her training, such as leg press for her stronger lower body. After witnessing her receptiveness and adaptation to the workouts for a while, I progressively raised the weights to put pressure on her body to self-adjust. Happily, with each weight increment, she was determined to complete the challenge and never gave up.
Ms. Cindy's biggest issue was her relatively busy personal work schedule, which made it difficult to train consistently. As a result, her workout schedule had to be flexible. She trains once or twice a week on average. This may appear low to those looking for quick weight loss and physique changes. However, given Ms. Cindy's work schedule, I planned for her sessions to be full-body workouts. This way, she gets a complete exercise regimen. Her arms and back are given more attention in order to gradually increase strength. In addition, I designed the exercises with extremely short rest periods of only 10-30 seconds to maximise her effort. Ms. Cindy is particularly well-suited to this method because she is naturally strong and does not shy away from challenges. She can currently perform three sets of 50kg squats and shoulder presses with no rest in between. This is an impressive figure, and I believe she can achieve even more.
Concerning nutrition, I initially wanted to overhaul her diet, but this proved ineffective because her lifestyle and eating habits do not allow for a set meal plan. Instead, I let her choose her own meals and shifted my role to offer advice on what and how to eat. For example, knowing Cindy's tendency to overeat carbs, I weigh the benefits and drawbacks so she reduces her carb intake and incorporates more protein-rich foods. Cindy then actively chooses foods she enjoys within that framework. This produces results while keeping her positive and stress-free, with no rigid restrictions.
Ms. Cindy's body has changed significantly after 4 months of training at an average of only 1-2 sessions per week: it is more toned, has less fat, and has increased muscle mass. Her measurements have visibly decreased, and her contours are more defined.
Ms. Cindy can now comfortably wear size S or even XS clothing that previously fit her in size M.
When it came to strength, she can lift heavy weights up to 50kg and perform 12-15 push-ups in a row, which seemed impossible prior to training. But perhaps what satisfies Cindy the most is the ability to eat freely according to her preferences, without rigid dieting rules, while still achieving the desired results.
Ms. Cindy's effort clearly proves that with the right training method tailored to your body, success is never out of reach.
Thanks, Coach The Hung, for your sharing.
“Client reviews”
