The Biggest Loser Australia - Entertainment or Education?

The Australian Biggest Loser is now well into it's latest season and the contestants are achieving amazing weight losses. This is a great show to inspire many people from all over Australia to lose weight in the footsteps of these people putting their heart and soul into their weight loss.

As a professional within the fitness industry, I have mixed opinions about the show. Consequently, I do feel the responsibility to publish these thoughts for the consideration of any viewers seeing to begin their weight loss journey.

Let's start off with what I consider to be the good:

Awareness. We are an overweight, diet-obsessed nation. If it wasn't for the very inspiring shows like these, many of us would not be aware that weight loss is possible with consistency, determination and discipline in regards to nutrition and exercise. This prime-time show definitely get's people talking about weight loss.

Inspiration. What's more inspiring than a group of morbidly obese individuals losing substantial amounts of weight in order to improve their life in practically all aspects? These people are role models for other Australian's who want to achieve that fitness and/or health goal that they have never worked up the courage or motivation to tackle.

Education. As a personal trainer, I am especially aware that it is vitally important to educate yourself when endeavouring to lose weight. Unfortunately, many people fail in their attempts simply because they don't know what they are doing. Whilst I don't believe that this is the "most" informative show, it does provide tips on nutrition and weight loss that can be applied in everyday life.

And now for what I consider to be the bad:

Safety. These contestants are grossly overweight with a perceived below-average level of fitness. As a result, exercise that they undertake places a lot of stress upon their cardiovascular and respiritory systems (amoung others). However these contestants seem to be often trained at an overwhelmingly high level of intensity, placing further demand on various organs, particularly the heart. As you can imagine, this is potentially very unsafe.

I also viewed an episode where contestants participated in a challenge where they had to place a bar across their back with increasingly heavy weights on either side (as attached buckets were being filled up with water). As a professional, I was particularly concerned about a couple of contestants who, based on the footage televised, seemed to exhibit a very weak degree of core strength, resulting in lack of control and twisting of the spine. With a significant amount of weight placed on your back, twisting of the spine increases the risk of spinal injury substantially. Furthermore, and of particular concern, a contestant with an already existent and seemingly acute back injury was also participating in this challenge.

Significant Weight Losses. Contestants have lost over 10kg within a week. Whilst I congratulate them on such a feat, I would also like to raise awareness that rapid weight losses are associated with potential medical risks. According to various sources quoted in an article I previously published entitled "Yo-Yo Dieting, No-No Dieting", rapid weight loss can result in gall stones, elevated blood pressure, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, increased long-term weight gain, binge eating, reduced physical activity, reduced energy expenditure, increased hunger levels, altered hormone levels, changes in substrate utilisation, increased fatigue, increased disposition toward fat storage and depression.

The Biggest Loser Australia is an entertaining show. For many people, it is interesting to watch them perform challenges and push themselves to their limits. After all, would it really make prime-time if they just walked around all day long? It is important to consider that the training techniques employed in this show may not necessarily be the most appropriate, effective or safe for your particular circumstances. Be inspired and use it as motivation for yourself. But please do ensure that you obtain the correct medical and fitness professional advice prior to embarking upon your own weight loss journey.

We have a couple of additional articles available within the web site for further reading on The Biggest Loser Australia:

Jay, do you feel that the methods employed in the TV show, The Biggest Loser, are safe and effective? 

I disagree with some points you raised in a previous Q&A regarding the safety of The Biggest Loser and would like to hear your response. 

Yo-Yo Dieting, No-No Dieting

Amino Z Online Supplement Store Survey

We have just released a survey so you can assess our online supplement store. We would greatly appreciate your feedback if you have shopped in our online store, so we can improve the services that we offer!

Plus, if you complete the survey in it's entirety, we will provide you with a 5% discount coupon (valid for 28 days from the time of release). However, this exclusive discount will only be eligible to people who are previous customers (the email address provided must match the email used when your order was placed).

Click here to fill out our survey!

 

New Articles!

We have three new articles available this week! Kathy, our mindbody specialist, has published two of these. "3 Great Books for Personal Development" recommends three books for personal development (I've already finished one of them). The other article, "5 Affirmations For Health, Healing and Wellbeing" does discuss personal affirmations which surprisingly do have a significant amount of scientific backing behind them.

The other article is one that I wrote for Australian Ironman magazine discussing the combination of cardio and bodybuilding. There is a prevalent negative stigma within the industry that cardio will significantly hamper muscle gains. So, this article explores the wealth of benefits from cardiovascular exercise and why it can actually enhance gains! Click here to read "Cardio & Bodybuilding - Good for Muscle Growth?"

 

Online Forum Updated

Just a quick note to let you know that our online forum has been fixed so it is no longer slow when making posts. This was in response to some client feedback. Please let us know if you experience any problems and we will work to rectify it immediately!

 

Amino Z Surpasses 2.5 Million Hits!

I'm really happy to announce that we are now well and truly over the 2.5 million hit mark, just before our third birthday! Traffic is booming with the supplement store and personal training departments absolutely taking off in recent times. As the web site continues to grow, I would really like to extend our thanks to all of our visitors. We are continuing to work on improving the web site so you can reach your health, fitness and bodybuilding goals faster, safer and more effectively than ever!

Bushfire Appeal - Thanks for Your Assistance

Just a quick thanks to everyone who assisted us in raising money for the bushfire appeal.  We had a substantial number of orders and donated the proceeds raised to the Red Cross.

That's it for this addition of our newsletter. Keep training hard!

Yours in health & fitness

Jay Bonaretti

Cardio & Bodybuilding - Good for Muscle Growth?

There is a negative stigma attached to cardio within the bodybuilding industry.  The concept that cardio will inhibit muscle gains is very commonplace, yet not necessarily an accurate assumption.

3 Great Books for Personal Development

What are you doing right now to keep yourself growing physically, mentally or spiritually?  Here are three book recommendations to help you to develop yourself further!

5 Affirmations For Health, Healing and Wellbeing
Mirror work is one of the most powerful tools we can use for generating self healing, love and optimal wellbeing.