Push to the finish: Trainers discuss Fittest Loser contestants' journeys
Time is running out.
With only three weeks to go, the pressure is on and the situation is becoming urgent. The five contestants participating in the Fittest Loser Challenge are being pushed harder by their trainers to shed a few more pounds.
The 12-week competition, organized by the Daily Herald and Push Fitness in Schaumburg, is heating up. The winner — whoever loses the most amount of weight by percentage — will snag a host of prizes. It appears that it's going to be a close call between Bob Coniglio of Arlington Heights, Robert Patterson of North Aurora and Heidi Wiltse of Arlington Heights.
Of course, anything can happen before the end of the competition. That's why the personal trainers are pushing their contestants harder than ever.
Some are adding more exercise into their contestant's weekly regimens or increasing the intensity of the workouts. A few trainers are also tweaking their contestant's diets.
Here's how far each contestant has come in the past nine weeks and how their trainers plan to push them toward the finish line.
Michelle Amsden & Bob Coniglio
When Michelle Amsden first met her contestant, she wasn't quite sure what to make of him. Bob Coniglio of Arlington Heights can be a tad headstrong.
“He may not like to take direction, but he's taken it pretty well,” Amsden says. “I haven't had any problems with him. He's doing very well.”
Suffering from an elevated diaphragm, one of the biggest obstacles that Coniglio had to overcome during the competition is learning how to breathe correctly during his workouts. Developing his breathing had made it possible for him to improve greatly in his workouts, she says.
She also complimented Coniglio on the strides he's made with nutrition. He often researches healthy and creative recipes and makes them at home, she says. However, Coniglio needs to eat more.
“He's not skipping meals, but he's not eating enough,” she says. “He thinks if he eats less, he'll lose more. But we don't want people to starve themselves for three months.”
In addition to asking him to eat larger meals, Amsden plans to make his cardio workouts more intense in the final weeks of the contest.
“He's been doing cardio, but it's been more of a slower-paced cardio,” she says. “The last few weeks, I want to really push his cardio. That's probably the only thing I want to tweak.”
Steve Amsden & Deanna Bec
The only difference between a good day and a bad day is attitude.
When Steve Amsden's contestant walks through the door of the gym, he knows it's going to be a good day. Deanna Bec of Berwyn is like that.
“She never complains and always comes in with a great attitude,” Amsden says.
Bec, who has been known to be somewhat accident prone, has greatly improved her fitness level in the past nine weeks, he says.
“At the beginning, we weren't able to get through simple body weight exercises. She was really struggling,” Amsden says. “Now I'm sometimes shocked at how much she is able to do with some of the complicated exercises.”
Bec, who has missed several personal training sessions with Amsden due to health issues, has made up for them on her own time, he says. She has discipline to go to the gym on her own and has been successful at following her diet.
“Some people would give up, but she stuck to the program,” he says.
Though she has been following her diet, Amsden plans to tweak it in the next few weeks.
“I think I've been more liberal with her diet than some of the other trainers,” Amsden says. “So I'd like to cut out some of her starches and replace them with more fruits and vegetables.”
In addition, he plans to increase the intensity of her workouts at Push Fitness and ask her to add an additional day of exercise to her weekly routine.
Brodie Medlock & Cindy Uribe
Brodie Medlock likes to train tough women. It's one of the reasons he gets along with Cindy Uribe of Hoffman Estates.
“Cindy is pretty tough mentally. She doesn't make excuses,” Medlock says. “She doesn't fear or doubt herself.”
This mental toughness has helped Uribe progress through her workouts. When she first started, many of the exercises she was asked to perform were completely foreign.
“She didn't even know how to squat,” Medlock says. “So yeah, all of her movements have improved.”
Today, Uribe is efficient in squats, bar bell cleans and kettle bell swings — to name a few.
With only a few weeks left in the contest, Medlock has slightly altered her diet, mainly rearranging the time that she's allowed to eat carbs.
To help push her toward the finish line, he plans to work on improving her “work capacity” — the ability to handle an increasing volume of exercise. Besides that, Medlock is happy with how Uribe has been progressing.
“She's awesome. I've really enjoyed having Cindy as my contestant,” Medlock says. “I'm proud of all the improvements she's made. She's a rare type of person.”
Wade Merrill & Heidi Wiltse
Having a dedicated contestant is every trainer's dream. That said, Wade Merrill couldn't be happier. He's been training Heidi Wiltse of Arlington Heights — and he can't stop praising her.
“She's incredibly dedicated to everything she does,” Merrill says. “If she's not good at something, she gets better at it very quickly.”
Merrill describes his contestant as a determined woman who keeps her nose to the grindstone and gets things done. In the past nine weeks, he has seen her grow stronger and more mobile.
“She's incredibly efficient in almost every exercise I do with her,” he says. “That girl can squat with a bar bell over her head like it's nothing. (In the beginning) she didn't have the strength for it. Now she's definitely stronger.”
Since Wiltse has been consistent in her weight loss and her performance at the gym has been exceptional, Merrill does not plan to change much in his plan for her as the contest nears its end.
“We're going to keep progressing on the scale like we've been,” he says. “If she was absolutely injury-free, I would be able to do something different.”
Wiltse, who recently suffered an injury to her ankle, cannot run. That's her only weakness. Therefore, Merrill plans to focus her progression on more strength-based exercises.
Patrick Stille & Robert Patterson
It's like night and day. That's how Patrick Stille describes the changes that his contestant underwent in the past nine weeks.
Robert Patterson of North Aurora has lost more than 35 pounds and he's determined to lose more.
“He's very competitive and determined,” says Stille. “His main goal is getting down to 200 and we're getting close.”
Patterson has greatly improved his strength-training exercises, especially squats, Stille says. Having sustained a shoulder injury when he served in the military, Patterson has been working to improve his shoulder mobility and stability.
“His shoulder is a little weak so he's had a hard time with some of the upper body exercises,” Stille says. “But his strength has greatly improved.”
It's improved enough that the two men often enjoy boxing together — an activity that has become a favorite for both pupil and trainer.
Going forward, Stille plans to increase Patterson's workload at the gym. That means he'll be increasing the intensity of his workouts in terms of weight and volume. Since one of Patterson's goals is to run a marathon after the competition, Stille also plans to make him do more running.
“I've never met somebody who is so optimistic,” Stille says. “He's been a real pleasure to train. It's never a bad day when he comes in for a session.”
By the numbers
<h3 class="briefHead">Deanna Bec, 30, Berwyn</h3>
<span class="fact box text bold">Starting weight:</span> 207
<span class="fact box text bold">Current weight:</span> 190
<span class="fact box text bold">Weight lost this week:</span> 2 pounds
<span class="fact box text bold">Total weight loss:</span> 17 pounds, 8.2 percent
<h3 class="briefHead">Bob Coniglio, 51, Arlington Heights</h3>
<span class="fact box text bold">Starting weight: </span>304
<span class="fact box text bold">Current weight:</span> 259
<span class="fact box text bold">Weight lost this week:</span> 5 pounds
<span class="fact box text bold">Total weight loss:</span> 45 pounds, 14.8 percent
<h3 class="briefHead">Robert Patterson, 56, North Aurora</h3>
<span class="fact box text bold">Starting weight:</span> 255
<span class="fact box text bold">Current weight:</span> 220
<span class="fact box text bold">Weight lost this week:</span> 4 pounds
<span class="fact box text bold">Total weight loss:</span> 35 pounds, 13.7 percent
<h3 class="briefHead">Cindy Uribe, 33, Hoffman Estates</h3>
<span class="fact box text bold">Starting weight:</span> 280
<span class="fact box text bold">Current weight:</span> 254
<span class="fact box text bold">Weight lost this week:</span> 9 pounds
<span class="fact box text bold">Total weight loss:</span> 26 pounds, 9.3 percent
<h3 class="briefHead">Heidi Wiltse, 43, Arlington Heights</h3>
<span class="fact box text bold">Starting weight:</span> 286
<span class="fact box text bold">Current weight:</span> 248
<span class="fact box text bold">Weight lost this week:</span> 2 pounds
<span class="fact box text bold">Total weight loss:</span> 38 pounds, 13.3 percent