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New Fittest Loser regimen brings a few surprises

I felt crippled. At first, I decided to climb down the stairs sideways with my back and hands against the railing for support. When I thought nobody was looking, I even tried crawling down the stairs backward to test if it would be less painful. It wasn't. Though I'm confident the restaurant's customers that caught me in the act will probably never forget it.

That was after my first few workouts at Push Fitness in Schaumburg. My aching body protested by making even the most simple movement impossible. I became convinced that I'd be crippled every day for the next three months of the Fittest Loser Challenge, sponsored by the Daily Herald and Push Fitness.

Even sitting involved special effort. Be it on a chair or a toilet, sitting down required assistance from both my arms. If I had a third arm, I would have used it, too. Those first few days were tough. Every time I heard someone use the term “no pain, no gain,” I wanted to slap the cliché out of them. Fortunately for them, my arm was too sore for slapping.

Don't get me wrong, I was excited about the 12-week program, which involves a serious change in diet and a rigorous exercise program. I enjoyed my workouts with my trainer. But the sore and achy muscles made me cranky.

To combat sore muscles, my trainer, Joshua Steckler, owner of Push Fitness in Schaumburg, suggested a number of stretching exercises. I stretched on the floor and against the wall. I learned to use “a roller” and a tennis-like ball to massage sore areas. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that stretching oneself into a pretzel can actually feel good.

At home, I took a lot of hot showers and became fast friends with a tube of Icy Hot (a heat rub for relieving muscle strains). But as the weeks passed, so did the hellacious soreness. I still get sore, but it's not as dreadful as it was in the first two weeks. I'm happy to report that crawling down stairs backward in public is a thing of the past.

When it comes to workouts, I've made a surprising discovery. I've become a big fan of strength training and weight lifting. In the past, my workouts at the gym consisted solely of cardio exercises on either the treadmill, elliptical or the stair climbing machine. But my trainer has opened my eyes to a plethora of physical activities that don't involve my usual fitness trilogy.

It still surprises me that I'm more exhausted and out of breath after my strength-training and weight lifting sessions with my trainer — compared to my usual cardio routine. It's like my heart started playing drums in a death metal band and forgot to tell me.

My trainer also taught me how to optimize my cardio workouts. Instead of running, walking and jogging randomly on the treadmill for 45 minutes (my pre-Fittest Loser workout), I've learned to do intervals. I run as fast as possible for 1 minute and walk for 1 minute — rotating the sequence for about 25 minutes.

To my amazement, I lose more calories and work up a better sweat in 25 minutes than I did in the 45 minutes of my uneducated workout. In addition, I find myself being able to run faster and for longer distances than I was able to just five weeks ago.

While I enjoy my workouts, there are a few elements I could live without. The biggest thorn in my workout is what I distastefully call “the mummy” — a 70-pound weight bag that looks like a body wrapped in duct tape. Pushing that mummy back and forth on the floor of the gym makes me want to faint.

I also agree with Fittest Loser contestant Cindy Uribe when she says that she hates any type of activity that involves jumping. It's not that we can't jump. It's more of a self-conscious awareness of certain body parts bouncing up and down in a room full of men (busty women everywhere will understand this dilemma).

But overall, I'm really happy with my workouts. I have more energy during the day and fall asleep easier at night. I usually find myself waking up hungry in the morning – which I'm told is a good thing. Prior to joining this program, I rarely ate breakfast (with the exception of coffee), usually having my first meal around 1 p.m. I also feel better mentally, which is probably a combination of both exercise and diet.

While I haven't lost as much weight as the contestants, I have lost inches. My clothes feel looser on my body and I have much more definition in my muscles. I have a long way to go, but I'm confident I'll get there. When I experience those moments of laziness that make me want to skip a workout, I simply tell myself: “sweat like a pig to look like a fox” and I get on the treadmill.

• Kat Zeman is a freelance journalist who enjoys being crippled by exercise. Having built up more resistance to pain the past few weeks, she no longer crawls down stairs backward in public. She lives in Darien.

  Push Fitness owner Joshua Steckler works with Fittest Loser participant Kat Zeman using free weights. To her surprise, Kat has discovered she likes strength training. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com

By the Numbers

Starting weight: 163

Current weight: 160

Total weight lost: 3 pounds, 1.8 percent

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