Oprah's New and improved fitness program

January 2, 2003

In Oprah's magazine, " O " , she outlines her new fitness regime. This

time, it appears to contain more strength training--though it appears to

be a lot " three sets of 10 " cookie cutter and still contains an excess

of " chronic cardio " foo-foo, IMO. She basically says she dabbled in

strength training before, but her trainer, Bob Greene, apparently didn't

press the issue because, as Oprah says: " I just wanted to fit into a

size 8. "

My point in this is as Oprah's trainer, why did he let her do HER own

thing before, based on what she felt like doing (tons of running (even a

marathon) and gobs of cardio with what sounds like a few cursory curls

with chrome dumbells? It didn't work all that well and there was way

too much junk training and time in that--and this new program, for that

matter--to ensure consistent compliance for a lifetime term. She gave

up and regained weight--again.

[One thing always bothers me about Oprah and her trainer - Oprah never

seems to keep any amount of excess fat off for any prolonged period - she

is thinner for a while, then possibly even fatter than ever a few months later.

How seriously can we take what she or Greene say or write about diet and

training? The Winfrey-Greene Case Study only proves one thing, namely

that most diets and training programs with average clients and average

trainers just don't work in the long term. Mel Siff]

I have a problem with some of these " How to pick a personal trainer "

guides in various magazine articles emphasizing to the consumer that

they should pick a trainer who will let them work towards THEIR goals.

The consumer, in most cases, has distorted and unrealistic views of what

their goal should be, and possibly could be. They want the anorexic

14-year old heroine-addict waif look or Arnold--obviously not ALL want

this, but if you are a trainer, you know what I'm saying here:).

The trainer NEEDS to be strong enough to educate--over and over

again--in order to undo faulty social expectations of what exercise can

and should do--reprogramming really.

Is Bob Greene going to refund her money for those years he let her NOT

do intensive strength training--spending countless hours per week doing

" inferior exercise " -- as a core piece of her fitness program?

Tom Traynor

Grand Rapids, MI

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