Cellulite Study Progress Report: The First Month

All three of the women I have been training for my book on cellulite loss are at the one month mark. They all have been doing the Hystrength program for three times a week, and here are my overall general observations.

• They all have increased their strength quite dramatically. Every one of them are doing at least 360 pounds on the leg press. I started all of them around 90 to 100 pounds. The same is true for their upper body strength, although not to the same degree. I started them all on the dumbbell press on the ball with either 15 or 17.5 pounds, and they all are now doing 27.5 pounds. Moreover, they have increased their strength on the pull downs markedly as well. I started them all around 50 pounds, and they all do at least 67.5 pounds.
• They all are getting close to momentary muscular failure on some of their lifts. Dumbbell presses and pull downs are starting to get very hard for all of them to do. The leg press, even though it is a bit challenging for all of them, are still moving up quickly and nobody has gone to failure yet.
• All three of the women lost weight initially…and all three of them gained some back after the first couple of weeks. Furthermore, they all lost the weight again and are back on track.
• I am seeing the subtle changes in their bodies. The waist is looking a little slimmer…the butt a little more lifted…and more tone and definition in the arms.

The observations are consistent with many of my clients over the years. If they train hard, stay consistent, and pay attention to the diet, all of my female clients did just this.

The strength gains are just as consistent as well. Even though they all are just now taking some of the sets to fatigue, I have them using far more weight than they ever thought they would be lifting if they trained on their own. I want to expand on this point: most women (and many men too), will do a strength training program for many years without ever really challenging the body. Sure, they will do many sets for a body part (very common), but they will do it with much lighter weight than they should be. In essence, they never really get stronger…because of that, they never see the physical changes they want and expect. They will then give up thinking strength training does not work.

The first month of training does bring about rather amazing strength gains, but it must be noted that in the first 4 to 6 weeks research shows that the increase in strength has much more to do with neurological efficiency than actual muscle strength. In other words, the nervous system is learning how to recruit more fibers. This coincides with what I have observed. The body starts showing physical changes after I am able to train my clients to fatigue for a few weeks. It is those workouts that tell the body “adapt or die”. So the muscles will get stronger to cope with the demand.

As I mentioned earlier, all of the women have not gone to failure on the leg press yet. This, too, is consistent with my observations over the years. The buttocks and thigh muscles are very strong. As a matter of fact, there seems to be about a 4 to 1 ratio of strength with the legs as compared to the upper body muscles. I have many male clients that can do a leg press with over 1000 pounds, and they can bench press between 250 to 300 pounds. They tend to do around 175 to 195 pounds for the pull downs too. I point this out because most of my clients think that they have a weak upper body compared to their legs. This is not so. The upper and lower body is in proportion. I expect them to actually hit fatigue/failure when they are closer to 400 pounds.

As for the weight loss/gain/and loss again. This seems to be far more common than I certainly like to see, but it happens often. It is easy to freak out and think that the diet/exercise program is not working, but that cannot be. Getting stronger, cutting carbs and overall calories, and staying consistent with this type of program for a long time cannot lead to fat gain and staying bloated. I think the body just rejects the new lifestyle, but it eventually gives in.

One final point. As pre-planned, I am now cutting back the workouts for all of the women from three times a week down to two times a week. I figured that the strength gains and the intensity of the workouts would require more down time between workouts at this juncture. It seems to be about right, for the workouts are getting hard and they need more time in between sessions to be ready to train hard. The strength gains should still be rather consistent albeit at a slower pace.

I added the above photos for reference. Sharon did the training program I am putting all these women through. This is clear evidence that the diet and exercise program works, but one has to be dedicated to it. She did not get these results in three months. This took about two years. She did, however, see subtle steady improvements the whole time. All of the women I am training will show progress in three months. If they stay with it after the three month study, they will get very close to this.

Stay tuned.

Regards,

Gregg Hoffman

P.S. If you would like a customized Hystength exercise program designed just for you click HERE for more information.