In the Media
2006-04-17, The Edmonton Journal
New Year New You: Report Card
Chris Zdeb; journal staff writer, Edmonton
Healthier and Happier
Contest winner sheds pounds, raised her level of fitness
Bobbi Robbins is healthier, fitter, more flexible, more toned and lighter today than she was three months ago, and she did it without dieting.
The winner of our New Year, New You contest improved herself by increasing her level of activity with the 12 weeks of personal training she won, by eating regularly and more healthily and by drinking more water.
The tape measure and weight scale tell the official story, but the 37-year-old teacher’s assistant at Ross Sheppard high school says she knew by the fit of her clothes that working out and eating regularly and more healthily was paying off.
Her goal was to lose 20 pounds, and she said from the outset that she would be disappointed if all she lost was 12 pounds. Robbins lost 10 pounds but was grinning from ear to ear as her trainer Alexandra Senkow, fitness director at Defining Eve personal fitness studio, gave her a rundown of her final fitness assessment.
“I think I underestimated how hard it is to lose weight after you let yourself go and as you age,” Robbins says. “I assumed I could lose 20 pounds based on the weight I lost after the birth of my daughter, but I was in my 20s. Of course you’re going to lose weight much faster when you’re younger and your metabolism hasn’t been inactive for five years like mine was.”
Generally speaking, Robbins reduced all her measurements about two inches and went down a dress size and a half.
Some people might not be impressed by the weight loss, Senkow says, but it’s realistic and reflects the work Robbins put in.
“To see results that were faster or accelerated, Bobbi would have had to put in a lot more work or it would have been at a rate that was unsafe,” explains Senkow, who added she is pleased with Robbins’s results.
Losing weight gradually and toning the body with exercise at the same time is a lifestyle change. It’s not losing a lot of weight over a short time that you’ll just regain, Senkow says.
But even though losing weight and getting into a smaller dress size was Robbins’s main goal, she is most excited by the gains she made in her heart health.
Robbins was able to run a minute and a half longer on the treadmill during her final cardiovascular test than during the first test in January – and her heart rate peaked at 172 beats a minute, down from 186 in the first test. Her recovery time was also much improved: it took one minute for her heart to recover this time compared with five minutes the first time.
“That’s huge!” Robbins says. “To me that’s the biggest improvement. It means more to me than inches or weight lost.”
Senkow focused, for part of the three workouts a week that she customized for Robbins, on improving flexibility, particularly in the lower back. The improvement was evident during the Sit and Reach test: Robbins was three centimeters short of reaching her toes the first time she took the test. This time she was able to extend her fingertips five centimeters beyond her toes.
She also has more strength in her upper body, abdomen and core.
The challenge continues
“My overall fitness has improved by leaps and bounds, and along with the knowledge I’ve gained, I’m very satisfied with what I’ve been able to accomplish,” Robbins says.
“I think I’m on a good track to getting where I’d like to be,” which is being able to fit into size 9/10 clothes.
Robbins admits to feeling a little nervous when she thinks about continuing to work out without Senkow at her side.
“And I’m scared about the lack of accountability because with Alex there was no excuse for not getting to the fitness studio,” Robbins says.
She plans to continue exercising three times a week in the weight room of the high school where she works and at the nearby Peter Hemingway Fitness and Leisure Centre.
“It’s really important to be dedicated, because in the first six months, that’s when you’re developing a habit, a lifestyle,” Senkow tells her.
“If you miss a day (of working out) you have to make it up. You can’t say I’ll do it tomorrow, because tomorrow turns into a week, which turns into a year, which turns into seven years, which is what put you here in the first place.”
Senkow says she has every confidence in Robbins achieving her goal because Robbins now understands the intensity she needs in her workouts and how much she needs to modify her program to continue challenging herself and improving her fitness.
“I notice I’m getting stronger and stronger with very workout, “ Robbins says, “So three months from now, I think there should be the same results, maybe even double the results, I’ve had to this point,” Robbins says.
THE TALE OF THE TAPE
Final fitness assessment, April 10 (compared with results from first assessment Jan. 12)
- Height: 1.6 meters (5 feet 2.25 inches). Unchanged.
- Weight: 905. kilograms (189 pounds). Lost 10lb.
- Right arm (measurement taken at widest part of upper arm): 35 cm (13.8 in.). Lost 1 cm (0.4 in.)
- Chest: 111 cm (43.7 in.). Lost 4.5 cm (1.8 in.)
- Waist (measured at smallest circumference above belly button): 91 cm (35.8 in.) Lost 6 cm (2.4 in.).
- Abdomen (measured at belly button): 99 cm (39.0 in.) Lost: 4cm (1.5 in.)
- Buttocks: 117 cm (46.1 in.) Lost: 2.5 cm (0.9 in.)
- Right thigh (measured 20 cm below the top of the leg): 61 cm (24.0 in.) Lost: 4.5 cm (1.7 in.)
- Calf: 41.5 cm (16.4 in.) Lost: 1 cm (0.4 in.)
- Resting heart rate: 81 beats per minute. Unchanged.
- Sit and Reach (flexibility test) Jan. 12, - 3 cm; April 10, improved by 8 cm to + 5 cm.
- Pushups (upper body strength) Jan. 12, 12 on knees (one using triceps); April 10, 18 on knees (all triceps)
- Bent knee curl ups (abdominal strength): Jan. 12, 15; April 10, 25
- Plank Test (core strength) Jan. 12, 21 seconds; April 10, 1 minute 5 seconds
