Fat March: Interview with Trainer Steve
Fat March is an ABC-TV reality show which challenges 12 obese Americans to walk 570 miles in 10 weeks. They are coached by two trainers - Steve Pfiester and Lorrie Henry. I asked Steve about the experience of coaching the contestants through Episode 1, which saw two contestants sent to the emergency room and one drop out with numerous complaints.Photo: Fat March Trainers Lorrie and Steve
© 2007 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., Richard Pasley
1. The contestants seemed surprised that they would be involved in distance walking. Were they all mostly inactive prior to the show, or did they vary in how much exercise they normally got?
The contestants did have variations in activity. Some of our Marchers were involved in competitive athletics for much of there lives. But at some point, life took over. Kids, work, daily drama, all added to the list of priorities that crept into the lives of these marchers. Some of the contestants created an environment around them that took any work or activity out of the equation of every day living. Having a car, tv in the room, even a fridge in the bed room - all promoted a sedentary life style. Many of our marchers were very active even in their obesity. Whatever the prior fitness level the contestants had experienced before fat march, it was far below par for what they were going to need to get to DC in 10 weeks. And for me, that meant job security!!!!
2. How did these contestants compare to your usual clients in motivation, effort, etc.?
The cast for this show came to us with 12 dynamic personalities. All much different from each other. Once we got to know one another better they each confessed their true and pure motives for taking on such a journey. Even though the needs for being here were different for everyone, the desperation to make a change was evident in all of the marchers. Yes. ALL. However, some of the marchers had a tough time believing that they could actually make a change that would alter their life forever. The difference in these marchers and my usual clients was that I assumed the desperation for a better quality of life or life at all, was going to be enough to ride this out all the way to DC. I found that even in desperation. hopelessness can still destroy dreams. No matter how bad these 12 wanted to make a change, past failures and emotional scars would have to be overcome. This was not new to me, but the level of desperation and emotion was.
3. Was any pre-show preparation given to the contestants to get them ready for walking 5-10 miles a day? It appeared that they just leaped into doing a 5 mile day.
It is somewhat true. The marchers did begin there first day the way all of us would begin an exercise routine. We needed to use this first day a measuring stick to see what we had to work with. We did brief the marchers about safety, stretching, hydration, blister control, as well as some other production notes. However, we did not discuss, gait, nutrition, and biomechanics. We needed to get our feet wet. We did discuss a lot of details about diet and nutrition and gait analysis along the way, especially the first couple of days. Let me say this. We did not push the marchers the first day. They did have a little over 5 miles to walk and we gave them plenty of time to complete it. Our major concern was to keep them safe and have fun. Most of the marchers had a blast that first day. That was the first day of the rest of their life.
4. Were you surprised at the number of injuries and problems the group had the first few days?
Of course I was surprised. I signed up for this because I knew that I was the guy that could get motivate these guys across 9 states in 10 weeks, and I could do it with out incident. The marchers weren't the only one's getting schooled on this trip. When Kim got overwhelmed with the walk, Anthony fell out, and I lost a dear friend because of the vote off, was I surprised? Oh Yeah. I was surprised. No one could have forecasted the nor'easter that blew in the first day of the Boston Marathon and no one could have forecasted the medical emergencies we incurred. But I knew that this teams' will and desire to really make a life change was going to be enough to carry them through. The human will. that is what you will see carry us through the next 5 episodes. Nothing but zip, zest, pep, drive, and desire.
5. I was struck by how disappointed the contestants were who lost "only" 4-5 pounds. That seemed a great and appropriate weight loss for the mileage and time. How did you deal with their expectations and disappointment?
Physiologically 4-5 pounds of weight loss is outstanding. But we all measure our expectations of anything we do by how much effort we put into a task. These marchers have walked for miles in freezing rainy conditions. They have eaten oatmeal and other foods that don't comfort them as much as pizza and soda. They have no access to their previous enabling support structure, and they are sleeping on the cold hard ground. They expected a huge pay off in the way of weight loss. I know 4-5 pounds of weight loss is immense, but the marchers felt cheated when they compared there efforts to the amount they lost. Also, it was like adding insult to injury when some marchers who didn't seem to give as much effort as others lost more even more weight. That is hard to swallow. The take home lesson for all of them was, it took longer than 2 weeks to put oh hundreds of pounds and it will take longer than a couple of weeks to take it off.
6. The show is designed to reward teamwork and the contestants encouraging and supporting each other, but we didn't see much of that in the first episode. Did you bring any coaching skills to bear on encouraging teamwork?
Having 12 people stripped of their comfortable surroundings and loved ones who are always ready to encourage them at home, are now having to rely on themselves. This is a great lesson to teach and a tough one to learn. The first episode was so packed full of story and events we could not bring to light the immense amount of self-reliance and also encouragement that occurred on the streets, trails, and campground. The best way I found to teach team work was to identify a difficulty or problem to the team. I would explain how their journey for a better life would benefit if they could all work through this difficulty together. And then the hard part for me was to step out of the way and let them come up with a solution to fix it. As they learned to rely on themselves they started to encourage each other more and more. Eventually this gave way to cliques of teams walking together or going back for someone who was lagging behind. Preparing meals for someone who was to tired to eat - and even dressing and caring for each others feet and injuries. My biggest role in creating a sense of team was trying to stay out of the way and let that sense of team evolve itself. I would just give it a small push of encouragement from time to time to keep in on track.
Fat March Episode 1: Recap
Fat March: Interview with Contestant Kim
Comments
“…no one could have forecasted the medical emergencies we incurred.”
It completely baffles me that no one considered the very real possibility that a 500+ pound person could end up with stress fractures from all that walking.
From everything I’ve read, Steve seems to be a genuinely caring person and good trainer. I’ve also read that the participants were checked by doctors. I believe that overweight people need to be encouraged to challenge themseves physically but, IMO, Fat March crossed the line into irresponsibile behavior.
I’m thrilled that people were able to change their lives but that doesn’t justify the means.
In response to “Another trainer”:
Steve and Lorrie list no credentials in coaching or training for track, running or walking. I really don’t see anything in their bios that indicates much experience with working with morbidly obese clients. Even if they did, it was likely in a gym. That’s a whole different, controlled environment. And it is unlikely that they walked anybody on a treadmill for more than an hour.
As a marathon walker with experience at multi-day distance walks, I IMMEDIATELY predicted massive blisters, sprains and strains in these inactive, untrained walkers. That would happen to people of IDEAL BODY WEIGHT, let alone morbidly obese people. So, it just floors me.
And then I heard from a gosh-darn marathon walking and racewalking coach, Dave McGovern, who was passed over the Fat March trainer position. He would have been AWESOME. And there would have been a lot less pain and suffering.
But that’s what they wanted, I think - boot camp.
Let me preface my reply to some of these comments by saying, Fat March is so much more than a weight loss or walking program. The people on the show needed much more help than gait analysis and education about soft tissue injuries in the lower extremities. If it is my credentials being challenged, let it be that I know very little about production or television. However, I have had 8 years of education, learning about exercise and nutrition, and additional 3 years studying physical therapy. My physical therapy degree alone affords me quite a bit of insight into how an obese person will respond to activity. I have had many morbidly obese clients that have had fantastic results (see http://www.longevityclubs.com). My comment about foreseeing the medical emergencies was not to be related only to blisters, sprains and strains. Dehydration and ER visits due to anxiety was something I thought we could avoid with awareness and education. If you are trying to convince me that everyone who accepted this challenge was a hero, then yes, I am convinced.
About walking, you are also correct. I have never walked with 12 obese people for 570 miles. My nature is to learn, and boy did I. I learned so much more about walking than I ever could have in a physical therapy environment. But wait, this was a reality show where 12 people signed up to have a chance to win 1.2 million dollars. What Lorrie and I had the opportunity to do, was to use the preface of this amazing reality show to learn how to work within the confines we were given, and still try to make a difference in their lives. The hardest thing by far for these 12 people was not the physical activity alone; it was the mental anguish of the outdoors, the sheer repetitive nature of the workouts, and the selflessness to encourage teammates who they struggled to even like. These 12 were pulled from the enabling and comfortable environments they have invented and were thrown into a survivalist mentality. They would all have to learn to do for themselves or do without. This grew us all and stretched us as human beings. But it took us to a place mentally, and emotionally, where we learned to overcome. That is what this show is all about. Learning to overcome in ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. We came to the end of ourselves… past our own understanding… leaned on faith… AND IT CHANGED OUR LIVES!
Steve - you are a real gentleman, thanks for your excellent response. I have prowled some other boards and people who know you have a great regard for you and your wife. Keep up the good work.
I’m happy this show is inspiring people. I worry that it looks so extreme that it will turn people off from trying. I suppose some people will use any excuse to not even try, while if we can reach even a few, that is good work done.
Thank you Wendy for the kind words. It is our desire for people to be inspired. It may take a couple of episodes to get under our belt, but I really feel it has some great potential - we are already seeing it after just one episode.
Thanks for everything. March on!!
The interviews and background help in understanding the show A LOT. (Happy you were there for the walkers, but I still have my doubts about the structure of the walk.)
That being said, I believe that professionals intent on helping people lose weight need help understanding how to train, motivate and encourage people with a lot of weight to lose.
I am delighted that Steve is motivated to help others. Even he admits to being “schooled” along the way.
I think this proves the point even well qualified professionals can learn a thing or two about helping obese folks.
At one point, I lost 150 pounds to reach a healthy weight. My bounce back was my doing, but was compounded by coaches without the skills needed to help me get back on track. (When someone messes with your mental game, it is hard to get back on track.)
Now I know better and I am tough on anyone who is coaching me. (If you are not helping me toward my goal… you are out!)
[I am watching the "18 miles in 5 hours episode" and I am furious at the decision to push people when they are struggling with heat and hydration. Heat stroke anyone?]
It baffles me that some people will go to any extreme to bad mouth the trainers. These people signed up for the show. I guess that makes some people feel better or find an excuse to not lose weight. I am in the process of losing and I know people make excuses and find a lot of problems till they get serious. If some of the people on the show were still in this stage of their life, perhaps they were not ready to really loose weight! By the way, Steve and his wife Lorrie are the best!!
I’m not a trainer or coach, but I know several. I have also trained to walk several marathons and shorter distances. Though I am not heavy, my first 18-mile day was very difficult! And I trained correctly! How can you expect morbidly obese people to walk that far that fast in the heat! I think Wendy is right. This show is irresponsible, and I’m surprised no one has died yet. When the woman trainer threw something down and complained about one more person being taken away in an ambulance, I laughed out loud. I thought it was her fault for pushing too hard too fast.
Wendy is also correct that Dave McGovern, a walking coach and WALK! Magazine columnist, would have been fantastic! But then again, he would NEVER have let these people walk in such an unhealthy and unsafe manner. That is probably why he wasn’t hired.
I think that the trainers should have had to walk every mile with these people with at least 100 extra pounds strapped to their own bodies!
I admire Steve’s response and think he and Lorrie did a great job as trainers. It did baffle me that the first guy to be voted off was not foreseen at 500 pounds to have stress fractures in his feet. I’m a healthy, fit person and hiking in 90+ weather is tough, even well-hydrated.
But this was not a gentle makeover show. This was a show with a financial prize. I think Steve and Lorrie did the best they could given the circumstances.
And the marchers who did push on through, even at unwise cost to their own health, did indeed inspire many of us that when we think it’s a little cold or too hot, it’s not that bad!