If I were training Oprah.....

H

honeybunch1

Cathlete
On her "After the Show" which aired on Friday, she said she hated to exercise! I could not believe it! She uses a treadmill, and said on her days off she has to force herself to exercise.

So, here I am, boldly stating that her trainer needs to really work with her to find something she will have FUN doing, that's not boring, and will LOOK FORWARD TO! We, of course, have no idea if she has ever tried taped workouts, but I would certainly recommend them to her! Also, I'd recommend that she use music tapes with her treadmill, or to be certain that something interesting is on the TV in front of her.

I wonder if she's ever told him she hates what she's doing, and what his reply was if she did. It's very important for us trainers to LISTEN to our clients!

I had the nerve to write to her to make these suggestions, and I certainly don't know if she'll ever get them, but I did it anyway. So, y'all, what would you suggest to Oprah to help her love exercise????!!!!!
 
Didn't she do a show a while ago (a few years) where they were showiing Tae Bo? Didn't she seem to like it?

I personally would be bored to tears doing a treadmill workout as my only kind of exercise. I'm not a machine worker outer! Maybe Oprah isn't either. I wonder if she's using the same trainer she's had in the past? He also used to say that it's better not to do resistance training until you've lost some weight with cardio. I'd have someone doing a light weight workout from the get-go! Oh, yeah, he's also the guy who was plugging his new book on her show a while ago. The one where he says not to eat ANYTHING, NOT EVEN A GRAPE, after 8 p.m. or so. Maybe he's not "all that."
 
My prescription is to keep changing those songs. Make your own tapes which include lots of Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson. Have you ever tried to sit still during a Rolling Stones or Michael Jackson song? It simply cannot be done. ;-)

No motivation required, just put the music on and go!
 
Well my understanding is that Oprah started exercising for her health in the first place, you would think that would be enough to make anyone want to stick with it, taking the weight off and going down pant and dress sizes is icing on the cake so to speak .... It just makes you feel wonderful to be in shape. ...... Rhonda :7 :p :7
 
Is she still working with Bob Greene? He's an ass. He doesn't think weight training is important.

I saw a show where Oprah talked about her commitment to working out & changing her "ways" so to speak. She signed a contract with him. He knows how much she hates what he has her doing.

I used to hate to exercise too until I found videos. Now I mix it up, I'm never bored & actually look forward to working out.
 
I hate running outside. My friend keeps dragging me out to run and I hate it. I can handle threadmill running for 30-45 minutes better. Tapes and aerobic classes are what I stick with because of the variety.
 
If I only exercised in a stinky gym, even if it was in my own home, I would hate exericise too. I agree that videos really help with motivation to say nothing of forums like this one.

The problem with a male trainer is that they have male sensibilities. They generally like a sports approach instead of a more feminine dancy approach. I don't like kickboxing much (except for Cathe's) because it's just too masculine for me. Even though Cathe lifts heavy weights, her video don't feel masculine to me.

Videos really do help to pass exercise time in a pleasant way. I bet if Oprah tried a more dancy approach she would love it.

However, she must know about other exercise options. She probably knows as much about exercise as anyone since she's helped to spread the word about it. Maybe videos just don't appeal to her.
 
Ya know, she may know about other exercise options, but he may have her convinced that the "no pain, no gain" approach is the only way to go. I remember his saying once that if you do cardio for less than 40 minutes, you're waiting your time. That's been awhile, so he may have changed his tune.
 
Do you all really enjoy the actual working out itself? Really? Not just the way it makes you look and feel? Not just LOOKING FORWARD to how you'll feel when it's over? Do you truly enjoy having those weights in your hands or doing step or running or whatever? I do it because it's good for me, because I feel better afterward, because I like the way it makes me look and feel. But other than bicycling (most of the time), I can't honestly say that I ever enjoy the actual time I spend exercising, and I never have. But I'd love to get to that point. I want to enjoy it, too! Tell me WHY you enjoy it. Tell me how you feel about it WHILE you're doing it. Show me exercise through your eyes so maybe I can learn to enjoy it, too.
 
I do enjoy working out. It feels the way playing on the playground or climbing rocks used to feel when I was a kid. I feel strong and invinceable. I wish I could explain why I like it. To tell you the truth, if I were exercising to maintain my bod, I'd have quit from lack of results years ago.

If I were training Oprah, I would get her into weight training, PS style. I would sign her up for adult jazz dancing classes (or bring in a teacher three times a week to teach her and some good girlfriends... she can afford it!) Maybe have her do ballroom dancing, too. If she were to weight train three hours a week and dance three hours a week, she might start to enjoy the movement and not think of it as "exercise." Then, the occasional treadmill run wouldn't be so deadly boring for her.
 
RE: Exercising as entertainment

Hi, Wutherhi! I'm happy to report that I truly enjoy the process of working out as well as the product. It's been a long road of experiments to get there, finding workout modes (both for cardio and strength training) that are enjoyable as well as physically beneficial, but yes, I enjoy doing it as much as benefiting from it.

I enjoy music-based full-range-of-motion cardio modes (step, kickbox, hi/lo, aqua) because I feel a little more dancey, AND because I can feel everything limbering up. And, with Cathe cardio, I can feel everything FIRING up, so within about 20-25 minutes of a cardio routine I actually truly feel more alive. Blood pumping, breathing hard, moving fast, etc. Plus, I feel like I'm part of the Cathe Party. My least favorite part of any cardio routine is the warm-up, because going from a resting state to an aerobic state is just plain uncomfortable no matter how well designed the warm-up might be.

I always do non-video/DVD strength training right after cardio and ab work, because I'm so pumped up and limber, and it's such a great shift going from fast-paced external motivation to slow-paced, silent, simple and focused work. Almost like a meditation.

Getting to the point of enjoying the process of exercise as well as the product takes, IMHO, a lot of time, persistence, willingness to experiment, and willingness to honor your own preferences in the wake of a lot of sideline coaching that says this or that is the "best" way. And a lot of Cathe DVD's.

A-jock
:9
 
It would be my first choice of how to spend my time and I would enjoy it if I didn't feel so pulled in other directions.

Last night I decided I was going to exercise no matter what. I came home to find that my husband still had not installed the air conditioners because he needed my help, the fixture in the kitchen broke and we have no idea how to fix it. The house was warm and the kitchen was dark. There was an emergency co-op meeting in the lobby, which I wanted to go to. It took me some time to pick up take-out for dinner, and because I was carrying dinner, I couldn't stop at the grocery store. When I got home I saw that we were on our last roll of toilet paper. I exercised and went to the meeting, but I was in such a high state of irritability, my husband didn't even want to talk to me! I felt overwhelmed and out of control and it was all because I wanted to exercise so badly. I did it, but the enjoyment was not really there. :-(
 
I truly love,adore,can't get enough of working out! I love to sweat and push myself beyond the limit. It makes me feel strong and proud. I wouldn't say I am obsessed, I take my time off, but I do enjoy getting back to it. Cathe is so much fun to me. I look at it as working out with a good friend. She's pushing herself as well as me!We're in it together.
If I were training Oprah, or a close friend of hers, I'd tell her to look into videos for variety,or simply try something she hasn't. I myself hate treadmills, but love all other forms of exercise. She just hasn't found that one that fits her. Her trainer, in my opinion, seems to use her name for himself. I don't know how long their contract is for, but as soon as it's over, she'd be better off with someone who'll truly listen and work for HER and her goals.
:D Susan
 
I hated exercise until I found videos. I was on my college swim team and always hated the workouts even though I felt like a million dollars afterwards. If I hadn't had a motivating coach, I would never have kept at it.

From the minute I did my first exercise video, I knew I had found a form of exercise I could enjoy "while doing it". Videos helped to pass the time. When I followed the video, I didn't watch the clock. It wasn't just me in an empty room. I also didn't have to worry about parking at the Y or gym.

At first I loved cardio and hated weight training, but as I became better at it, I learned to love weight training too. I still hate weight training without a video though. Putting on my own music is the only thing that makes it bearable.

I think I need to be entertained while exercising. If I'm not, I don't like it as much. Maybe Oprah needs to find a form of exercise which she finds entertaining.
 
>I hated exercise until I found videos. >
>From the minute I did my first exercise video, I knew I had
>found a form of exercise I could enjoy "while doing it".
>
I didn't "hate" exercise without videos, but I didn't love it like I do now. I look forward to my workouts, and especially to getting a new video to try out. I got my first Cathe DVD a week ago, and was so excited to make it through the workout! I love the challenge, and the feeling of strength and accomplishment I get while working out - I just feel good from the very frist minute I put the tape on, heck, I even enjoy warmups. :7
 
Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against anyone here nor the fabulous advice given, but personally, I have no advice to Oprah except stop being so self-centred.

If she really wants to lose weight all she has to do is lighten her bank balance: take out a load of cash, get on a plane to a South American slum city of her choice (and, really, this could be any impoverished, neglected part of the world), roll up her sleeves and start up a grass roots program of improved sanitation, set up a new hospital perhaps, improve irrigation for argriculture, oh, there are a million projects she could do and if she spends all day doing manual labour, sweats it out with the rest of them, lives and eats as the locals do, I believe she could drop several stones in weight and sculpt muscles a VSO worker would be proud of!

I have nothing against anyone, so please don't take this as a critique: but who really cares about the fitness faux pas of the rich and self-obsesssed?

I just can't get worked up about Oprah, never could. Sorry folks.

Clare
 
I think Oprah is lifting weights now and I'm glad to see that. They have a link on her website and they show her squatting 45 lb. plates. I think she even had a show promoting weight lifting. Yeah!
 
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