What training in the Biggest Loser house really involves!

We're now halfway through the Biggest Loser and I've had lots of people ask me what the contestant's training really involves... perhaps one of the biggest downside of the show only being aired once a week is that viewers don't get to see everything that the contestants go through training wise in order to achieve their weight loss. So, today I'd like to give you a little bit more insight.

As Sarah pointed out on the show last week, I am a stickler for technique, and my team's program is written out in advance and with consideration for a variety of factors including their energy levels, fatigue, mindset, upcoming challenges, niggles, postural weaknesses, biomechanics and strength indices. In order to really get the most of someone it's essential to take all of these factors into consideration, and often tweaks must be made to the program at the last minute in order to account for unforeseen obstacles - such as interviews mid session!!

The Biggest Loser training schedule is incredibly intense and for me focus on recovery and regeneration was therefore of utmost importance. Every one of the 4 daily sessions my team trained at began with foam rolling, which is a type of self massage technique which is easy to perform and helps to break down scar tissue, realign muscle fibres and improve circulation prior to exercise. This was followed by flexibility and mobility work to reduce stiffness and correct postural imbalances, which are a common result of prolonged periods of sitting, unstimulated muscles and general poor posture. It stands to reason that the easier you find it to move, the more you will move, the more fat burning muscle tissue you will build, the more powerful you will become and thus the more energy you will expend, and in the Biggest Loser house that means more fat lost! The contestants also received regular sports massage in order to flush toxins and relieve soreness.

The next phase of the warm up included a range of sprint drills which I also use for the England lacrosse team. Whilst many of the contestants initially thought this combination of skips and footwork patterns were a little crazy, they actually provide a fantastic muscle activation and proprioceptive tool and also serve as a movement screen, enabling me to identify tightness or compensatory movement patterns before going into loaded resistance work. It is no good loading a kinetic chain that is riddled with incorrect firing patterns and overworked connective tissues because the result is almost always injury.. so this warm up strategy enabled me to address any issues before they became a problem.

Depending on the day of the week, the white team usually performed a steady state cardio session first thing in the morning before breakfast, a total body strength training session later in the morning in which they lifted weights, followed by two high intensity interval training sessions in the afternoon and evening. The intensity of each of these sessions was periodised to allow for adequate rest and recovery before challenges, and a rest day each week. Almost all sessions included a core training element, but by this I don't mean tons of ab crunches (which can actually be very detrimental to the health of your spinal vertebrae)... we focused on stability in all planes of movement along with some rotation, flexion and extension work. The importance of this is to develop a strong foundation from which to train - without durability in your trunk, the body is vulnerable to injury and will not produce anything like optimal performance, including fat loss.

The contestants' nutrition also played a key part in their training, recovery and performance in challenges and was under constant monitor by each of the team trainers and the show's fantastic nutritionist, Faith Toogood. With this type of training schedule under eating was absolutely not an option, so the focus was entirely on consuming clean, nutritionally dense foods that met the body's needs on every level and teaching the contestants new, healthy and maintainable dietary habits.

The Biggest Loser is on ITV1 on Tuesdays at 9pm. Please feel free to leave any questions you have in the comment box below, I am always happy to help if I can :)