Lifestyle

Weighing in, working out: A 'pretty brutal' first week

Posted February 15, 2009 10:00 pm

By Robert McCoppin Daily Herald Staff

Eric Ronzio Bill Zars | Staff Photographer

Hoffman Estates police officer Lisa Notarnicola was the one taking the orders, for a change.

Trainer Steve Amsden had her squatting down to do a push-up, then standing up and doing it over and over again.

"You're killing me!" Lisa said between grunts.

"You really are such a wuss!" Steve answered. "What if you had to thrust a bad guy over your head?"

Lisa stopped to call for backup on an imaginary police radio on her shoulder: "I need help."

Steve laughed, but kept at her. "Don't let up. Finish strong! If you're not on the ground throwing up, you can handle it."

Lisa gave a grudging smile as she finished, sweat soaking her T-shirt. She survived Police Academy years ago, but said, "I've never had training like this."

Lisa is one of five contestants competing in the Daily Herald/Live Well Fittest Loser Challenge, sponsored by Push Fitness in Schaumburg, to see who can lose the greatest percentage of weight in 12 weeks.

Push is providing a free personal trainer to each contestant, but their guidance goes beyond three weekly workouts to include nutrition.

Each contestant will keep a food journal, writing down every bite they eat each day, and total up the calories, fat, carbohydrates and protein. Contestants say the journal makes them much more aware and careful about what they eat.

In addition to meeting a target calorie count each day, Push advises that each meal and snack should include a balance of unsaturated fat, complex carbohydrates (not just sugar), and protein, such as apple slices with peanut butter.

To make sure they're staying on track, each contestant goes over what they're eating with their trainer and does a weigh-in each week.

The process is similar to what Push does with its regular clients, but in this case there's a tight three-month time frame and the pressure of competition.

"There is no such thing as a cheat meal or day," Push co-owner Mark Trapp told his contestant, Liesl Ignoffo. "We've got three months to lose a lot of weight. This is seven days a week, 24 hours a day, sleep, eat and breathe health, fitness and weight loss."

To start out, each participant was tested for time on a mile run on a treadmill, and for push-ups, sit-ups and flexibility. They'll be tested again at the end of the competition, along with their weight, cholesterol, blood pressure and body fat, to see how much progress they've made.

After his first day of working out, Eric Ronzio, a former college athlete who now lives in Arlington Heights and works a desk job, said he couldn't lift his arms to wash his hair.

"I was walking around like John McCain," he said. "I've worked out before, but nothing like this."

Push emphasizes functional fitness, strengthening the entire body for use in everyday activities. Exercises work more than one muscle group at a time, such as doing sit-ups to strengthen the core muscles while simultaneously throwing a medicine ball to work the arms.

Because Push offers strictly one-on-one or small group training, its studio is small and simple, compared to a health club, with just a few bicycles, treadmills and Freemotion Fitness weight machines, which can be adjusted to almost any angle for a wide variety of exercises.

The rest is open space for exercises, free weights, and agility running drills.

After almost passing out in her first workout, Christine Reiss, a 28-year-old former cheerleader and single mother from Hanover Park, questioned what she had gotten herself into.

"I felt like I needed a body cast," she said. "It was pretty brutal."

But she likes that her trainer, Sharon Petrynek, mixes up her exercises, and is concentrating on having her run a mile so she can run in charity fundraisers this year.

"I love her, oh my God, she's amazing," Christie said. "She makes me feel like she really wants this for me. And she's really thorough. Every time we do something she explains why and what muscles it's going to work. She doesn't let me stop, which I love about her."

Rob Bohanek, principal of Holmes Junior High School in Mount Prospect, said he had a good progression of increasingly intense workouts, and lost 10 pounds in the first week.

Like all the contestants, he's also doing cardio workouts on his own. He joined Delnor Hospital's fitness center in his hometown of St. Charles.

It's been difficult cutting out a lot of foods from his diet, but people are coming up to say he's inspired them to work out, and kids are coming up to wish him luck.

"I'm definitely going beyond limits I'd have by myself," he said.

After the first month, trainer Ryan Le Breux plans to ramp up the intensity, and add boxing to Rob's workouts.

All the contestants start out exercising with their own body weight and dumbbells, but will work with heavier weight as their bodies adjust.

They will add some muscle, which will help them in the long run, because muscle burns more calories at rest than fat does.

Liesl Ignoffo, a 41-year-old business executive and mom from Hoffman Estates, said the first workout was tough, but she found she had the endurance for it, and her trainer Mark Trapp gave her lots of compliments to keep her going.

And she is surprisingly not hungry on a 1,300-calorie-a-day diet.

She's looking forward to her next workout - "but boy is it ever tough!"

Push co-owner Joshua Steckler congratulated the contestants, but added: "This is week one. This is nothing!"

Liesl Ignoffo got into the Fittest Loser Challenge in part to get her energy back for her husband and kids. Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer

Fittest loser competitor Christine Reiss uses a FreeMotion Fitness cable machine under the eye of trainer Sharon Petrynek at Push Fitness. Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer

Fittest loser competitor Christine Reiss maintains form while doing squats with trainer Sharon Petrynek at Push Fitness. Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer

Christine Reiss Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer

Eric Ronzio of Arlington Heights holds a push-up position while throwing punches with dumbbells under the guidance of Push Fitness trainer Joshua Steckler. Bill Zars | Staff Photographer

Eric Ronzio guts out crunches on a ball with Push Fitness trainer Joshua Steckler. Bill Zars | Staff Photographer

Fittest Loser competitor Christine Reiss works hard for trainer Sharon Petrynek at Push Fitness. Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer

Push Fitness trainer Steve Amsden whips Hoffman Estates police officer Lisa Notarnicola through her work out. Mark Black | Staff Photographer

Liesl Ignoffo said personal trainer Mark Trapp's encouragement helped her get through her first workouts at Push Fitness in Schaumburg for the Fittest Loser Challenge. Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer

Liesl Ignoffo Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer

Hoffman Estates police officer Lisa Notarnicola pumps iron for the Fittest Loser Contest. Mark Black | Staff Photographer

Rob Bohanek Mark Welsh | Staff Photographer

Lisa Notarnicola Mark Black | Staff Photographer

Vital statistics Before starting the workouts, Push Fitness sent each contestant to chiropractor Paul Mikulski of ProActive Natural Medicine in Schaumburg for testing. For comparison, a body mass index of 18.5 to 24.9 is normal; 25 to 29.9 is overweight and 30 or higher is obese. Blood pressure should be below 120/80 and total cholesterol should be less than 200. Eric Ronzio 6-foot-4 276 pounds BMI: 33.16 Body fat: 31 percent Blood pressure: 130/86 Total cholesterol: 212 Lisa Notarnicola 5-foot-4 185 pounds BMI: 31.95 Body fat: 41.5 percent Blood pressure: 110/74 Total cholesterol: 230 Christine Reiss 5-foot-3 186 pounds BMI: 32.43 Body fat: 42.3 percent Blood pressure: 110/74 Total cholesterol: 208 Rob Bohanek 5-foot-11 288 pounds BMI: 42.53 Body fat: 37.5 percent Blood pressure: 142/96 Total cholesterol: 174 Liesl Ignoffo 5-foot-5 179 pounds BMI: 30.64 Body fat: 41.4 percent Blood pressure: 144/92 Total cholesterol: 198 <div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=16&type=video&item=13">Lisa Notarnicola </a></li> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=16&type=video&item=14">Christine Reiss </a></li> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=16&type=video&item=15">Rob Bohanek </a></li> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=16&type=video&item=16">Eric Ronzio </a></li> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=16&type=video&item=17">Liesl Ignoffo </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>

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