As one of the trainers on NBC's The Biggest Loser, Bob Harper has become one of the most famous and visible personal trainers in the world.
For longtime viewers of the show, it has been apparent that Harper's training methods have changed dramatically over the past two seasons.
Long sessions on the treadmill and elliptical machines have been traded in for high intensity circuits with barbells, kettlebells, medicine balls, and box jumps. Why?
Because Harper is working his teams out using the same fitness program he has adopted - CrossFit.
In his own words, the long-time personal trainer and spin instructor at West Hollywood's Crunch says he "drank the CrossFit Kool-Aid."
After over twenty years in the fitness industry and a background of endurance training combined light resistance training, Harper says,
The results that I have seen in my strength and physicality have been unparalleled to any other things I have ever done,
after just eighteen months training using CrossFit methods, which incorporate weightlifting and gymnastics movements on a regular basis.
He believes in the program's "constantly-varied, high-intensity" mantra so much that he has adopted it as his primary method to train his 'Biggest' contestants.
After focusing on endurance training for years, Harper says, "I created so much wear and tear on my body, not to mention that I was just getting bored with my workouts. I am 47 years old and am stronger than I have ever been with CrossFit."
Harper trains at Brick CrossFit in West Hollywood, where Golden State CrossFit's Nick Phillips made SpeedX one of the city's hottest circuit training classes. While Harper said his relationship with CrossFit was "love at first burpee," he also addresses one of the main criticisms of the high-intensity fitness program.
I started CrossFit, I've read and heard about the critics talk about how unsafe it is, and my only response to that is any form of exercise can be unsafe if you don't have the proper coaching, education and guidance.
While Harper is an outspoken supporter of CrossFit, he encourages those interested in the training program to make sure that the coaches operating a local affiliate are knowledgeable and capable of guiding newcomers through the daily workouts.
Harper says the "CrossFit program is broad, general and inclusive, and most of all, the movements can be scaled down to any level of athlete." Perhaps there was no better example of this than when top CrossFit Games competitors visited the 'Biggest Loser' ranch this season.
With the support of one of the world's most famous trainers, CrossFit is growing faster than ever and this year's CrossFit Games Open is almost guaranteed to attract more competitors than ever before.
What do you think of Harper's newly adopted training methods for his "Biggest Loser" contestants? Does Bob's love for the Sport of Fitness make CrossFit more accessible to everyone?
Comments