You enter a gym with particular goals in mind and decide to speak with a trainer to discuss them. You explain that you want to lose weight, get strong and tone up. The trainer or coach puts you on a meal plan to help you with your weight loss and starts you on a strength and conditioning plan. Within a few weeks you can see that you’ve lost some weight and you’re getting noticeably stronger. Then, a few months later, maybe a year, your weight loss has slowed and your strength gains have peaked. You’ve just met your worst enemy or possibly your best friend, Absolute Zero.

Typically, most people who are unaccustomed to weight training and a regimented diet will have results that last for less than six months. Then they get discouraged, stop training and go back to their bad eating habits, and they usually gain the weight back, plus a little bit more. Absolute zero, also known as newbie gains, is a real problem, and it isn’t the athlete’s fault. Most gym owners recognize trends in their client’s diet and strength programs and do their best to combat weight gain and/or loss of strength gains, but sadly, they do not have a more scientific plan in place for course correction.

When a new client comes through our doors with a multitude of goals, I quickly let them know that less is more. I explain that in order to achieve real fitness, a goal must be put in place based off of real numbers.

Here’s an example. A client is 200 pounds and wants to lose weight while gaining strength at the same time. In most cases, the coach will take measurements and agree that losing 20 pounds is a relatively allowable number for weight loss, and then says that within four to six months, the client should achieve their goals. WRONG. This example is based off of a generic timeline with no real goals. In this scenario, the client will reach absolute zero. Because the athlete ceases to see any progress, they typically will be back to their previous weight within a month of not going to the gym, and worse, they might lose all the strength they’ve gained in the process.

So, what does an example of a more proactive program, with absolute zero in mind look like? An athlete that is 200 pounds wants to lose weight and gain strength. They describe their goals to the personal trainer or coach and the coach then explains that a goal of 20 pounds for weight loss is an attainable amount of weight to lose but tells the athlete to focus on the strength cycle. As the coach prepares a tailored program for the athlete, he or she will develop a strength plan that is based on the goal weight for the client. This will do a few things; the weight loss will be slower and the strength gains will also be slower, but the risk of injury will also be exponentially lower, which is ideal for any athlete.

Besides the obvious, a lower risk of injury, what is the upside? By allowing the athlete to focus on technique at a lower weight, there will be HUGE long-term success. Why? Because absolute zero will be surpassed and true numbers (weight loss and strength gains) can be established, solidified and surpassed. The job of any coach is to help their client not just achieve a goal, but teach them how to maintain those goals. Having a program in place that allows them to slowly learn the process and allow their body to get used to the progress will set them up for success.

If we develop a program for the client based on the idea of indicated strength, which is the optimum strength goals for a person’s relative weight, the client will fail, repeatedly. Instead, let’s focus on the idea of brake strength, which takes into account a 20% loss due to lifestyle, and optimally achievable goals. This brake strength allows the coach and client to realize true potential and will allow the coach the ability to better help the client plan for long-term success. This type of programming gives the client attainable goals that will fit into the lifestyle of any athlete. More importantly, we’re not generalizing but instead creating a program suitable to that particular athlete since everyone is different.

Additionally, by recognizing absolute zero and how to plan a fail-safe system, the coach will see a longer retention rate. They will combat injuries, especially for injury prone athletes, and gain a true understanding of potential for the client as well as for the growth of the gym as a whole.

Now that we somewhat understand some of the terms spoken above, let’s use the idea of Absolute Zero, Indicated Strength and Brake Strength to formulate a year-long training regimen. If we take a 200-pound male who has a weight loss goal of 20 pounds, we will underestimate his starting strength numbers to begin at his goal weight of 180 pounds. Since he’s never lifted weights before, his first three months will be technique driven and his six-month strength goal will be based on his weight loss goal of 180 pounds.

Implementing this strategy will allow the athlete to achieve a brake strength, while continuing to work on technique all while achieving a steady and healthy weight loss. By the sixth month, the athlete has achieved ¾ of his weight loss goal and increased his strength proportionally. From months six to 12, the athlete has now developed a platform for a more progressive strength program which will allow him to continue increasing and possibly surpassing achievable strength goals at a weight of 180 pounds.

*View the PDF to See chart

If we look at the chart for Athlete A titled “Weight Loss Plan,” you can see that he has lost weight by month 3, but he has also reached Absolute Zero in respect to strength. As a result, the strength numbers continue to decline and weight gain starts to develop.  

However, if we now look at the chart for Athlete B, titled “Strength Plan,” you will see here that the coach focuses on an underestimated strength plan, based on a slower pace, and therefore more attainable, weight loss goal. By month eight, the athlete is a more balanced lifter as he will have reached a healthier weight, and his strength gains become exponential in months nine through 12. By the end of the first year, the athlete has a firm grasp on their weight loss plan, has surpassed their strength goals and has a newfound respect for the coach.