Now if memory serves from last season...the contestants still in play (as it were) stayed at the ranch in Malibu until they were down to the final 3 contestants (Gary, Ryan, Kelly) and then after Mo's elimination they all had to leave and come back for the final episode which took place in January. Which means, we're more or less at a halfway point - since 11 weeks doesn't divide really easily, however that would mean the halfway point is at 8:30 pm next Tuesday. But let's not quibble about semantics

ANYWAY...

basically I thought it might be neat to start a halfway point thread on the show for this season.

Not just personalities - but which trainer do you think is doing the best job? Bob or Jillian? Would training under another woman made the Blue Team a more cohesive unit? For example...I thought of that scene a couple or three weeks ago with Suzy breaking down in tears and Bob's pep talk; what would the result have been if Jillian had been the trainer instead? Even with the fact that we are only seeing a microscopic portion of their workouts which lasted 3 hours a day, still it seems to me that the guys are working out a LOT harder than the gals. I don't expect that the producers are filming every single MINUTE of every workout daily (which would add up to what I would figure to be 18 hours worth of footage each week...whew!!!). But still...of course maybe it's just me, because unless I'm working with a trainer I don't want to chat during my workouts - especially during cardio. The guys just seem to be working out with a LOT more intensity - of course they have Matt as one of the leaders driving them on!

I really think Bob has to stop being so nice and start kicking some Blue butt...of course I'm sure he's a great trainer otherwise he wouldn't be on the show - but personally I think Jillian's style is more condusive to a team-type effort - that drill sergant at Boot Camp thing going on. Bob is more of a one-on-one type of trainer, or at least he strikes me as that type. I have seen him push and almost look frustrated (or maybe it's just the way I'M looking at it!) with the lack of effort the girls are giving him - they might THINK they're giving him their all but if they're just on the machines chatting away then how could they do that...anyway...

Opening up the floor for comments at the halftime game point (well APPROXIMATELY...)

I'd personally rather be training under Jillian. I think the drill instructor would make me work harder. And her strategy of being the hard a$$ kind of forces the group to be more cohesive (they have a common "enemy" - which is why boot camp works so well for our soldiers). I also thought it seemed that the men were getting harder workouts than the women. I wonder what their regular daily regemin is like - how much cardio, weight training; how much of the cardio is high intensity; do they do interval training or just go for the long haul, etc.
I think all of the losses are very impressive - for the women to still be losing 5 lbs. each a week is incredible to me, as I am lucky now to lose 1 pound every 2 weeks or so. The men's losses, of course, floor me week after week.

Jillian's approach seems to get faster results, she pushes them hard and the men are very focused and responding well. I believe her method of eating is MUCH more strict (eat less diet vs. eat more diet) than Bob's an especially with the men (who lose faster anyway) this is showing up in the big numbers. Last year's winner Ryan was a Red Team member

Everyone says Bob is very "Zen-like" Last year's Gary and Andrea were Blue team members....BUT i think Bob's approach is geared for long-term keep the pounds off and changing the mindset. I've seen him push, but he doesn't YELL at his group, he seems to have more respect for them as people.

If it were Men against Women, I would like to see the trainers switched to compare wt. loss results......

(I can speculate forever.......)

I like marbleflys thinking. I agree that bob's training seems to be geared more toward the long haul and less toward the short-term results. He seems to have mellowed out more this season because I remember last season where he would step up and yell at his team to push them further.

As for results, definitely Jillian is doing better but how much of that is also Matt.

Have you also thought of the competitiveness of the men vs. women. I read somewhere about an interview with Jeff Probst from survivor (I'll see if I can find it) and him commenting on how men tend to be more competitive than women anyway but not always.

Don't get me wrong - I think that even the best, and/or most aggressive and motiviated trainer in the WORLD isn't going to get some people to push out of their comfort zones - take Jillian's struggle with Nick for example. By the last show she could have lit a stick of TNT under his glutes and he wouldn't have 'pushed it'. I think at that point, he figured that he just DIDN'T FEEL LIKE DOING THIS ANYMORE and he was just going to be as big an ******* as possible before he was given the boot. IMO.

But I've seen people at gyms working with trainers before - you get the impression by their actions that they expect the trainer to do ALL THE WORK FOR THEM and they'll just magically get buff, like those old 'reducing machines' at the Gloria Marshall salons of the 1950's-1970's. (YES I REMEMBER THEM!! )

I think Jen is totally motivated - she trains like the guys do and that is one of the reasons she's doing well IMO. When they've shown her, she's PUSHING IT.

Ah well maybe next week the girls will light a fire under their butts.

Good morning....

Mrs.Jim:

Have you seen the new reality series on FITTV called "The Gym" yet? (it takes place in Calif. but i can't remember where) I found it very interesting. They will probably show reruns of the first episode over the weekend.

I'd love to have the trainers get switched at the halfway point and see how the teams handle a new trainer!

In this type of setting I think they need a trainer like Jillian... Bob seems to be too much of a softee...

BUT for myself I would freakin' KILL Jillian, or anyone else, if she screamed at me and belittled me... But she probably wouldn't scream because I CAN push myself . I would prefer someone like Bob...

That would be a very cool twist to the show

I think Bob is doing a great job of keeping the girls motivated and in the game with their heads on straight even though they have been losing. That has to make the job tougher. Seems like he would have more patience to deal with all the crying. I know I couldn't handle it.

As far as who is working out harder, hard to tell with the limited time shown but I do think the red team is working out harder. But I also think that has to do with the contestants personalities rather than the trainers.

Hmm...if I had to pick I think I would go with Jillian. After all they are on the BL to kick some butt and lose as much weight as possible. So why not a kicking your butt kind of trainer? Plus, I tend to respond well to that.