Success Story: Client Spotlight on Tim Lucey
August 21st 2011
Tim Lucey is a very busy professional. He works long hours as a Senior Consultant for Forward Slope Inc., and he’s also a volunteer for The Turning Point Home, serving as Vice-President of the Board of Directors and leading fundraising efforts for this residential recovery home that supports women alcoholics in achieving long-term sobriety. So like many people, Tim’s a busy guy. I started working with Tim a few years back when he added kettlebells as an adjunct to his rugby training. He’s active in the Men’s Rugby Open Division playing for OMBAC, so if you see him at Ruggerfest in Aspen, stop and say “Hi.” When Tim and I first started kettlebell training, he weighed in at about 270 lbs. While he got stronger with the kettlebells, the weight wasn’t really coming down, which was one of his goals. Tim got busy with life and the training trickled down and we lost touch for a while. Fast forward a couple years and we reconnected. We started training again with a new focus of using the Bulgarian Bag as a way to increase his muscle endurance, movement ability, and overall body awareness for not only himself, but for increases in his rugby performance. Tim believes the core strength conditioning has been critical for injury prevention in this fast paced, high impact sport. I had been telling Tim, even a few years ago, of the power of nutrition and food to really meet his training goals. Finally, something clicked. Like many people, Tim understood the reality that in order to perform at the levels he wanted, he’d have to lose the weight. “What clicked was my slow pace of playing when playing a full match and the need for greater aerobic capacity revealed by my kettlebell sessions.” But again, like many people, he failed to understand and accept that it really does matter what you put in your mouth… until now. Refueled with revitalized motivation and a great nutrition plan, Tim set forth to really make a difference in his mental and physical efforts.
“As a Rugby player I can attest to the ‘keener sense of movement based reaction’ one of the many benefits of consistent Bulgarian Bag training and after 8 months I have just scratched the surface. It is indeed a game changer.” ~ Tim
So what effect has Bulgarian Bag training had on Tim’s weight loss? Did Bulgarian Bag training contribute to the accelerated drop in weight? Yes! The training put Tim in the right mindset. “And when I finally addressed the nutrition component, I was a fat burning machine thanks to the foundation I had built during the previous months with Steve.” Tim understood that Bulgarian Bag training could be a dynamic and physically and mentally demanding workout. He wanted to progress and get better in order to pass the spin test, which is the milestone of being Bag Fit. So just to put this into perspective, the spin test is one of the physical performance evaluations required in order to pass the Bulgarian Bag Specialist (BBS) Certification. The Certification course attracts young and active fitness professionals, and they don’t always pass the spin test on their first attempt. Tim, on the other hand, is 57 years old. He’s not a trainer. But he’s an active rugby athlete. Tim is passionate about his performance and age wasn’t going to stop him from achieving his physical goals. This past May, Tim realized that his weight was probably the key limiting factor for him progressing to the next level – not only with his physical health – but with passing the spin test. So the reason that Bulgarian Bag training helped Tim lose the weight is based on evidence of him using the Bulgarian Bag at a heavier body weight and experiencing increases in his rugby performance that he had not seen before – not even with kettlebells. Tim isn’t new to rugby, he’s been playing for years, in fact, “I played my first match during the Nixon Administration.” So integration of the Bulgarian Bag and his marked performance increases, even at a heavier body weight, made him realize, “Wow! Imagine how much better I could perform if I was at an optimal weight!” In May, Tim started on a journey to get serious about dropping the excess weight. He knew that it was all in his food, but the Bulgarian Bag provided the missing impetus for him to focus on his goal of passing the spin test by the end of August. So on August 20th, Tim conquered the spin test, “I am looking forward to another season with OMBAC and can’t wait to see how far I can take my performance as a light weight.” The results:
- Body Weight: 225 lbs.
- Spin Test Time: 3:25
Congratulations! We now call him “Slim” Lucey.
Great job! As a 46 year old I found out right away that spin test is indeed a mountain to climb. What were the key exercises using the bag that lead to the most gains? What was the nutrition plan that when combined with the bag lead to the burning fat loss machine?
Spin test protocol of course – my difficulty was with the push-ups so Steve had me work on chest and arms etc – made a lot of progress in the last 3 weeks. And working on correct form with the bag was also a key factor in my improvement – still working on that of course as form becomes more critical as I move up in bag size. I also do a lot of kettle bells and dynamic stretching.
I changed the way I eat, eliminated all sugar; most carbs through beans, lentils, veggies and fruit – no bread, pasta or grains for now. Good protein etc.
Awesome brother Tim – shooot – looks like you are growing more hair too !!!
Great job Tim. I have seen your improvement over the last year. I w3ant you on my team.
Inspiring! Knowing you in the office environment would not have guessed about this other side of you. Great job and congratulations on your gains!
Hey “Slim”, So proud of you!!! It was great to watch your hard work pay off over the past year.