by Ellington Darden, Ph.D.
MB Medaera, M.D., is a 45-year-old neurosurgeon and he's married to a critical care surgeon. Besides dynamic medical careers, they are parents of four boys: ages 13, 10, 9, and 6. I met MB six years ago, when we both lived in the same neighborhood and our sons played together.
MB was a multiple-sport athlete in high school and college and continues to play ice hockey competitively in a league here in Orlando, Florida. He has strength trained on and off for more than 25 years and — between his surgeries, office, and family responsibilities — we've often talked about what's going on in the sports/fitness world. Because of his neurological experiences and his parenting skills, he seems to have a different take on many contributing factors involved in winning and losing.
My maverick practices in strength and conditioning, combined with MB's unique perspectives, make our ongoing discussions meaningful to both of us.
It was no wonder when MB came by my house on March 23, 2008, with his oldest son, Chris, to retrieve his youngest son, who had been playing all afternoon with my boy, that I challenged MB and Chris to try my latest arm workout.
They accepted the challenge and I trained them both, first MB and then Chris — and guess what? Not only did they endure, they both commented afterward that their arms had . . . never before felt so pumped.
I was pleased the next day when I received an e-mail from MB stating that he and Chris wanted to sign-up for my Intensive-Coaching plan. Seems they both had a goal: Chris, to get into his best-possible shape for football in August; and MB, to achieve his personal-best physique by the end of summer.
What a great opportunity, I thought, to pursue a father-son commitment — not only for our benefit, but also for the readers of my Web site.
Below is a brief look at the BEFORE measurements, photos, and goals of MB and Chris Medaera.
One of Dr. MB Medaera's goals is to lose
4 inches off his waist.
When this photo was taken, MB Medaera, 45, was 6' tall and weighed 196 pounds. As you can see, MB is fairly well developed with 15-inch upper arms and 25-inch thighs. His problem area — like so many men his age — was his waistline. At the navel level, where his love handles peak, the tape measure recorded a circumference of 38-1/2 inches.
MB's percent body fat was 22.4 — so both of us felt he could lose 15 pounds of fat, which was our initial objective.
He immediately began an eating plan similar to that presented in my book, "A Flat Stomach ASAP." For the first two weeks, 1500 calories a day was his motto, along with strength training two days per week.
Chris Medaera wants to add solid muscle
to his 13-year-old body.
MB Medaera's 13-year-old son, Chris, needs to gain significant muscular weight so he can play better football this coming season. When his BEFORE shot was taken, he was 5'8" tall and weighed 143.5 pounds. He was very lean at 5.1 percent body fat.
What Chris requires are bigger, stronger muscles throughout his body. I instructed him to eat approximately 3,000 calories a day — and we decided to strength train twice a week. Plus, it was a must that Chris gets 10 hours of muscle-building sleep each night.
Chris's goal is to add 10 pounds of muscle to his maturing body — on or before August 1, 2008.
Twelve days and four workouts after their BEFORE pictures, MB asked my son, Tyler, and me to join him and his family for some tubing, wake surfing, and waterskiing on their boat at Lake Louise. Interestingly, I had just taken some follow-up measurements of MB and Chris on April 19th.
MB had already dropped 7 pounds, from 196 to 189, and his body-fat measurements (from 22.4% to 19.7%) revealed that his weight loss was entirely fat.
Chris, on the other hand, increased his body weight from 143.5 to 147 — for a muscular gain of 3.5 pounds.
Check out the April 20th photos that I took of MB and Chris wake surfing behind the Medaera boat. Muscular definition is clearly emerging in their arms and shoulders. And note the thighs on MB.
I expect MB and Chris to make steady progress toward their goals — and part of my job is to keep them focused.
Watch for ongoing reports.
Chris surfs a wake with some newly added muscle on his
upper body.
MB, with his athletic skills, should be a contestant
on Surfing with the Stars.
