How Larry Emdur Dropped 13kg in 12 Weeks

Larry Emdur: 'My wife gets to sleep with a guy from Men's Health'

Closing in on his 50th birthday and 20th wedding anniversary, the exuberant co-host of Channel 7’s The Morning Show wanted to turn back time.

“I said to my wife, ‘For a present, I want to give you back the young, healthy guy that you married’,” says our Men's Health Celebrity Man winner, whose previous attempts at recapturing the svelte physique of his youth had invariably ended in frustration. Not this time. Brimming with motivation and teamed with celebrity trainer and Channel Seven colleague, PT Cameron Byrnes, Emdur torched 13kg in 12 weeks.

“I thought if I hit the gym with a great trainer and ate right, in a month I’d be set,” says Emdur. “That’s all it used to take. But to anyone out there around my age, you need to realise it won’t be that easy now. You’ve got to be more determined and enthusiastic than you’ve ever been before because it takes longer for things to shift. But you’ll get your reward. I actually just feel great! I’m exercising better than I ever have. I’m eating better. I’m sleeping better.”

“Larry had been training for years with an old-school mentality of loading up the weights, busting himself, recovering and going again,” Says Byrnes. “I turned him into a fat-burning machine by having him train more frequently and at a consistently elevated heart rate.”

Under such intense time constraints, Byrnes kept the programming simple, enabling the TV presenter to take to the program immediately. “He knew what was expected of him, which made the first sessions easier, but it also made him take ownership of it,” says Byrnes. “When he ran on Saturday, he knew that if he ran past a bench he’s cheating himself.”

While Larry’s program had to be fluid to fit in with his hectic work and family commitments, he also needed to recover quickly, which is why Byrnes designed the program around circuits and volume training, with maximum calories burned but recovery time significantly diminished compared to Larry’s former routines.
MORE: Read Larry's letter to the MH staff

Monday, Wednesday and Friday AM session
One hour weights circuit.
Chin-ups x 10
Push-ups x 10
Dips x 10
Crunches x 10

20 x bench press, superset with 20 crunches. Six sets.
15 x bicep curls, superset with dumbbell shoulder press. Six sets.
20 x crunches with elevated legs
20 x crunches with rotation at top of movement.
30 sec plank into maximum sit-ups with a medicine ball.

Afternoon spin sessions
Total time: 20 minutes
- Two minutes on bike at moderate to high intensity.
- 20 push-ups.
- One minute break.
- 20 crunches.
- One minute break.
- Two minutes on bike at moderate to high intensity.
- 20 air squats.
- One minute break.
- Two minutes on bike.
- 20 lunges.
- One minute break.
- 20 weighted dips.
Brynes says: “Breaks are ok and they rebuild that ATP, so you’re ready to go and can make each mini circuit the best it can possibly be.”

Thursday
One hour boxing circuit
Saturday
Run session
-Intervals. “Larry would do intervals along the coastal path from Bondi to Bronte and back (8km),” says Byrnes. “Every time we’d come to a park bench we’d do a series of sit-ups, push-ups, step-ups and lunges. After we’d finished we’d move on to the next bench at a moderate pace, which makes for a brutal way to end the week ahead of the Sunday rest day.”

Sunday
Rest

MORE: Meet your 2015 Men's Health Man

What Larry ate

• Protein with every meal: chicken, fish, red meat or a protein shake made with True Protein Whey Isolate to maintain muscle mass.

• Two moderate daily serves of slow-release carbs (brown rice, quinoa or sweet potato) to fuel training and recovery.

• Lots of vegies for low-kJ satiation.

GALLERY: Eight push-up routines to fill out your t-shirt