abs and back

[cloudhands]

i'd like to ask you guys for some advice
i work out fairly often , 4-5 days a week 3-5 hours a day and i just cant seem to get this tire off from around my waist. i was hoping to get some advice on different excircises for the waist,lower back and hips.

[Mr. Nemo]

The problem probably lies in your diet, not your exercise. If you want to get rid of a spare tire, exercises that specifically target the stomach, back, or hips are not going to do you any more good than exercises that target the arms, legs, or whatever.

Exercises that target the abs will not necessarily burn fat around the stomach - the areas that fat collect are determined by your physiology, not your exercise routine. The idea of "spot reduction" - that is, that doing situps will burn fat around the stomach, while pushups will burn fat around the arms and chest - is a common pop fitness myth found in a thousand different ab machine infomercials.

The "spare tire" area is the first place for excess fat to show up and the last place it leaves (if you're a man at least), regardless of what body parts your exercise routines target.

[Kumkuat]

In case you wanted a second opinion. No amount of waist exercises will make it lose that fat. The only way is to expend more calories then you take in. So eat less and maintain your exercise. And yes, that is the last place to go. I know friend of mine who complained about that last bit of spare tire even after he lost 20 pounds. You could see his abs quite fine near the top then the fat covered his last part of his 6 pack near the bottom.

[IronFist]

And if you wanted a third opinion, it's diet :)

Iron

[Johnny Hot Shot]

Healthy Diet, Cardio, cardio ,cardio. Drink Buckets of water and do ab work everyday.

[rubthebuddha]

diet first.

then, if you want to make changes to your workout, use BIG muscles more. working a bicep lotsa may impress the cuties down at the beach, but it won't do sh!t for your weight, as the bicep is generally a small muscle. instead? use the big muscles, mainly those in your legs and butt. go for a hard jog or, better yet, hit the hills and have a vigorous hike. the idea is to burn calories, period, and a bicep only burns so much. a quadricep or gluteal? much stouter. just fueling these larger muscles is great for you. even better? use them more in a good, long workout

not much of a jogger? then go rowing. you can get your back VERY strong by rowing, and muscles like your lats are great for impressing the ladies, flying and showing movies on your back.

still not tickling your pickle? ride your darn bike.

still nothing? then you're just too **** picky.

now go fix your diet. and drink more water!

[IronFist]

i've heard jumping rope burns 3x as many calories as running...

Dunno if it's true or not.

Iron

[Ford Prefect]

Iron,

Like everything it depends on intensity. I used to have a chart for comparing jump rope to jogging. (ie 70 rpm's = 6 mph) I think it's on my old computer at home which is stuffed in a closet though.

[Brett Again]

Trying to lose fat from one spot on the body is like trying to empty the water from one end of the swimming pool. "It just don't work that way."

Diet, diet, diet. You may up your cardio if you are so inclined, but its doubtful you need to based on what you've said. Possibly even counter productive, because as you start burning fat you may experience a generalized sense of fatigue until your body adjusts.

Sounds like you need to cut your simple carbs. The problem with your current diet is that it is providing what your body needs, plus something your body doesn't -- an excess of carbohydrates. Your body stores these as fat until such time as they are needed. You need to cut carbs until there is a daily "fuel" deficit causing your body to burn these fat reserves.

1. Remove the following items completely from your diet and check out result in one month:
-Bread
-Anything with sugar, (aka sucrose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup) including drinks.
-Any potato product other than real potatoes
-Pasta
-Pretzels (or any other flour based snack food)

2. Eat nothing after 8PM.

3. Drink your weight in oz. of water every day.

For most people this will be sufficient.

I'm reminded of a guy in my classes. He works out ferociously every day. Does a bjillion situps and leglifts but still has a big ass and big belly. Doesn't understand it. Of course, at 9PM every night after class he goes out for wings or pizza and beer, then skips breakfast "to lose weight" and heads to Burger King for lunch. Duh!!!

[hkphooey]

ok...so...obviously "diet" is the big winner. and i'd had to agree.

i'm worried, however, about the "4-5 days a week, 3-5 hours a day". i don't know what "working out" is to you, but if you're doing anything near the intensity I use when i work out, then i can't imagine how you do it. it seems a little excessive. but then again, it depends upon your definition. i think i use a strict definition of "working out". i don't include MA practice necessarily.

i bring this up because i have to wonder what your body's response to this is. perhaps it's hoarding a little.

[Kumkuat]

without all those stuff, you will have no energy to do anything. You still need fiber and complex carbs. Why no eating after 8PM? Oh yeah, studies show that interval training burns more fat.

[Brett Again]

without all those stuff, you will have no energy to do anything. You still need fiber and complex carbs.

Yes, I agree one hundred percent. Except none of the items I mentioned contain significant fiber or complex carbs.

Bread, pasta, processed flour products in general will provide you simple carbs. If it is not burned almost immediately, it will be stored as fat. And sugar (sucrose, fructose) is just poison that will make you fat and after the initial buzz make you tired and lothargic for hours. It's also addictive. (The "sweet tooth" is a scientific fact.)

Pasta and bread will also tend to make you dozy an hour to two after eating. (Ever notice how sleepy you get at work around 3PM? What did you have for lunch? Sandwich? Pizza?)

Complex carbs = whole grain brown rice, fruits, vegetables, legumes, old fashioined oatmeal. Almost anything that grows is a complex carb... provided you eat it in the form it grows in.

Am I saying you can't lose weight and eat the things I mentioned above? No. (except maybe for the sugary drinks.) But it makes it WAY harder and you need to cut your intake severely. By eliminating the things I've listed I would be willing to bet you can eat MORE and lose weight, because you won't be eating things that work directly against you.

As an example, personally, I eat like a pig. Stuff myself. For lunch today I will have a chicken breast, a cup of rice, a whole tomato, a whole zuchini, a bunch of broccolli, a half a cucumber. (This all goes in to a stir fry recipe with spices and stuff.) It's a huge meal, with little fat, no cholestrol, and almost no simple carbs. It is high energy, tasty, filling, and will tell my body to burn stored fat rather than storing more.



Why no eating after 8PM?
Studies have shown that when you go to sleep with a very full belly of undigested food more of it will be stored as fat since your body is in shut down mode. It has to do with chemicals and enzymes produced during waking/active hours vs. those produced during inactive/sleeping hours. I don't remember all the exact science, but it's a fairly widely excepted truism in the weightloss world.