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2005/07/08, 04:51 PM
I see this question more frequently than any other on this board. I get more IMs about it than any other type.
Question:
How do I lose bellyfat? How do I get great abs.
Here's the answer kiddies.
I will assume that you are lifting,drinking ample water, cardioing and eating clean with the proper ratio of protein/carbs/fat. If so the there is only one way to lose the fat.
Write down every bite you eat and eat the same amount of calories each day for 2 weeks. If your weight stays stable, then for the next two weeks you need to reduce calories by 250 per day.
Ex. 1st 2 weeks lets say you eat 3500 cals per day.
For the next 2 weeks eat 3250.
Then do it again... every two weeks. You do NOT want to stop lifting. Building muscle is the fastest way to burn fat.
Are you eating enough?? If you eat too little, your body will naturally hold on to fat.
Are you eating 5 or 6 meals a day ?? This lets your body know its going to be fed regularly and causes it to let go of fat.
We bought a book called "Sugar Busters" which is very enlightening as to how much sugar is in natural foods. For instance, corn is loaded with sugars. Eat it sparingly. Whole grain rice is lower in sugar than processed white rice. The book or other sound research will help you figure this stuff out.
Educate yourself about fats. Fat from red meat is much worse than fats from fish. If you're getting your daily percentage of fat from processed food containing transfats, you will never lise the middle. Again research.
Bottom line is you have to keep a very precise track of your food intake and adjust it downward about every two weeks. I know it's frustrating but great abs are made in the kitchen. Analyze your diet, adjust it and eat with a rigid discipline. The fat will lose the battle eventually.
Adding resistance to your abs work will build them and give them definition. You may have the greatest six pack in the world but unless you lose the fat with proper precise diet, nobody's ever gonna see them.
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Sometimes life is as easy as herding cats.
Charlie
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2005/07/08, 04:57 PM
Thanks Charlie!!!
Where did you get that book?
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2005/07/08, 05:00 PM
Used bookstore, but I'm sure you could google one up online or any big bookstore.
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Sometimes life is as easy as herding cats.
Charlie
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2005/07/08, 05:01 PM
another great book is "the abs diet" by david zinczenko. its not as involved as diets like the zone or atkins, which require precise measurements and durastic diet changes, etc. however it does outline the basics as to what to eat and what to avoid. personally, i find it hard to track every calorie i eat minus the energy i expend in a day, etc. so following a healthy eating plan is more the road for me.
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2005/07/09, 05:28 PM
I just received my book the abs diet and it is very informative and is now how I eat. It actually makes sense. I would suggest it to anyone that is looking at eating healthy.
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2005/07/09, 05:32 PM
I would suggest that the best exercise for abs is the table press. Thats when your in a seated position, in front of a plate (not a 45lb plate), and you proceed to push yourself away from the table early.
Can we sticky this???
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2005/07/09, 05:33 PM
My bad, already sticky. Just shows ya how our mods are always one step ahead.
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2005/07/09, 05:37 PM
The Abs Diet isn't actually a diet it is basically sensible eating. The whole thing with the words abs and diet in the title is that each letter of the name is a food or food group. A is almonds and nuts, B is beans, S is spinach and other greens, etc. Its just a play of words, you can read about it at www.absdiet.com
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2005/07/11, 01:00 PM
Bropie, I long ago quit counting calories daily. Really good point. Once you have a feel for your daily calories you can do it in your head. I also have quit trying to have ripped abs. The sacrifices you have to make diet-wise are just too great to suit me. I settle for a flat stomach that has just a hint of abs showing. I love doing the exercises that produce great abs but alas I am not willing to to the really hard diet work. The theory is the same though. Great diet = great abs.
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Quoting from bropie:
another great book is "the abs diet" by david zinczenko. its not as involved as diets like the zone or atkins, which require precise measurements and durastic diet changes, etc. however it does outline the basics as to what to eat and what to avoid. personally, i find it hard to track every calorie i eat minus the energy i expend in a day, etc. so following a healthy eating plan is more the road for me.
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Sometimes life is as easy as herding cats.
Charlie
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2005/07/12, 09:04 PM
I also don't go for the ripped abs anymore because of how stricked you have to be with your diet. When I started to go for the abs and had to be careful with the food I had to eat I just wasn't as happy as when I was just eating heathy to maintain my muscle.
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2005/07/13, 07:58 PM
Charlie, I would like to add something to your post if you don't mind.
I have learned a lot here at FT. For some people just starting out who don't know what to do or figure out how many grams of this are in that....go to www.atkins.com
Now before the atkins haters yell at me :big_smile: hear me out. Go to the main page and then click on any of the options across the screen (ie. the food and recipes tab) on the left hand side of the screen there will be a box that says My Atkins in it. Look in that box and there is a carb counter. You can download and print this out.
It doesn't just count carbs. It gives you a serving size, carbs, fiber carbs, fat, protein and calories.
I have found it very helpful in the beginning stages of a diet. It has so much listed on it. How accurate is it? I think it's pretty accurate so far.
I by no means agree with the Atkin's Diet since joining FT and spending some time 'learning' so to speak. I knew there was this list there so I went and got it. I would just copy and paste it, but it's 9 pages printed on paper.
So check it out, and let me know what you think...I hope this helps:big_smile:
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Kristi
There are no endings, only new beginnings
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2005/07/13, 08:04 PM
Oh and one more thing. I am not saying you can eat all the foods on this list. I don't know if they would 'ALL' make it on the 'Healty Eating' shopping list.
I just thought it's a good reference and it covers a lot of foods we should be eating....
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2005/07/14, 11:22 AM
K, add all you want. I agree there is a lot of knowlege to be gained and used from the Adkins book. Most people don't bother to read it. I'm amazed when I tell people that Adkins recommends increasing carbs as the diet progresses and it even states the athletes and others who train need carbs over and above what their guidelines provide.
I hope folks will continue to add the books and websites that they've used to help educate themselves through the minefield of proper diet.
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Sometimes life is as easy as herding cats.
Charlie
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2005/07/18, 05:18 PM
Okay, that was absoultely wonderful information, thanks for being so helpful. Although, I'm not looking to work on my abs. For sme reason I dont have to do much to keep my bellyfat minimal, and my stomach pretty in shape. I'm not overweight but I do need to get my lower body, especially my upper theighs and butt tighter and in better shape. Do you think you could give me the kind of information you gave on the abs, about upper theighs and butt? I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks,
June Amber
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2005/07/18, 05:47 PM
June, the answer is still the same. Fay accumulates differently on everybody. It comes off differently on everybody as well. Somebody with excess fat around the middle has to do exactly the same as someone like you who collects it on their thighs like you. Exercise your whole body and build as much muscle as you can. Find your masintainance calorie amount and adjust it downward as needed. You can not for instance do leg and butt exercises in greater proportion and expect to lose weight in those areas. In other words you can't spot reduce. You have to let the fat come off the way your genes dictate. Make sense??
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Sometimes life is as easy as herding cats.
Charlie
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2005/07/20, 10:50 AM
ok im sorry i worded my question wrong. I know it' sstill the same to lose weight, but I dont need to lose weight. It's notthat my upper theighs and butt are overweight, i just want them to be in better shape, tighter and more muscular...so I guess really what I need to know is what excercises I should do. I keep hearing and reading that sqyats and lunges help but I want more detail, like how many, how often and honestly i dont know what a lunge is. I mean I'm sure I do just don;t know what that it's called a lunge ya know? Anyway, sorry bout that. If you could answer this one more question i'd really apreciate it.
Thanks,
June Amber
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2005/07/20, 11:00 AM
Jacs, it sounds like you're new to working out. You may want to try the FT "weight loss and definition" routine. After you set it up you can double click on each exercise movement and a description and photo will pop up. The routine will also tell you how many reps and sets to do. Start out with light weights and get your form perfected. Then add the weight. Also you can go to health resources at the top of the main page, then click on fitness resources. There is a description there of each exercise for each muscle group. It's also interesting reading. Hope this helps. Keep asking questions. There's no other way to learn and believe me, there are 20 other people out there wondering the same thing.
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Sometimes life is as easy as herding cats.
Charlie
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2005/08/13, 08:01 PM
just eat organic and don't eat to much
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2005/08/24, 06:36 AM
Thanks, That made me see my goals in a whole new light.
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2006/01/10, 01:39 PM
I'm going to just post this hear, and then reference back to this thread whenever this question comes up again.
The abs are one of your phasic muscle groups. They are primarily comprised of type II muscle fibers. These fibers are fast twitch, and respond best to faster or more powerful contractions. In order to achieve these contractions, you must increase the intensity, through adding resistance to your abdominal training.
You constantly use a rep range of 8-12 for your biceps, and 6-10 for your chest. So then why would you do 100 crunches in a set?
Your abs are like any other muscle group. They need sets of 10, 8, 5's, and even triples. Add the weight, cut the repetitions.
Also, the abs are best worked through a 15 degree angle of spinal flexion. This means that tools like swiss balls and medicine balls are very beneficial tools.
Some of my favorite abdominal exercises: overhead squat, full contact twist, decline weighted sit up, standing cable crunch, weighted swiss ball crunch, lying roman twist.
Follow the diet advice already given.
You will never see your abdominal muscles without a low bf%.
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Pain is only temporary, it is in your mind. If you can still walk, then you can still run.
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Quoting from 7707mutt:
The squat cage is holy ground.
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2006/02/03, 08:37 AM
Thanks Charlie. You answered my question! Thats my only problem right now...my belly fat. I am looking into getting that book, I found it on ebay actually. Does it give sample diets too? I workout 6 days a week, to the fullest intensity. I switch it up a lot too, so Im not doing the same workout all the time. I have seem to hit a plateau in my weight, and im not happy. i was lifting a lot, and i got kinda "big", so i uped my cardio and cut my lifting to a minimum. i think its my diet thats the problem, i dont eat enough. now, one more question...when lifting weights, my goal is to just be toned and defined...should i lift big weight with small reps, or high reps with small weight?
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2006/03/28, 01:49 AM
Figured I would post this here after going through all the trouble of typing it.
Take a guy that squats 275*5, will prob be able to cable crunch 150 max.
Work = force * distance.
Squat = 275lbs*2.2(Conversion to kilos)*9.8(gravitational constant) * 1 meter ROM * 5 repetitions.
Crunch = 150/2(cable)*2.2*9.8*.3meters.
Squat = 29645 newton meters (joules)
Crunch = 485.1 joules.
I wonder what burns more calories.
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Iron and chalk.
Pain is only temporary, it is in your mind. If you can still walk, then you can still run.
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2006/04/24, 04:56 PM
Bump
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Less Talk, More Chalk!
The Men and Boys are Separated by one thing: The Squat Cage!
7707mutt@freetrainers.com
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