shedding stomach fat

skydigifan

I was wondering if somebody could tell me how to shed the fat around my stomach. Ive just started in the gym but am in reasonable shape except for 32-33 inch waist. Is there any particular exercises that will shed this fat,not too pressed bout gaining muscle yet,
thanks
gb

Jak

Abs work simply will not cut it for you.

You may increase muscle mass but if you are truly serious about shedding the belly you need to get some cardio training.

If you are doing nothing else, maybe try getting 2 40minute bike sessions a week at moderate intensity.

Cycling can help with the lower stomach and the cardio work should gradually cut the fat if you make the few usual blindingly obvious changes to your diet.

Check the sticky on this board for links to excercise guides and add in a 15minute ab session after your two bike sessions.

Gaz

Its pretty much agreed on that you cannot spot reduce

ie: loose weight in a specific region of your body, you have to loose body fat as a whole and thus loose the belly.

I recommend being more strict with your diet, im fairly new to the exercise and fitness thing but i have researched it quite alot.
If your going for the 6-pack look all the crunches in the world wont get rid of the fat , yes you will have abs of steel but you wont be able to see them as the layer of fat will stil be there.

A balanced diet is what you need.

If im wrong someone please correct me.

Jak

Also - keep your sessions shortish - and most importantly stick at it for more than 2 months.

Impatience is one of the biggest problems people suffer from.

Also put the effort in, when you are cycling you should be suffering a bit, thinking about quitting because it is too hard etc.

Training rewards effort - want faster gains? Work harder.

Also this beer belly thing was mentioned in 2 other merged posts




Link

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Jak

depends on his height now Dave

LFCFan

I'm 6' with a 36" waist. Started watching my diet 2 weeks ago and I've already lost 8 pounds just by eating sensibly.

Mr E

8lb in 2 weeks? Is that eating sensibly, or not eating at all?

Tell us more about your diet, LFCFan.... I wouldn't mind trying it. I'm 6ft tall, 16st (not incredibly overweight, but I do have a belly, and I'm very self conscious about it!). I'd love to get down to 15st.

- Dave.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

yellum

Ab work will give a better form to the stomach area and while not spot reducing might help to change the shape even with an extra few pounds hanging on.

LFCFan

Originally posted by TmB
8lb in 2 weeks? Is that eating sensibly, or not eating at all?

Tell us more about your diet, LFCFan.... I wouldn't mind trying it. I'm 6ft tall, 16st (not incredibly overweight, but I do have a belly, and I'm very self conscious about it!). I'd love to get down to 15st.

- Dave.

I'm eating better then ever. Just a bowl of cereal in the morning, sandwhich for lunch and a normal dinner. The way I look at it is, if your body needs say 2000 calories a day then you take in 1700. That way it get's the rest from your body fat. You just have to keep track of the calorie intake. It means you are still able to have the odd snack or treat and get away with it. I haven't been hungry once and at this stage I feel great. Also, you have to get exercise. If you can't get to the gym then go for a walk whenever you can. As long as you get some sort of exercise and eat sensibly you'll lose the weight.

alienhead

first, you gatta get your diet right, eat smaller meals more frequently rather large meals. strip the fat from your diet, drop your carb intake.

you will need to do at least 3 cardio sessions a week, if your just looking to loose the weight and not to worried about gaining muscle, keep your cardio intence, how about a spin class, i've never done it, but it looks like a good fat burner.

if your looking for shortcuts, you could try an ECA STACK, this worked for me, i'd advice doing some research online before going down this road, but i found it no problem.

remember, its easy to put it on, but a bitch to get rid of it.

skydigifan

thanks for the great advice guys, Ive upped my cardio workout to 3 times a week now and feel it is really making a difference, in reply to daveirl im 5foot 8inches

Mr E

ECA Stack looks interesting. Its not exactly 'natural' though... Must find out more about it.

Is it available in the chemist here, or do you have to order it online?

LFCFan

it's illegal in Ireland because Caffeine Tablets and Ephedrine is illegal here and they are the main ingredients. There are places you can order online though but how legal it is to import into Ireland is another story.

Jak

A lot of supplements are not considered "Natural" by some people but as long as you are avoiding anabolics you can generally consider yourself natural. At least that is my view.

I would suggest you research the area if you have an interest in it.

There will be no linking or direction here to any suppliers.

JAK.

flatjohnston

I have recently decided to do this also and what i have done is cut out all fried foods / sugars / and have radically cut down on me alcohol consumption so now i only drink mebbe 1 nite a week - added to this i don't eat after 6 o'clock unless it is some fruit and i do 20 mins on a bike every day aswell as 200 situps and i have noticed the difference within 2 weeks - i reckon if i keep this up for another 3-4 weeks it should be shed completely

Gaz

Id recommend against 200 situps ...try 3 sets of bicycle crunches , 15-20 reps each (left knee to right elbow ...etc )

alienhead

flatjohnston

i uesd to do a **** load of situps, as Darth Homer suggests, bring ur reps right down.

get a swiss ball and do some crunches on that, your abs will be burning after 30.

technique is the key.

flatjohnston

yeah i think ill change and do that lads and c if it works

cheers

Jak

4 sets of 50 on a swiss ball is not really too many to be honest.

With correct technique it is fairly hard to injure yourself with ab work. Get your technique set and push yourself.

alienhead

4 sets of 50!

are you bracing a wall with your feet when doing this?, maybe your technique is different, but 1 do 3 sets of 30, this is after 3 sets of 30 cable crunches.

Jak

I'm doing regular ab crunches on a swiss ball feet on the floor etc ... but my program is a little more structured than just 4 sets of 50 or 3 sets of 30 or whatever.

In any case all this will vary depending on your level, but abs are often let off lightly by people. There is a level of numbness you achieve if you push on through the initial pain from the effort.

Ab technique is generally simple - as long as you keep the form together, push yourself toward failure. I find this to be the best approach to this muscle group.

Washout

what about those roller cage looking things like the "tummy trimmer"?

Benbaz

Just on the comment of 200 sit ups being too much. I personally don't think it is. After each weights session I would always do 180 sit ups consisting of, and forgive my lact of correct terminology, 20 normal crunches, 20 sit ups to my left and 20 to my right. And I'd do 3 sets, all on the ball. (is it called the "Swiss Ball"?)
And the way I see it, if I can do that many absolutely anyone can!!! The trick of course is to build up to it.

B.