I should be toned by now

[Nex]

Ok here we go,

 

I developed a gut about a year and a half ago, and it drives me nuts. About 4 months ago, I decided to get real serious about changing this minor, yet defeating issue. To get to the point, I'll summarize my actions thoughout the last month, and if possible, point out what I'm doing wrong.

I do cardio about 4 times a day.

Typically I bike to work (10 miles there and back) total of 45 minutes

I work out approx 4 times a week and make sure that I rip muscles, and then supplement them with about 150/200g of protein a day. (I weigh 205)

My diet consists of skim milk, skim cheese, low calorie meals and about five meals a day, (not always the smallest meals). I seldom eat chips, never mcdonalds or any food like that

This is a glimpse of my attempts to lose the weight, and im getting so depressed, as nothing has changed. Im super tall 6 6' and hate my protruding gut. I sweat nuff when I work out and have developed much muscle, which makes me wonder if im "skinny" anymore. But the added muscle hasnt helped burn this fat

why do I still have this gut?

PLEASE PLEASE troubleshoot my body!!

[gogol]

have you been doing ab exercises?

 

the best way to loose fat on your legs is to do leg exercises...

the best way to loose fat on your stomach is to do ab exercises

[abcd1234]

Personally, i would cut the milk and cheese out of the diet as much i can but not altogether. Try to have a balanced and nutritional diet, do a bit of searching online and you will easily find out more about this kind of thing.

 

As gogol said above, ab exercises are important.

 

Try out rowing machines at your local gym, they work very well as an all-over body workout (thighs, calves, forearms, triceps, biceps, abs, back, hamstrings etc.)

 

Try doing a more varied work out, bike to work but also sometimes catch a bus and get off halfway and jog the rest or do a speed walk for some of it.

 

I myself do the following for cardio 3 times a week:

35 mins stationary bike

25 mins rowing machine

25 mins air stepper

 

I also do weights in the gym 3 times a week (alternate days to cardio workout) and do ab exercises at home.

 

I hope this helps you out.

abcd1234

[EmmaB]

gogol can u say some of the leg and stomache exercises please?? thnx a tun!!!

 

xxx emma xxx

[abcd1234]

Hi Emma*B,

 

Legs:

-leg extensions

-hamstring curls

-calf raises

-ride a bike

-running

-rowing machine.

 

Abs (there are loads, these are just a few):

-Leg raises

-Sit ups

-V-ups

-Sit up twists

-Waist twists

-Stetching exercises for the stomach can help to strengthen

-Crunches

-Reverse crunches

 

If you need explanations then dont hesitate to ask!

abcd1234

[abcd1234]

Ok here we go, if you dont understand some of these them please let me know so that i can make them clear!

 

Leg raises:

Just as they sound

1. lie on your back on the floor

2. place your hands at your sides or around your tailbone to support it

3. Raise your feet and legs to about 20cm from the floor

4. raise them to a high position for a few seconds and then return to the lower position.

 

*They can put a lot of strain on the abs so you may want to put your feet on the floor after each raise*

 

Situps:

1. Sit on floor with knees bend up towards the chest and feet flat on floor

2. lie back and place hands in a confortable position (accross chest or on temples is usually good)

3. Sit up slowly and evenly

4. Return torso to floor gently

 

V-ups:

Similar to situps but legs are raised into the air as well, hard to balance so you are probably best leaving them until you are used to the other exercises.

 

Sit up twists:

Like sit ups but elbows meet with the opposite knees (i.e. left elbow goes to touch right knee)

 

Waist twists:

Very little strain, more of a stretching exercise. Can be done sitting of standing.

1. Place hands on hips of in a raised but comfortable position above the waistline.

2. Turn the whole of the upperbody and the head in usison to the left.

3. Return to the center and then do the same to the right.

 

Stetching exercises can be found online easily or from an experienced person such as a teacher or gym instructor.

 

Crunches:

Similar to situps exept the whole of the upper torso is not raised, try to just move the areas above your abs off of the floor and only raise slightly. Dont return all the way back down to the floor, this will keep your abs constantly tensed.

 

Reverse crunches:

1. Upper body stays on floor, the legs are what are raised in this exercise.

2. Keep arms on floor for balance.

3. Keep legs bent

4. Raise knees to a confortable position in the air somewhere above the torso, Make sure most of the lower body comes away fromt he floor, for me contact with the floor starts just above the tailbone.

 

remember to warm up before exercising and if these exercises cause any pain please stop doing them IMMEDIATELY. The feeling when doing exercises should be mild discomfort.

 

Dont try to do too much at once, find your comfort limit and then gradually build up until you can work more and more.

 

Good luck!

abcd1234

[RayKay]

In addition to all the ab exercises etc recommended you could also add some longer bike rides on weekends - or join a club for weekly group rides (those will get you going). By longer, I mean increasing your mileage over time. Make a goal of riding a MS150 or century (100 miles solo of with others). You will be lean and mean if you keep at it!

 

I am a avid road and mtb cyclist (and I also do power yoga, xc skiing, some swimming), and seriously, can eat pretty much anything (though I DO choose to eat healthy and always have unless I have just done a major race) since I am logging in anywhere from 200-400 on average kilometres/week depending on how much I am doing offroad or on road. For bike riding, depending on your weight and if you are on road or mtn biking, you can burn about 350-600 approx calories/hour. On some days, I am in such serious deficit from burning just thousands and no matter how I try I cannot make it up! As a reward for losing the gut...buy yourself a nice new roadbike or mtb!

 

Running of course is also very good for burning that gut if you have less time, though it can be harder on joints if you are not careful. I just like riding so much more...running is too "slow" and not scenic enough for me..lol.

 

Spot reduction does not work, so it is really an all over thing - don't ignore cardio or strength and keep a healthy diet. Low fat choices, but DO keep some fat as it is important.

[JonnyG]

have you been doing ab exercises?

 

the best way to loose fat on your legs is to do leg exercises...

the best way to loose fat on your stomach is to do ab exercises

 

This is not correct at all. By toning up the areas .e.g legs, then they will get more muscly and thereforeeee porportionally the fat doesnt look as bad. It doesnt matter how many ab curls u do, u won't lose your fat on the stomach from that. Ab curls toughen the stomach muscles, not lose the fat by them.

 

For men, fat is mostly put on the stomach area, whereas women get it in a mixture of places (boobs, stomach, bum). Keep up your aerobic exercises, try to burn off 500 calories more a day than u eat. Thats 3,500 cals a week the equalivalent of 1lb of fat.

 

U are doing a great job with your exercises. Keep it up. U say u are seeing more muscle, and i bet u have lost some fat, its just its more obvious to other ppl than yourself as your more critical. But u should be happy that u are seeing results.

 

Perhaps take cheese out of your diet. Drink plenty of water as well. U have only been doing it 4 months my man, give it time. The stomach fat is the last fat to go im sorry, so its the most difficult to shift. but continue as u are and u will reach your goal.

[Kawada]

Building up your ab muscles helps you hide the fat.

[xxatti]

have you been doing ab exercises?

 

the best way to loose fat on your legs is to do leg exercises...

the best way to loose fat on your stomach is to do ab exercises

 

WRONG!! You cannnot do spot reduction to get rid of bodyfat. Thats to say, doing situps will not burn bodyfat in your abdominal area. The human body doesnt work like that. As a matter of fact, I rarely work out abs. I could not do a single situp and diet for 8-12wks and my abs would look amazing. Maybe not as sharp, but you wouldnt be able to notice the difference. What is your bodyfat% at right now. To get to where you can see abs, most guys normally have to get to around 10% or lower.

 

Diet is very important. Whats most important is your caloric intake. There's a lot of complicated stuff that goes into it that I dont want to get into right now.

 

1st off, the body is very able to adapt to what you do to it. You have to change up your diet from time to time to keep your body guessing so it cant adapt to what you're doing to it if you really want to reach low level bodyfat%.

 

Cardio, well I dont think you should have to do cardio more than twice a day. BTW if your intensity level is too high when your doing your cardio, you will be burning mostly carbs and then protein... NOT FAT.

 

There are a lot of tricks you can do with your diet to get you where you want to be... as I said I cant cover it all here. PM me if you want more info.

 

Trust me, I know what Im talking about. I do a little bodybuilding and I studied a lot of this stuff for years too for my career field.

[theghost]

whats cardio?

 

Also since you said that you brun protein first, how long does it take to burn fat?

 

How much weight would I loose if do streteches and workout for like one hour, than after that I run for about 30 minutes minimum. How much would you guess I would loose in 2 months?

[xxatti]

whats cardio?

 

Also since you said that you brun protein first, how long does it take to burn fat?

 

How much weight would I loose if do streteches and workout for like one hour, than after that I run for about 30 minutes minimum. How much would you guess I would loose in 2 months?

 

It all depends on your calories. If you eat more than you expend you wont loose anything. Cardio is cardiovascular exercise i.e. walking the treadmill, or stationary bike. You dont burn protein first. What your body uses for fuel depends on you level of intensity. If your intensity is high enough where there is an oxygen deficite, your body will prefer to burn carbohydrates. Once your carbohydrate stores run out, then your body will start going to protein.

[Nex]

Guys and Gals, I really appreciate all the advice, and I'd like to respond to a few if you willing to keep with this thread..

 

ok, in regards to the milk and cheese (which are both approx 10 g of protein per 1 gram of fat), can I not ingest as much of this as I want? Considering its super low fat content?

 

Raykay, that is some serious biking!lol, and on the weekends I do meet approx 50 miles, and I feel that is sufficient. is it? I also find other various activities, ie. I swam for 30 min today, played bball for 40 min..

 

Is low-to-moderate cardio more effective that aggresive cardio in terms of fat reduction?

 

And the worst news of all... Today I come home from work to find my 2 mth old hybrid meile bike gone. STOLEN!!!

600 bucks gone just like that

I'll have to figure out some alternate cardio methods in the meatime, but maybe that a good thing right? keep my body guessing?

 

Ppl, thanks a bunch for the advice, I read them all and hope you can add if possible!!