[greeniebeenie]

Any Advice???


I'm a thin guy, 5'10" 150lbs But.....

(1) I'm having trouble getting rid of Flab in my mid section. I've been doing crunches and sit ups and I've also been running 3 miles everyday and been trying to wtach what I eat for the past 3 months, but there's just those little sections that still haven't changed at all. I don't look horrible, but I still have big folds when ever i bend over..anyone have any pointers?


(2) I've been trying to work out with weights, just for toning and definition in my arms and for a small amount of muscle in my shoulders and back. I've been doing weights every other day, mainly 15 to 20 pounds with 2 repititions on each excercise.

My question is: Is that too much time in between? I've heard that you need to allow time to rest the muscles. OR am I not even using enough weight for it to make a real impact? Haven't really worked with weights much in my life, I'm 26 and have been a pretty scrawny guy all my life, Kinda like Leo Dicaprio style. Just want to look more manly and less boyish.

[Girlinterrupted]

I'm a female 24yrs old and I've started working out regularly about 6 months ago and I've gotten great results. I'm 5'3 and about 128pds, very well distributed if I don't say so my self. I was never fat to begin with nor did I have any bulges or anything, I just wanted to tone my figure.

I was doing 3days a week, weights: 45pds for my arms and and 100pds for my legs and about 100 crunches too...all 3x's a week.

For my lovehandles: I would stand straight and bend side ways towards the ground, this would put pressure directly on my sides, I did this wih with 15pd weights in each hand so that when I bend right I would lift the weight in my left hand with the strengh of my side and vice versa.. This worked really well, I felt the results the very next day.

I would say increase your weights and make sure not to follow the same routine becasue you muscles adapt to it and slow down after a while, and 3xs a week should do.

Good luck

[greeniebeenie]

45 Lbs on each arm???????


You must be Super Woman.


Thanks for the advice.

[Girlinterrupted]

No I said "for the arms" 45 pounds, that was both and then later I specified 15 pds per arm.

But I am still a "super" woman.....lol

[greeniebeenie]

That would be 30 lbs then. Are you messin with me? Okay just kidding.

Thanks for the advice.

[Girlinterrupted]

Yup 15 + 15=30 very good. Do you think that's too much? 15pds per arm? That was fine with me, of course I didn't begin with that but I worked my way up.

I could lift a lot more than that with both arms, like bench pressing....I'm reffering to dumbbells at 15pds each. I could lift more with a barbell.

[greeniebeenie]

no, i was just giving you a hard time because you said 45 for arms, 15 each. 15+15= 30, so where did you get 45?


That's all, Bad Joke, Forget about it. No i usually lift 25 each arm.

[Ryan]

I'm having trouble getting rid of Flab in my mid section. I've been doing crunches and sit ups

For my lovehandles: I would stand straight and bend side ways towards the ground, this would put pressure directly on my sides

As much as we'd like it to, none of the above will make meaningful changes in the bodyfat stores around our abdomen. There is *NO WAY* to spot reduce bodyfat - NONE. This is one of the biggest fallacies passed around in the fitness arena. People throw away countless hours doing countless crunches, sit-ups, and the like...to no avail. The liver dictates where bodyfat is removed from and it is done so in a genetically predetermined fashion. All you can do is reduce bodyfat throught the body as a WHOLE. The problem with men is that our genetic "trouble area" is around the abdomen (for women it is in the hips/thighs). This is the last area from which bodyfat will be removed.

(2) I've been trying to work out with weights, just for toning and definition in my arms and for a small amount of muscle in my shoulders and back. I've been doing weights every other day, mainly 15 to 20 pounds with 2 repititions on each excercise.

This is a colossal waste of time. You aren't making any meaningful improvements in ANY area of general fitness with these endeavors. Read the sticky thread under this section regarding exercise. I've explained what proper weight training is. Once you've perused that, we can discuss more questions you have regarding proper weight training.

[greeniebeenie]

Thanks for trying to help Ryan, I'm not completely clueless as to what good excercise is, Just wanted to get some opinions...


I find it very, very difficult to believe that the weight work i'm doing is "A colossal waste of time" as you say.

I'm just curious, what makes you an expert on what Proper Weight Training is? There are a thousand and one books, videos and magazines that all have their particular take on what Proper Weight training is, So I'm just curious as to what makes your method so much more better than anyone elses...Even if you were a certified personal trainer at Bally's I'd still want to know.

It sounds to me as though you are not working hard enough to make any real gains in strength or size. You wrote that you are using 15-20 pound weights and only doing 2 reps. This is no challenge at all, imo -- I am a reasonably fit female and I can do what you've described with little effort. Did you perhaps mean that you are doing 2 sets rather than 2 reps? Even so, your weights are too light.

For what it's worth, I understand your confusion about trying to sort through 1000's of books, websites, etc., each with conflicting advice as to what makes the best exercise program. But if you do some reading and combine what you read with what you know about human physiology and some common sense, I think you will come around to realizing that

- to grow a muscle you need to train it hard
- compound movements are more effective than isolation movements
- you won't look grotesque or put on huge muscles unless you are genetically gifted (or take steroids)
- you can't "spot" reduce (if we could, there'd be no women with big butts and tiny breasts and no men with beer bellies and non-existent butts)
- aerobic exercise is of questionable value

Ryan has a bunch of articles that are worth going through. A couple of resources that I have found useful are
- The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution, by Fredrick Hahn (book)
- Hardgainer Online http://www.hardgainer.com/welcome.html (web site from Stuart McRobert)
I also like http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html for a directory of exercises and how to perform them, but you need to know *what* before you attempt *how*.

As for your love handles, this is more a function of diet than weight training. Overall, what % of your diet is coming from fat?

[greeniebeenie]

People, trainers, Health nuts, exercise freaks have been drilling in my head that

YOU CAN'T SPOT REDUCE. Okay, i understand that. I mean I know you can't. BUT you can work certain areas better than others and make areas look better than others. I mean look at all the guys who have huge biceps(upper arms) but skinny little forearms.
I mean, i'm not saying i want to do that, but i'm just questioning the experts a little, you know?


ALso, People have been telling me why do you want to work just one area, work FULL BODY. I do that, but I like to work some areas more than others, everybody has their preferences.


I'm just going to follow my own fitness guidelines. What I'm doing, does work for me, i just wanted to get some other opinions and insights, but i feel like everybody is telling me I'm stupid and doing it all wrong. To each his own, i guess.

Don't take it too hard. Some guys just think they know what's best. I mean you came looking for advice and now you're getting it and now you don't like it.

But i know what you're trying to say. Some guys work their upper arms til they're Blue in the Face, but pay no attention to their forearms or sometimes you'll see these guys with huge shoulder, huge arms, but tiny legs.

Just do what you feel works for YOU. Experiment and find your own methods ala Bruce Lee. I agree, Bruce Lee was the MAN!! Someone's exercise regimen may not be what you're looking for, PLUS, it's hard to talk over message boards or for people to give you advice about physical body appearance, When they have NO idea what you look like to begin with.


Peace out.

Originally posted by greeniebeenie
People, trainers, Health nuts, exercise freaks have been drilling in my head that

YOU CAN'T SPOT REDUCE. Okay, i understand that. I mean I know you can't. BUT you can work certain areas better than others and make areas look better than others.

Well, yes, but this is spot increasing, not spot reducing. :-) Your original question was about love handles and working out to get rid of them. The problem there is that the handles are fat, not muscle, so even if you spot build muscle in your abdominal area, you won't be able to see it under the fat.

I don't think anyone is saying that it's not possible to work just one (or a few) body parts and to increase just that one (or few) part. They're saying it isn't a good idea, in general, to do this. But let's say you have huge forearms and small biceps; then it might make sense to focus more on biceps and less on forearms. Your goal in that case would be balance, which is what I think everyone here is advocating: balance. Muscles don't act in isolation, and you run a greater risk of injury when you tamper with their balance, which is another reason why it makes sense to work on a whole-body approach.

In any case, no offense intended. Hope you achieve your goals!

[Ryan]

I'm just curious, what makes you an expert on what Proper Weight Training is? There are a thousand and one books, videos and magazines that all have their particular take on what Proper Weight training is, So I'm just curious as to what makes your method so much more better than anyone elses...Even if you were a certified personal trainer at Bally's I'd still want to know.

I'm not an expert or guru....although I can run circles around a Bally's trainer (or most any personal trainer, for that matter).

My methodology is based on science and logic. I advocate principles, not set routines. I'm also not selling you anything. I have nothing to gain whether or not you listen to me.

i'm just questioning the experts a little, you know?

I encourage this. Do not assume something is true or valid simply because I (or anyone else) says it is so.

BUT you can work certain areas better than others and make areas look better than others.

To a limited degree...the human muscular system is far more interconnected than most people realize. Ask a med student how it looked the first time they cut open a cadaver.

What I'm doing, does work for me

Just do what you feel works for YOU.

I absolutely hate it when people say things like this. People treat exercise and fitness like art appreciation. I'm sorry, but this subject is NOT arbitrary. The fundamentals of human physiology are valid for EVERYONE. You have a femur just like I do; you have pectorals just like I do; you have a nervous system just like I do. The differences are in the details, not the basics. You wouldn't walk into a pharmacy and pick whatever medication you thought "works for you." The same science applies. Exercise is a dose-response situation.

Keep in mind, I'm not attacking you; I'm attacking the ideas. There's nothing wrong with simply not knowing about a given topic. We're all ignorant about various things. I can't speak Portuguese - that doesn't make me stupid, it just makes me ignorant.

Ryan, not attacking you, BUT you seem a bit like an exercise Nazi...No Offense. Personally, I found your "Exercise Explained" sticky post and the fact that Nobody can respond to it, a tad insulting. It reads like a Manifesto or a Magna Carta of YOUR exercise beliefs.

I think it's funny that you explained certain ideas then would put choice words in bold
with definitions underneath like we have no idea what words like FATIGUE mean.

I think it's great that you feel very secure with your knowledge that you could run circles around a Bally's
Personal trainer and Most personal trainers, But I just think you should take it easy on the
people who don't have the privelege of you almighty Knowledge. I'd almost say that, if you have nothing to gain
whether or not we listen to you, well then Don't waste your time, because your posts come off, opionated and egotiscal
and a bit Harsh at times, But I know you're just trying to help.