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evan
Formerly CoachKrzyzewski
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Charlottesville, VA
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2007-06-14, 12:51

I guess I'll just jump straight to the point and ask my question... how do I get rid if lovehandles and "pudginess" around the belly? I've played at least 2 high school sports a year for 4 years and am always in pretty good shape but I can never seem to get rid of this belly chubbiness and make it start to look like I have a six pack (which is really my goal for this summer). Like i said, I've always been in good shape - I can play most of a basketball game and run the floor no problem, the other day I ran 3 miles in about 20 minutes - i just don't really look that fit.

So... following the theme of some other health-related threads,
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Fahrenheit
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2007-06-14, 12:55

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chucker
 
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2007-06-14, 12:58

Quote:
Originally Posted by Farenheit View Post
Can. Worms.
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Mugge
Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
 
2007-06-14, 13:00

You know it's summer when more than one of this kind of threads are started in a forum about computers.

I prefer cross country running, but I guess paved road also is cool.

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GladToBeHere
Member
 
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2007-06-14, 13:05

Read Body For Life. It totally works.
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Fahrenheit
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2007-06-14, 13:06

Get a copy of Mens Health. They always have a bit in about getting something sorted - ass, feet, penis, brain etc.





...Eyebrows...
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BuonRotto
Not sayin', just sayin'
 
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2007-06-14, 13:17

rule #1 of losing weight: the first place you gain it is the last place you lose it. Focus on cardio and mid-weights to boost metabolism and get your heart rate up a bit. Keep it interesting and get some variety. Our bodies adjust to repetitive tasks in ways we don't appreciate. Keep it up for at least 30 minutes if it's vigorous enough, not more than 1 hour.

Oh yeah, and watch what you eat, especially snacks. Most people don't count snacks when figuring out what it is they're eating and how much. Watch out for too many starches and sugars, especially the processed kinds.

[edit] OK, you win Wrao.

Last edited by BuonRotto : 2007-06-14 at 13:28.
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Wrao
Yarp
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Road Warrior
 
2007-06-14, 13:19

There is no such thing as spot reduction of fat, and belly fat is usually the last to go. Once your bodyfat is at around 9% you should start seeing the outline of your abdominal muscles, assuming that you have any development there(which, if you have been playing sports you probably do).

Do you lift weights at all? or do any form of resistance training? Running isn't necessarily the most effective way to lose fat. At the end of the day, it is what you do in the kitchen that will reveal your 6-pack, but hitting the weights can only help.

It is generally not possible to lose fat while you gain muscle, but if you are a relative beginner in the weight room, this can actually happen in some form or another, but even if you don't actively gain much muscle, the increased metabolic activity will help to burn the fat more effectively than just running alone(and in less time to boot)

Quote:
Originally Posted by BuonRotto View Post
rule #1 of losing weight: the first place you gain it is the last place you lose it. Focus on cardio and mid-weights to boost metabolism and get your heart rate up a bit. Keep it interesting and get some variety. Our bodies adjust to repetitive tasks in ways we don't appreciate.
Nah, Rule #1 is "If you are expending more energy than you are consuming(in food). You will lose weight".

Last edited by Wrao : 2007-06-14 at 13:20. Reason: Posts merged
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Banana
is the next Chiquita
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2007-06-14, 13:55

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrao View Post
Nah, Rule #1 is "If you are expending more energy than you are consuming(in food). You will lose weight mass".
T, TFTY.
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spotcatbug
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Clayton, NC
 
2007-06-14, 14:08

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrao View Post
It is generally not possible to lose fat while you gain muscle,
Why is that? I'm genuinely asking.
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Wrao
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2007-06-14, 14:45

Quote:
Originally Posted by spotcatbug View Post
Why is that? I'm genuinely asking.
Well, it *is* possible, it is just not very practical, and it is only really possible in limited doses, that are mostly negligible. Basically, you can't build a lot of muscle on a caloric deficit, and you can't lose a lot of fat on a caloric surplus. I have read studies that have shown drastic body composition changes involving increased calories, but those tend to be highly controlled scenarios involving well trained individuals. For the average shithead, it is not all that realistic.

If you are seriously trying to gain muscle mass, you need to be operating on a caloric surplus, but when you do that, you are also increasing your chances of adding fat. But, it is infinitely easier to lose fat than it is to gain muscle, so it's usually a no-brainer.
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spotcatbug
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2007-06-14, 15:14

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrao View Post
If you are seriously trying to gain muscle mass, you need to be operating on a caloric surplus,
Now that begs the question: Why do you need to be operating on a caloric surplus to gain muscle mass?

Perhaps I should now switch over to Google?
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Wrao
Yarp
 
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2007-06-14, 15:45

Quote:
Originally Posted by spotcatbug View Post
Now that begs the question: Why do you need to be operating on a caloric surplus to gain muscle mass?

Perhaps I should now switch over to Google?

Because you can't build something out of nothing.
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Fahrenheit
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2007-06-14, 15:45

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrao View Post
Because you can't build something out of nothing.
Try telling Big Bang theorists that.
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Artap99
Totally awesome.
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
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2007-06-14, 15:54

Try P90X. It is well rounded and the diet they give you is doable for most people.
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Dorian Gray
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2007-06-14, 16:07

Quote:
Originally Posted by spotcatbug
Why do you need to be operating on a caloric surplus to gain muscle mass?
Because when you push your body very hard, as you must to gain muscle, it enters a catabolic state in which muscle is consumed to provide energy. There is no way of completely avoiding this (although it doesn't happen if you're not pushing very hard), but you can minimise catabolism by ensuring your body has loads of easily available energy, which is achieved by eating lots.

… engrossed in such factional acts as dreaming different dreams.
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Wrao
Yarp
 
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2007-06-14, 16:11

Quote:
Originally Posted by Farenheit View Post
Try telling Big Bang theorists that.
Heathen, nothing came before Him...... and his noodly appendage.
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spotcatbug
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2007-06-14, 16:48

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrao View Post
Because you can't build something out of nothing.
Well, great. Thanks for the flippant answer. Muscles aren't "made of" calories.

I wasn't at all trying to challenge what you said. I was honestly asking you to expand on what you wrote. You must be able to see that the concept doesn't just naturally follow, if you don't know this stuff.

Anyway, Dorian's answer is what I was looking for. Thanks, Dorian.

Ugh.
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Dorian Gray
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2007-06-14, 16:59

You're welcome. I've forgot a lot of detail, but that's the basic idea. Perhaps Wrao will feel less selfish with his knowledge tomorrow and elaborate further. The Messiah himself knows way more than I about this too.

As for CoachKrzyzewski's original post: I'd suggest cycling. Cycling is wonderful fun, unlike lifting in a grubby free weights room, and provides a cardio workout that uses many muscle groups including the big ones in your upper legs that burn a lot of energy. Ride at a solid pace that gets your heart-rate up reasonably high but doesn't feel impossible to keep up for an hour or so. Repeat five times a week. Try not to raise your daily food intake much and avoid snacks like chocolate bars and soft drinks which have astonishing calorie counts. You'll notice a significant difference in weeks.

… engrossed in such factional acts as dreaming different dreams.
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Partial
Stallion
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Milwaukee
 
2007-06-14, 17:33

Eating an extremely clean diet and adding muscle will lower your body fat %.
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spotcatbug
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2007-06-14, 17:39

Quote:
Originally Posted by tensdanny38 View Post
Eating an extremely clean diet and adding muscle will lower your body fat %.
Well now I'm completely confused.
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julesstoop
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Location: Leiden, the Netherlands
 
2007-06-14, 18:00

@Banana:
Actually surplus weight (the floor pushing you up too hard) is often just as troubling as surplus mass (being slow).
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Wrao
Yarp
 
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2007-06-14, 18:23

Quote:
Originally Posted by spotcatbug View Post
Well, great. Thanks for the flippant answer. Muscles aren't "made of" calories.

I wasn't at all trying to challenge what you said. I was honestly asking you to expand on what you wrote. You must be able to see that the concept doesn't just naturally follow, if you don't know this stuff.

Anyway, Dorian's answer is what I was looking for. Thanks, Dorian.
Sorry, didn't mean to be rude. It's just one of those things. If you are going to put on 10 pounds of muscle, that 10 pounds has to come from somewhere. Which is not to say 10 pounds of food = 10 pounds of muscle(or fat for that matter), but that energy from food is used for creating new lean mass.
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Wrao
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Join Date: May 2004
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2007-06-14, 18:29

Quote:
Originally Posted by spotcatbug View Post
Well now I'm completely confused.
If you gain muscle mass but keep your fat levels the same, your bodyfat percentage goes down because the BF % is related to your TOTAL mass. So you can weigh 200 pounds with a 10% BF and be carrying 20 pounds of fat, but if you don't gain any fat and put on 10 pounds of muscle, you'd weigh 210 pounds, and your 20 pounds of fat would be more like 9.5% of your total mass, giving you a ~9.5% BF (which is usually just about low enough to start seeing abs btw)

So your bodyfat % goes down, even though the amount of fat you're carrying hasn't really changed.
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spotcatbug
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2007-06-14, 19:27

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrao View Post
So your bodyfat % goes down, even though the amount of fat you're carrying hasn't really changed.
Oh yeah. Obvious. I guess I was still trying to understand the other issue and that seemed like it was contradicting it when it wasn't.
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Perfecting_Zero
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
 
2007-06-14, 22:24

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorian Gray View Post
I'd suggest cycling. Cycling is wonderful fun, unlike lifting in a grubby free weights room, and provides a cardio workout that uses many muscle groups including the big ones in your upper legs that burn a lot of energy. Ride at a solid pace that gets your heart-rate up reasonably high but doesn't feel impossible to keep up for an hour or so. Repeat five times a week. Try not to raise your daily food intake much and avoid snacks like chocolate bars and soft drinks which have astonishing calorie counts. You'll notice a significant difference in weeks.
This is exactly my sentiment and fitness strategy. It works.

If you choose to ride a bike with any training/competition/fitness goals in mind, then make sure that you've installed a decent cycling computer: if you can measure it, you can improve it. I would choose a computer which includes cadence.

In my experience, the only downside to cycling was the initial expense: bike(s), ancillary equipment/tools, component upgrades, and cycling-specific clothing.

Cycling is a beautiful expression of the body's potential. And it's great fun, too!

"We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are." Anais Nin
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World Leader Pretend
Ruling teh World
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Boston, MA
 
2007-06-14, 22:51

Go out for your school's cross country program. If it is worth it's title than you will loose that extra chubbiness pretty quickly.

Over the summer I would recommend biking, swimming, and some running, plus a good diet. Lifting weights won't help you much in this case. You need to be engaging your whole body to get good results.

HTH
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Koodari
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Join Date: Jun 2004
 
2007-06-15, 07:10

The optimal exercise for losing weight is one that uses the whole body as evenly as possible. Swimming, rowing and crosscountry skiing are the best that come to mind. You shouldn't get any soreness from the fat-burning exercise, because that is a signal of stressing an individual body part so hard muscles are starting to break down, which you don't want when you are eating under your consumption.

I would be reluctant to hit the gym while undernutritioned. You need high resistance (weights) and short repetitions to provoke muscle growth. There is no point to going to the gym and lifting light weight for tons of reps, no matter what your condition.

If you still wanted to do gym while in fat-burning mode, I believe you should still be going for high resistance, but go rarely (like once a week) in addition to the regular aerobic exercise, and keep the total workload down so there is a big emphasis on recovery. Something like

warmup with empty bar
5x bench press @ 50% of your maximum 5 reps
(4 minutes break)
5x bench press @ 70%
(4 minutes break)
5x bench press @ 90% (adjust lower if necessary for completing 5 reps, according to how you're feeling on the day)
warmup with empty bar
5x deadlift @ 50% of your maximum
(4 minutes break)
...
5x deadlift @ 90%
stretch

With this, you're in and out in about 40 minutes, 10 of which are spent lifting, 20 in recovery, 10 warming up and stretching. You should have a recovery drink with you, drink a little 1/2 an hour before the training and the rest directly after. There is enough time spent on recovery and the total workload and reps are low enough if you frequently feel stronger walking out than walking in.

Proper powerlifting technique and free weights are a must to compress exercise down to this time. Free weight deadlift and squat in particular put a lot of work on abs (among other things) once the weights are high enough.
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