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How To Lose Those Last Few
Pounds Of Body Fat
by Tom Venuto
Developing a lean, flat stomach takes time and
patience, especially when it comes to those last few pounds in those hard to
lose places. The lower abs and "love handles" can be two of the most
stubborn and exercise-resistant areas from which to lose fat. In fact, it
can sometimes seem so hard to reduce those spots that many people become
frustrated and resort to dangerous diet drugs or liposuction. Other people
slave away day in and day out on the latest new-fangled ab device or do
countless sit ups, side bends, and leg raises every day, all to no avail.
There is only one way to lose fat in the so-called "stubborn areas," and
that is with the correct combination of proper diet, aerobic exercise,
abdominal training, and weight training.
The first thing you need to realize is that it is impossible to "spot
reduce" fat from one specific part of the body. Fat loss occurs
systemically, meaning that, you will draw it from all areas of the body, and
the first place you tend to put it on will be the last place it comes off.
The reason everyone has those "stubborn" spots is because each of us is born
with a genetic pattern of fat storage, just as we inherit hair color, eye
color, and other physical traits. In women, the stubborn areas tend to be
hips, thighs, and the waist. Thinking that you can "drain the fat" from your
primary storage point first is like thinking that you can drain the deep end
of your swimming pool before the shallow end - can't do it.
In men, the troublesome areas are usually the lower abs and the "love
handles." Many people labor away month after month trying to exercise
specific areas of their body with the idea that fat will be burned directly
off the area they are working. Training the abdominals every day with
hundreds of repetitions will certainly strengthen and develop the muscles,
but it will do almost nothing to remove the fat obscuring the muscles. In
fact, it is possible to have a great set of abs that you can’t even see
because they are covered up with a layer of fat!
Contrary to popular belief, the best way to burn the layer of flab from your
midsection is not to do more abdominal exercise, but to do more
cardiovascular exercise. Aerobic exercise is the real secret to burning fat.
Walking, jogging, bicycling, elliptical exercise and stairclimbing are all
great fat burners. Most people give up too early in the workout. During the
first 20 minutes of aerobic activity, glycogen (stored carbohydrates) is the
primary fuel source. If you stop after 20 minutes, you’re only getting half
of your workout done! You get the cardiovascular health benefits, but you
don’t get much fat loss during the workout. Because you don't burn
significant amounts of fat until glycogen stores are depleted, the key to
maximum fat loss is to work out aerobically for 30-45 minutes continuously
per session. You should do this at least three or four days per week, but
five, six, or even seven days a week will take off fat at the fastest rate
possible!
Even if you’re doing cardio every day, without a good diet, you still won’t
see results. Fat loss is a 50% exercise, 50% nutrition combination. A fat
loss diet must be low in calories. Regardless of how much you work out, if
the number of calories you take in is greater than the amount you burn,
you’ll still put on bodyfat. Ideally, you should spread your calories out
into five small meals a day instead of 2 or 3 big ones so that you don’t
overeat in one feeding. Eat a variety of foods that are all natural, low in
fat and low in sugar, with about 50% of the calories coming from
carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 20% from fat. If you’re having a really
difficult time losing the last few pounds, keep the protein up and decrease
your carbohydrate intake, especially late in the day and at night. This will
deplete your glycogen stores and force your body to burn more fat for
energy. Be careful not to drop your calories or carbohydrates too much,
because this will be interpreted by the body as starvation and will result
in a decrease in metabolic rate.
Next to "spot reduction," the second most common myth about abdominal
training is that sit ups and leg raises are the most effective exercises.
Actually, these movements don’t even isolate the abs; they are integrated
exercises that heavily recruit the hip flexor muscles, which are the same
muscles used to punt a football. The hip flexors attach the thigh to the
spinal column, so working them with exercises such as straight leg raises
creates a strong pull on the lumbar area. This is a common cause of lower
back pain in those susceptible. There is certainly a place in sports
conditioning for all types of integrated abdominal-hip flexion exercises.
However, a safe, simple and effective way to for a beginner to started an
abdominal program is to emphasize basic abdominal flexion exercises such as
crunches, stability ball crunches, cable crunches, hip lifts, full range
knee ups and reverse crunches.
The crunch is simply a partial sit up. You lie flat on your back and curl
your head, shoulders and upper back off the floor. Your lower back stays on
the floor at all times. This isolates the abs because when the feet are not
anchored, and you don’t sit all the wayup, the hip flexors are not strongly
activated. To add range of motion and activate your core, the next
progression is to perform your crunches on a stability ball. The reverse
crunch, unlike the straight leg raise, is a rolling movement, where the
knees are rocked back over the chest. This is a great movement for working
the lower abs without putting undue stress on the lower back. To increase
difficulty, the next progression is to perform your reverse crunches up a
low incline board. To hit the oblique muscles on the sides of the waist, you
can do your crunches with a twist (elbow to knee) or you can lie on your
side and do side crunches.
The final component of your ab flab-reducing program is resistance training.
It is important to train the entire body. Working one muscle group to the
exclusion of others is a common cause of muscular imbalance. Building strong
abdominals without also developing the antagonistic spinal erectors of the
lower back could easily lead to injury. Many people are under the impression
that they should only do cardiovascular activities until the weight comes
off, then add weight training later on. It’s true that weight training is an
anaerobic activity, so it burns more glycogen than body fat. However,
working out with weights will increase your lean body mass, which in turn
raises your resting metabolic rate. The faster your metabolism is, the more
fat you will burn! A complete program should always include aerobic exercise
and weight training for every muscle group.
Before you decide to resort to drastic measures, give these guidelines an
honest try. Losing fat is not easy, but it is simple if you know the
formula. To recap, the formula for losing the last few pounds of ab flab is
as follows: (1) Losing fat takes time, so get started now! Be patient and
don’t expect to get "ripped" overnight (2) Burn the fat off the ab muscles
with lots of cardiovascular exercise or you won’t be able to see them. (3)
Choose biomechanically correct exercises to train the abs, emphasizing
crunching type isolation exercises, (4) Eat natural, low fat, low sugar, low
calorie foods in small servings throughout the day, and (5) Work out with
weights; don’t just train your abs, train your entire body.
If you want more specific training and dietary strategies for losing the fat
while keeping the muscle (or staying lean while you add muscle mass), then
check out my e-book,
Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle.
Train Hard And Expect Success Always.
About the author:
Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, personal trainer, gym owner, freelance
writer and author of
Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle: Fat Burning Secrets of the
World's Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models. Tom has written over 140 articles
and has been featured in IRONMAN magazine, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular
Development, Muscle-Zine, Exercise for Men and Men's Exercise. Tom is the Fat
Loss Expert for
Global-Fitness.com and the nutrition editor for Femalemuscle
and his articles are featured regularly on literally dozens of other websites.
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