(Q) A lot of people who get onto a fitness regime and diet notice that although they are losing weight and gaining some muscle, their stomach doesn't change. This is something that I myself have noticed.
What are the issues / options regarding this?
A - Good question
There is no quick answer for this, but the stomach is an area in males and females which tends to carry a bit more fatty tissue than other areas of the body. Especially as you get older, and have had a very sedentary lifestyle.
In my opinion it is not a matter of doing more abdominal crunches, but a combination of healthy eating, regular exercise, and being aware of your posture(engaging those core muscles throughout your day).
I have personally found cutting alcohol out of my diet and doing regular cardiovascular exercise has helped this area immensely.
Another reason you may not see change in this area is because the rest of the body may be stealing the limelight, meaning the stomach area may be changing but just not as rapidly as the rest of the body. Hope this helps
Cheers
Nathan Martin
Les Mills Body trainer
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Les Mills Body trainer
4 comments:
Hey you'll die of shock when i tell you this but it's true.......... i cut out alcohol for 4 months and 17 kg fell off me! Easiest way to lose weight (especially if yo'ure a pisshead like me lol!)
Its not a shock - I always knew there was a sensible intelligent young man under that lushy wench exterior :)
I *know* i should cut back on the red - but its hard - i love my glass or two of red :(
A person who overeats will be fat all over. One whose diet is made up of mainly carbs will be apple shaped. As this area has the smallesst muscle groups[like a spider's web] it's the hardest place to lose weight, esp with muscle separation if it gets too big.
Legs are the quickest area to show weight loss due to size of muscles.
And that's my 2 cents. :)
Nathan is right. Absolutely. There are no ab exercises that will make the stomach flatter or 'melt' the fat away.
A good way to think about the fact that you're not able to see your abs (yet?) is this analogy:
The stomach is the deep end of a swimming pool. As you eat well, build muscle (to speed the metabolism) and do cardio (to burn calories and hopefully fat), the water (fat) starts to drain out of the pool. But you can't drain the deep end first. The deep end has the most water (fat) and will be the last to empty.
My clients find that analogy helpful. Hope you do as well.
Greg
Owner, Empower Fitness, NYC.
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