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[DanC]

Hi guys. I've recently lost just over 3 stone (I've lost 50 pounds) and I am now between 10 stone 8 pounds and 11 stone (140-146 pounds) (I've been fluctuating a little bit, depends how badly/well I've eaten that past week/fortnight - I only weigh myself on Sundays). Anyway, I've noticed that I've dropped a lot of fat on my chest, legs and arms, but I still have some around my stomach/back.

I was just wondering if any of you guys have tips for the best way to tone my stomach and cut the fat. I do a fair bit of cardio, running for 30mins about 3 times a week, and riding bikes for around 45mins about 4 or 5 times a week, and I'm sure that's good for my conditioning, but not so great for toning up my stomach. I'm sure sit ups are a good way of doing it, but does anyone have any ideas of how many reps/set and how often I should be doing this, and how best to achieve results?

Cheers for your help, I know this sounds like a stupid post, but I just thought it'd be best to ask a bunch of sport fans rather than just my friends who have no idea/interest!

[Trodden]

I do most of my core work off the ground. two simple rules of exercise. back pain and body temp will slow you down

I use a door frame pull up device. hang in the air keeping my elbow at a 90 degree angle, and pull my knees to my chest

Once to the left, straight up, then to the right (both knees together)

it will be awkward at first, so get used to it before you set rep goals. try and just hang for as long as you can at first. just keep at it and your endurance will improve and you can do more.

remember the pain is the sign its working.

when you get to rep's, after your reps, drop down for whats called "bows and tows"

basically your forearms on the ground (hands to elbows), and you knees. keep you stomach in the air as long as you can

when you get used to that, as your holding bows and toes, sway your hips side to side to work those muscles. I have incorporated "push ups" from this position. bows and tows, and try to put your head in your hands while keeping your elbows on the ground.

sounds easy, but try and do 20.

after keeping bows and toes for 10 minutes, the push up part sucks, but gets a lot done.

cut sugar and eat at appropriate times. eat breakfast, and never eat less then 4 hours before bed.

for breakfast I eat a lot of raw almonds, salads, tuna sandwich's, and fruit juice.

don't eat a lot of meat or bread at dinner. and never be full. always be a little hungry

and don't forget to breathe while doing core work.

thats an easy way to lower your body temp and get more work done

give it 3-6 months of doing it every day until you get a rep system down, don't over do it when you start or you'll get nothing done.

good luck.


if your wondering, I do 2 hours of cardio and core work 4 times a week

10 sets of 50 pull ups
10 sets of 20 knee pulls (which 3 count as one)
10 sets of leg extension (elbow at 90 degree angle, holding my legs straight out at the waist as long as I can, counting, and doing 10 more times while holding it as long as the first time, or it doesn't count)
30 mins of bows and toes with 2 min breaks every 10, where I stretch
10 mins of moving my hips left to right, and then turning my hips as far as I can

I don't always stick to it, but I try

good luck, sorry if this is long, but I hope it helped

eat a lot of fish too. works for me. but not fried. baked is so much better for you. always bake white meats


I wish I knew the "Stones" system for weight. it just sounds cool

[Fear My Hammer Fist]

Hey Dan,

First off, you need to remember that different people store fat in differnet places. So for you it may very well be quite natural for your body to lose it's fat around the stomach and back last, and conversely gain it there first as well.

If you've hit a plateau with cardio then there a few things to look at. Is your cardio intensive enough for your goals? Try mixing it up and throw in some high intensity intervals. Remember: if you do what you 've always done, you'll get what you've always got.

Take a look at your diet, as it's just as, or likely more, important than your training. All the running in the world won't help you if you're diet is crap. Hit up a macro nutrient calculator and keep a daily meal log until you understand your food. Eat clean to get lean... that sounds ghey but it's very true. I won't get deep into nutrition here as it's a vast subject but take the time to research how to eat to drop unwanted weight.

As for developing muscle in your core, realize that all the muscle in the world won't show if it's buried under fat. To build muscle you want to look at much better exercises than crunches or situps. Full body movements like mountain climbers, dumbell swings, jump knee-ups, planks, etc. are much better for developing core. Ideally you would want to integrate SOME core into your workouts about 3 times a week. Don't over do it, but steady, consitent work load is the way to go.

Anyway, sorry to be long winded. First thing you need to do is figure out your diet and get STRICT. There's no way around that. And by strict I mean knowing how many calories you can eat a day and still lose weight, and what types to eat and when. Just goolge it, it's overwhelming at first but you need to learn it. Bodybuilding.com is a good place to go for this type of thing.

[DanC]

Originally Posted by Fear My Hammer Fist

Hey Dan,

First off, you need to remember that different people store fat in differnet places. So for you it may very well be quite natural for your body to lose it's fat around the stomach and back last, and conversely gain it there first as well.... etc

Firstly, sorry for shortening your post in the quote, I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out man, one rep doesn't feel enough, so hit me up again soon and I'l rep you again.

Well I lost the weight very healthily, by just running a lot and having a strict and balanced diet, which I have kept to. I've been a little slack the last few weeks, having a few more cheat days than unusual, but I'm back on it now, and I hope to lose about another 8 pounds, to get down to about 10 stone. I'm 5ft 11 and I think I'd feel comfortable if I was around 10 stone - 10stone 4 (140-144lbs).

Anyway, I think you've really sold climbing to me as a way of working on core strength and general toning. I've been knocking the idea around for a few weeks after a friend recommended it to me, as I have noticed a serous drop off in my strength since losing weight, probably because of the amount of emphasis I placed on cardio over muscle-based exercises.

As for my diet, I generally eat:
Breakfast - Two or three eggs, microwaved, on brown bread (I know, I know, carbs, and I'll only eat this if I won't be eating any other simple carbs for the rest of the day)
Alternatively I'll eat some grapes, a banana, an apple and some mixed berries, with natural yoghurt and 30-40g of granola (or muesli).
Lunch - Very little to be honest, sometimes I'll have a few crackers with peanut butter on, or I'll make a salad with leaves, tomato, cucumber, gherkins, beetroot, olives, red peppers and two slices of salami diced up.
Dinner - Nearly always something based around chicken. I try to eat a good amount of veg every day too, so plenty of broccoli, sweetcorn and red or green peppers.

Do you have any suggestions of what else I could have for breakfast? Something that tastes good, satisfies hunger, and isn't too fattening. At this moment in time, I pretty much each as much fruit and vegetables as I like (I eat a LOT of fruit) and very very little food that high in saturated fats. Foods like houmous or peanut butter I tend to eat for their healthy fats, and really the only food I try not to eat a lot of is pasta, bread and rice.

Also, (sorry for this turning into a huge message) at one point I was a member of an awesome dieting/food plan website (Free Calorie Counter, Diet & Exercise Journal | MyFitnessPal.com) and they calculated that I can take in 1850 calories a day to lose weight. I usually take in just shy of that, so I think I'm doing alright at the moment, but I'm definitely going to take your exercise advice Hammerfist!

[rampage9712]

If you like MMA, you may be interested to get involved with boxing, muay thai, bjj, etc.

Those will all help you burn calories. Even time im done in the gym my shit is completely soaked with sweat, you would think I just went in the water with it. Its fun, beneficial to your fight game and can help you get into better shape.

If you have a room for a heavy bag there are some simple routines you can follow to improve your game and lose weight.

[TheKidInside]

a great source for working your abs both concentric and isometric work outs

Random Abs | Randomize your routine enjoy my friend and all the best!