Posted: 7/3/2002 8:07:26 AM EDT
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What is the best way to get rid of a beergut ? I've been been working out since the end of March. I've made some progress lossing my gut, but I think I need a more effective workout. I'm 6'1" tall and weigh 185 lbs, so it is not a hugh belly I'm talking about getting rid of. The routine I do 4 or 5 days per week is : 20 minutes on an eliptic machine, 20 minutes of weight lifting, 2 sets of leg lifts, and finnaily 3 sets of 15 on a crunch machine. Should I skip the eliptic machine and do 20 minutes just focusing on abs ? I don't want my workouts to go longer then 1 hour. |
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I'm not an expert but working on your abs is important but it's not gonna melt off the belly. YOu need to keep up on the cardio and watch your heart rate. Running, jogging, and biking are excellent ways to go. Hell, join an aerobics class and stand in the back row. I'd imagine there will be alot of nice scenery! [:D] Keving67 |
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Are we talking the fat around your belly...the proverbial "spare tire", or are we talking the true beer gut bloat? If it's the bloat....sit-ups and gut crunchers are the way to tone your abs to hold the bloat back. Right now, I am assuming (yeah, yeah I know) that your abdominal muscles are out of shape and "soft". If you tone them by targeting those muscle groups, you can regain the "six-pack" look. All this is for nothing if you have a spare tire covering it up. Proper diet and excercise is the only way to eliminate the flab. Targeting your abs alone will not effectively reduce your fat stores around your mid section. Your body decides where to lose it's fat stores first. A general rule of thumb is "first on, last off" meaning if you developed your belly before your ass got bigger, you will lose your ass before your belly. Another option is lipo-suction, but I would reccomend that as a last resort. If you get it sucked out, it will only come back if you don't watch what you eat and how much you excercise. |
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I guess I'd call it more of a spare tire then bloat as I quit drinking a few months ago. I started eating a much more healthy diet a month ago. I used to eat meat at every meal. Bacon or sausage at breakfast, cold cuts at lunch, and some form of meat at dinner. To me it wasn't a meal without meat. Now I only eat meat once every other day. So should I stick with the 20 minutes of cardio and a few sets of ab exercises or should I skip the cardio and do a 20 minute ab routine ? |
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UP your cardio workouts to 40 min, 4-5 times a week. Spend your remaining time doing either weights or abdominal work. On weight training days you should make sure to do your lifting prior to your cardio, and consider reducing cardio time to 30 minutes. By lifting before your cardio you are fresh for the more strenuous workout and can accomplish more from you weight lifting sessions that if you did your cardio first. Lean muscle mass is the most important asset you have in the fight to keep off the fat. It is responsible for your bodies metabloism. Increasing your total lean muscle mass will allow your body to burn more fat during your cardio sessions. Add more repetitions to your absominal workouts if you really want to improve your tone in that area. The abdominal muscles are used so much during the course of the day that while they may seem to fatigue easily, you really have to burn them out to make substantial improvement. Twisting movements will help you develop a trim waistline. Don't forget to work your lower back into your program as well, they direclty oppose your abs and will have to be strengthenedto maintain balance and prevent possible injury. Control your dietary intake, meaning both what and when you eat. |
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Well, I'm no expert, but I am roughly "half the man I used to be", so to speak, compared to 14-15 months ago, so I do have some personal experience in the area... Concerning diet, depending what you mean by "meat", cutting it out as you have is probably not a good idea. You [i]want[/i] to have lean meats like chicken and turkey - skinless chicken breasts or the turkey "london broil" cuts seem to work good. Make sure you prepare them in a healthy manner as well - bake or grill vs. fry and don't maranade them in a gallon of oil. If your body isn't getting the protein it needs through your diet, it is going to start breaking down your existing muscle, which is not good. Definitely get rid of the bacon and sausage though. What most people seem to overindulge in the most are complex carbohydrates - breads, pastas, rices, etc. These are a huge source of energy, and if you don't use it, it will just be turned to fat. Definitely cut back on your intake of stuff like this. Another area that people overindulge in are beverages. Start drinking water and only water. Now. A single can of soda probably contains almost as many calories as you are burning in your 20 minute cardio routine. Even say away from the diet soda, "nutrasweet" drinks etc. They will only make you continue to crave the real thing. After a couple of months of just drinkning water, you won't even want anything else. I tried sip of Coke a couple of weeks ago - it tasted so sickly sweet to me now that I almost gagged. Eat smaller meals more often. This will help keep your metabolism up and help keep your body from going into "starvation" mode, where it tries to store as much energy as possible (read: fat). Its more likely to do this when you are reducing your intake. Definitely don't skip breakfast - in fact, this should be one of your larger meals, caloric content-wise. Dinner should be one of the smallest, and try to avoid eating anything a couple of hours before bed. Also make sure to start taking vitamins, if you aren't already, to make up for any nutriets you are no longer getting in your diet. In regards to yor workout, as mentioned above, if what you are really trying to do is lose fat, the situps aren't going to be that effective. Sure, they'll tone the muscle, but it is impossible to target a specific area for fat loss. Your body will burn the fat from wherever [i]it[/i] decides - not you. You could have the meanest abs on the planet, but if they are still under an inch or so of fat, no one is going to notice. Best bet for burning fat is cardio. However, I wouldn't ignore lifting as well. More lean muscle will actually help you burn fat 24/7, as it takes your body more energy to maintain it, which translates into speeding up your metabolism in general. Also, if you are really going to cut back on calories, you may find that you need to lift just to maintain your current muscle, as your body will try to break it as well as fat for the energy it isn't getting through your diet. Whatever you do, don't look at it as a temporary thing. Try to develop the sort of diet and exercise program you can live with for the rest of your life. Otherwise, after a few weeks/months you're liable to get sick of it and end up at square one or worse. So, the best thing to do is start slow and work up to a level you are comfortable with. It won't give you the quickest results, but likely the most permanent. Good luck! Rocko |
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I'm going to march to the beat of a different drummer and tell you to do LESS cardio. Unless you want to have the sucked up body of a cyclist/distance runner? At 6'1" 185 you are on the slender side already. More weights instead. Try 40 mins of weight training every other day. Chest & Shoulders, Back & Abs, Arms, Legs. You'll be hitting each body part hard about once a week. |
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At your height and weight, you couldn't have much of a beer gut. I am 5'11" and 175 lbs and still feel somewhat skinny. So you have no problem. A bit of a beer gut isn't all that bad unless it starts to protrude too far. Hehe. Just get some exercise and watch your diet. I agree that ab workouts alone will not get rid of the gut. You will strengthen your ab muscles ten fold, but without burning enough calories it will be all for naught. Focus on the total body, not just the abs. The more calories you burn and the more muscle you build, the closer you will be to your goal.Do a variety of things.....weight lifting, crunches, walking, biking, hiking, etc. The more choices you have for exercise, the better. You will be less bored this way. And I can't believe no one has said this yet....if you truely have a beer belly, then give up the beer! Hehe. Just Kidding. Just burn more calories than you presently are while taking in the same amount. That should help. |
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The only way to effectively "melt" fat is to pump your heart. If your arms are fat, doing arm workouts aren't going to get the fat off, etc. If you want Optimal results, do the following. Work out FIRST thing in the morning, I know it sucks but your rested body is much more efficient at burning calories after it's rested. Second, it's all about the heart rate. When you workout, do 20-60 minutes (depending on where your at physically) of cardio first. THEN move on to weights, while weight training, you will keep your heartrate up and continue to burn good amounts of calories. And of course, eat well! If you follow this plan, you don't have to eat perfect, but remember, the better you eat, the more efficient your results. Good Luck! |
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Advice point 1(from experience, not expertise): Run 4 days a week, 3 miles minimum per run. Do wind sprints on the last day(at least 3x100yd. sprints). Advice point 2: Pump iron(or do push ups and chin ups) at least 2 days per week. Advice point 3: Eat normally, healthily, moderately. Drink as much water as you can, as little salt intake as possible, and eats tons of raw veggies. Advice point 4: Either cut the beer out(you'll be able to boast about it to your buddies and lady friends[that always impresses the ladies])or cut it back by half. You will feel so much better. Drink your coffee black, like a real man. You will then take all that money spent on beer, and buy .22 LR shells, which you will then proceed to blast out of your favorite .22 Result: a mean, lean fighting machine, with the best crack shot ability beer drinking could never produce. How's that for advice? |
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Quoted: What is the best way to get rid of a beergut ? I've been been working out since the end of March. I've made some progress lossing my gut, but I think I need a more effective workout. I'm 6'1" tall and weigh 185 lbs, so it is not a hugh belly I'm talking about getting rid of. The routine I do 4 or 5 days per week is : 20 minutes on an eliptic machine, 20 minutes of weight lifting, 2 sets of leg lifts, and finnaily 3 sets of 15 on a crunch machine. Should I skip the eliptic machine and do 20 minutes just focusing on abs ? I don't want my workouts to go longer then 1 hour. Dieting and cardio are the best things you can do to get rid of the gut. Abs will tune your abs, but if they are covered under a gut, who will see them. Also, being baised to lifting (since I am an avid lifter), I think one should left at 45 minutes to an hour. As for the eliptic machine machine, I can't stand most gym machines like bikes and stair masters, and can only do the eliptic machine. |
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This will not be the most popular advice but QUIT DRINKING BEER!!! For that matter quit drinking all together. Sure..."it tastes great, makes women more attractive, and makes a person virtually invulnerable to critisim." ~Simpsons But it also makes you fat, stupid(drunk), lazy and a score of other truths/insults I can hurl. Keep up the cardio, do the weights, rump-a-bump-hump when you can. But if you are really serious..stop the drinking. You will be amazed with the results you get. |
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There is a book called "Body for Life" and a website by the same name that prints what most have said here in this forum. I did it and it helped me trim up in 12 weeks. It helped me eat better, drink better, and excercise better. If you are looking for a book and motivation check it out. But, like I said before, a lot of these folks are giving good advice. marm0t |
| Count calories and run, run, run. When you don't run, lift. You need to cut back your caloric intake to 1500-2000 calories/day to start. Once you have done this, running gets your metabolism up & holds it up to where it starts feeding the body/muscles from stored fat (which is what fat is for). You can have great abs and not see them for the fat layer. Look at heroin addicts. Geat abs. They don't eat. Once you lose the fat, you can work on toning/definition. Also, another gimmick that works is have your wife leave you. I lost 30 lbs. real quick the first time. Caloric intake went down to zip for a week. Also, diabetes works for weight loss if you're into self-abuse. |
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There is a lot of great advice here. One aspect of fitness to monitor is intensity. Try working in sprints, stairs, or interval runs to your cardio program to boost intensity. Make your 1 hour a nonstop, high- intensity workout session. Also, eat many, small meals throughout the day, instead of three feasts. Good luck |
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Quoted: There is a book called "Body for Life" and a website by the same name that prints what most have said here in this forum. I did it and it helped me trim up in 12 weeks. It helped me eat better, drink better, and excercise better. If you are looking for a book and motivation check it out. But, like I said before, a lot of these folks are giving good advice. marm0t Gotta second this. I'm now on about week eight of my first program, and it's definitely working. Used to be a 48 loose/50 waist at the beginning of the prog, now I'm at a 46 waist, and hope to hit 44 before the 12 weeks are up. I used to have HUGE love handles, they're now almost gone, and my gut is a heck of a lot smaller. I'm wearing clothes I've not worn since aroun 1996, and I feel great. Never spend more than 25 minutes for cardio or 50 minutes for lifting. MP906 has it right...intensity is they key. |
| There is no way just to lose the beer gut, weight will come off evenly throughout the body as a person loses weight. The best way to lose weight is to walk and get your cardiovascular system in shape. I know a weightlifter friend of mine who's been lifting since he was 14 years old he is now 53 years old, I once asked him how he kept his mid section so trim and he said besides his usual stomach exercises he always walks at least an hour after supper every day. You can burn alot more calories walking than you can weightlifting. The legs can go and go and go.[-=(_)=-] |
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Quoted: I guess I'd call it more of a spare tire then bloat as I quit drinking a few months ago. I started eating a much more healthy diet a month ago. I used to eat meat at every meal. Bacon or sausage at breakfast, cold cuts at lunch, and some form of meat at dinner. To me it wasn't a meal without meat. Now I only eat meat once every other day. So should I stick with the 20 minutes of cardio and a few sets of ab exercises or should I skip the cardio and do a 20 minute ab routine ? Eat your meat. (that came out wrong) Seriously, the protein you get from that meat is what will help you keep your muscle mass, and muscle burns fat. Be more picky about what meats you eat, but definitely don't cut it out of your diet. Chicken, turkey, sirloin, and various other lean meats are the way to go. |
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From my own experience I lost bodyfat all over and not in a specific area. FWIW, I managed to lose 50 pounds in a little over 4 months using the Atkins diet combined with weights and a progressive cardio routine. Oh, yeah. If you are eating properly and get hungry not long after you've eaten try drinking water. I'd heard that a lot of times hunger may just be thirst so I tried it. Worked for me. |
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The following workouts are designed for two categories of people: Category I are those that have never or have not recently been on a routine PT program. Category II is designed for high school and college athletes that have had a routine PT program. Usually athletes that require a high level of cardiovascular activity are in Category II. Swimming, running and wrestling are good examples of such sports. WORKOUT FOR CATEGORY I RUNNING: The majority of the physical activities you will be required to perform during your six months of training at BUD/S will involve running. The intense amount of running can lead to over stress injuries of the lower extremities in trainees who arrive not physically prepared to handle the activities. Swimming, bicycling, and lifting weights will prepare you for some of the activities at BUD/S, but ONLY running can prepare your lower extremities for the majority of the activities. You should also run in boots to prepare your legs for the everyday running in boots at BUD/S (Boots should be of a light-weight variety i.e. Bates Lights, Hi-Tec, Etc.). The goal of the category I student is to work up to 16 miles per week of running. After you have achieved that goal, then and only then should you continue on to the category II goal of 30 miles per week. Let me remind you that category I is a nine week buildup program. Follow the workout as best you can and you will be amazed at the progress you will make. RUNNING SCHEDULE I WEEKS #1, 2: 2 miles/day, 8:30 pace, M/W/F (6 miles/ week) WEEK #3: No running. High risk of stress fractures WEEK #4: 3 miles/day, M/W/F (9 miles/wk) WEEKS #5, 6: 2/3/4/2 miles, M/Tu/Th/F (11 miles/wk) WEEKS #7,8: 4/4/5/3 miles, M/Tu/Th/F (16 miles/ wk) WEEK #9: same as #7,8 (16 miles/ wk) PHYSICAL TRAINING SCHEDULE I (Mon/Wed/Fri) SETS OF REPETITIONS WEEK #1: 4X15 PUSHUPS 4X20 SITUPS 3X3 PULL UPS WEEK #2: 5X20 PUSHUPS 5X20 SITUPS 3X3 PULL UPS WEEK #3,4: 5X25 PUSHUPS 5X25 SITUPS 3X4 PULL UPS WEEK #5,6: 6X25 PUSHUPS 6X25 SITUPS 2X8 PULL UPS WEEK #7,8: 6X30 PUSHUPS 6X30 SITUPS 2X10 PULL UPS WEEK #9: 6X30 PUSHUPS 6X30 SITUPS 3X10 PULL UPS * Note: For best results, alternate exercises. Do a set of pushups, then a set of situps, followed by a set of pull ups, immediately with no rest. SWIMMING SCHEDULE I (sidestroke with no fins 4-5 days a week) WEEKS #1, 2: Swim continuously for 15 min. WEEKS #3, 4: Swim continuously for 20 min. WEEKS #5, 6: Swim continuously for 25 min. WEEKS #7, 8: Swim continuously for 30 min. WEEK #9: Swim continuously for 35 min. * Note: If you have no access to a pool, ride a bicycle for twice as long as you would swim. If you do have access to a pool, swim every day available. Four to five days a week and 200 meters in one session is your initial workup goal. Also, you want to develop your sidestroke on both the left and the right side. Try to swim 50 meters in one minute or less. WORKOUT FOR CATEGORY II Category II is a more intense workout designed for those who have been involved with a routine PT schedule or those who have completed the requirements of category I. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS WORKOUT SCHEDULE UNLESS YOU CAN COMPLETE THE WEEK #9 LEVEL OF CATEGORY I WORKOUTS. RUNNING SCHEDULE II (M/TulTh/F/Sa) WEEKS #1,2: (3/5/4/5/2)miles 19 miles/week WEEKS #3, 4: (4/5/6/4/3) miles 22 miles/week WEEK #5: (5/5/6/4/4) miles 24 miles/week WEEK #6: (5/6/6/6/4) miles 27 miles/week WEEK #7: (6/6/6/6/6) miles 30 miles/week * Note: For weeks #8-9 and beyond, it is not necessary to increase the distance of the runs; work on the speed of your 6 mile runs and try to get them down to 7:30 per mile or lower. If you wish to increase the distance of your runs, do it gradually: no more than one mile per day increase for every week beyond week #9. PT SCHEDULE II (Mon/Wed/Fri) SETS OF REPETITIONS WEEK #1, 2: 6X30 PUSHUPS 6X35 SITUPS 3X10 PULL UPS 3X20 DIPS WEEK #3, 4: lOX20 PUSHUPS 10X25 SITUPS 4X10 PULL UPS 10X15 DIPS WEEK #5: 15X20 PUSHUPS 15X25 SITUPS 4X123 PULLUPS 15X15 DIPS WEEK #6: 20X20 PUSHUPS 20X25 SITUPS 5X12 PULL UPS 20X15 DIPS These workouts are designed for long-distance muscle endurance. Muscle fatigue will gradually take a longer and longer time to develop doing high repetition workouts. For best results, alternate exercises each set, in order to rest that muscle group for a short time. The below listed workouts are provided for varying your workouts once you have met the Category I and II standards. PYRAMID WORKOUTS You can do this with any exercise. The object is to slowly build up to a goal, then build back down to the beginning of the workout. For instance, pull ups, situps, pushups, and dips can be alternated as in the above workouts, but this time choose a number to be your goal and build up to that number. Each number counts as a set. Work your way up and down the pyramid. For example, say your goal is "5." # OF REPETITIONS PULL UPS: 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 PUSHUPS: 2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2 (2X # pull ups) SITUPS: 3,6,9,12,15,12,9,6,3 (3X #pull ups) DIPS: same as pushups SWIMMING WORKOUTS II (4-5 days/week) WEEKS #1, 2: Swim continuously for 35 min. WEEKS #3, 4: Swim continuously for 45 min.with fins. WEEK #5: Swim continuously for 60 min. with fins. WEEK #6: Swim continuously for 75 min. with fins. * Note: At first, to reduce initial stress on your foot muscles when starting with fins, alternate swimming 1000 meters with fins and 1000 meters without them. Your goal should be to swim 50 meters in 45 seconds or less. STRETCH PT Since Mon/Wed/Fri are devoted to PT, it is wise to devote at least 20 minutes on Tue/Thu/Sat to stretching. You should always stretch for at least 15 minutes before any workout; however, just stretching the previously worked muscles will make you more flexible and less likely to get injured. A good way to start stretching is to start at the top and go to the bottom. Stretch to tightness, not to pain; hold for 10-15 seconds. DO NOT BOUNCE. Stretch every muscle in your body from the neck to the calves, concentrating on your thighs, hamstrings, chest, back, and shoulders. |
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NUTRITION Proper nutrition is extremely important. You must make sure you receive the necessary nutrients to obtain maximum performance output during exercise and to promote muscle/tissue growth and repair. The proper diet provides all the nutrients for the body's needs and supplies energy for exercise. It also promotes growth and repair of tissue and regulates the body processes. The best source of complex carbohydrates are potatoes, pasta, rice, fruits, vegetables. These types of foods are your best sources of energy. Carbohydrates, protein, and fat are the three energy nutrients. All three can provide energy, but carbohydrate is the preferred source of energy for physical activity. It takes at least 20 hours after exhaustive exercise to completely restore muscle energy, provided 600 grams of carbohydrates are consumed per day. During successive days of heavy training, energy stores prior to each training session become progressively lower. This is a situation in which a high carbohydrate diet can help maintain your energy. The majority of carbohydrates should come from complex carbohydrate foods that include bread, crackers, cereal, beans, peas, starchy vegetables, and other whole grain or enriched grain products. Fruits are also loaded with carbohydrates. During training,more than four servings of these food groups should be consumed daily. Water intake is vital; stay hydrated. You should be consuming up to four quarts of water daily. Drink water before you get thirsty! ! ! Substances such as alcohol, caffeine and tobacco increase your body's need for water. Too much of these substances will definitely harm your body and hinder your performance. Supplemental intake of vitamins, as well, has not been proven to be beneficial. If you are eating a well balance diet, there is no need to take vitamins. TRAINING TABLE CONCEPT NUTRIENT INTAKE Carbohydrates 50-70% of calories Protein 10-15% of calories Fats 20-30% of calories This is a good all around work out. The best thing about it is it set up for gradual progression . Give it a shot DC1 |
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I was starting to grow around my midsection a while back. I changed my diet to something heathier. I started packing my lunch, so that I had a little better control of my intake. I also quit going back for seconds at dinner- no matter how good it was. Then I resorted to my old army PT routine: Pushups, Situp/leglifts, flutterkicks, etc. and a two mile run. I did this in the early AM before heading to work. Although I toned up, and my endurance got better, I still had the gut. A few months I bought a house that is exactly 3 miles from work. I quit the run and started walking to and from work, at a moderate pace (35-40 min. for the 3 miles) Within a month, the gut was completely gone! After two months, I'm nearly in the same shape I was when I got out of the army Ten years ago. If I had early am access to a pool, I'd probably swim laps, cause that's a great workout. Hope this helps! |