ABs!

[Jay1983 Senior MemberMember of the Month Apr 2014, Sept 2016 Find all posts View Profile Close Jay1983]

Although I could have searched, I'd rather prefer firsthand opinions and/or knowledge.

So the past few years, or even more, I've been eating junk before sleep. Yes, not good for the belly. So now I'm curious on how to rid this proof of my passed on bad habit.

Crunches? Running? Cardio? Sit ups? Should I exercise daily to rid the belly fat? Every other day? Does the body need rest when burning fat? Like bulking up?

Seriously, how do you guys do it???

Mucho gracias familia!

[Toadstool Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toadstool]

I advocate you do something you enjoy and take it on as a practice. Myself, I've grown very tired of running and have instead gone into strength training. My reasoning is that if you like what you do and consider it a hobby or practice, then you will be doing it for years to come. My abs show all year round and I never worry about any bulking/cutting phases of diet.
That's just me, though.
Granted, I don't look like a bodybuilder. But bodybuilders can't do a 1-armed, 1-legged pushup like I can. I look more like a gymnast.

If you do like running, then do that. I'd recommend you do 30-45 minutes of cardio, 3 times a week, combined with weight training for faster results.
Most of your results will stem from dietary changes. "So what do I eat??"
Stop eating before bed. Minimize junk food. Eat more salad. Pay attention to ingredients. MSGs will help you get fat so avoid them. MSGs have a thousand different names, so google it and pay attention.

A lot of people like P90X. It's not really my thing, but you get results from it.

[lclutchl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close lclutchl]

Although I could have searched, I'd rather prefer firsthand opinions and/or knowledge.

So the past few years, or even more, I've been eating junk before sleep. Yes, not good for the belly. So now I'm curious on how to rid this proof of my passed on bad habit.

Crunches? Running? Cardio? Sit ups? Should I exercise daily to rid the belly fat? Every other day? Does the body need rest when burning fat? Like bulking up?

Seriously, how do you guys do it???

Mucho gracias familia!

Consistancy

[watersnake Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close watersnake]

Core stabilization. Balance.

[akaTrex Senior Member Member of the Month Jan 2016 Find all posts View Profile Close akaTrex]

Crunches? Running? Cardio? Sit ups? Should I exercise daily to rid the belly fat? Every other day? Does the body need rest when burning fat? Like bulking up?

Seriously, how do you guys do it???

Seriously check out: Custom Workout Plans - Scooby's Home Workouts

I personally employee 1. A Clean Diet, 2. Strength Training combined with Core Work and lastly Cardio.

My favorite is HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training, it does not take long and so much better on your body than Long Distance running.

Check out the above site and be totally honest when filling out the questions.

Then STICK to IT!

[Sean Jacobs Retired Moderator Member of the Month Dec 2012PEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close Sean Jacobs]

Bottom Line: I'm sorry to break it to you but getting Abs is 85 - 90% diet. In order to see your abs you must be below 10% body fat. No amount of ab work, cardio, weight training, will compensate for a bad diet. The worst part about this fact is that managing your diet is the hardest part of good health and being in great shape. You have to pay attention to it 24x365.

Personally I follow a primal/paleo eating plan, which is basically a low carb plan.

[Sean Jacobs Retired Moderator Member of the Month Dec 2012PEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close Sean Jacobs]

My favorite is HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training, it does not take long and so much better on your body than Long Distance running.

I agree I only do HIIT cardio these days. It is far more effective for fat loss, but must be accompanied with a clean diet.

[heyhey Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close heyhey]

I agree I only do HIIT cardio these days. It is far more effective for fat loss, but must be accompanied with a clean diet.

HIIT is not more effective for fat loss actually. The purpose of HIIT is to stress your heart as much as possible, which is the opposite of what you want to be doing when burning calories. High distance, low intensity running is optimal for burning cals, either is fine tho since it's like 90% about your diet.


Jay, the ideal way to go about getting abs depends a whole lot on your current shape and what your goal is. But if its only to get rid of belly fat, and I assume youre not obese. I would suggest doing it slowly. Your body does not need rest for burning calories, but if you rush it you'll end up with loose skin and your body will not only burn fat, but a lot of muscle mass as well. Go slow and steady, healthy diet combined with cardio a couple of times a week will take care of your belly. Remember not to stop eating healthy once youre slim tho. Most people who lose weight end up gaining it back within a few years.

Forget about crunches/sit-ups, won't do you any good.

And again, the key is to eat less calories. I've gone from chubby to sub 10% Bodyfat two times in the last few years, and I never did any cardio.

[Sean Jacobs Retired Moderator Member of the Month Dec 2012PEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close Sean Jacobs]

HIIT is not more effective for fat loss actually. The purpose of HIIT is to stress your heart as much as possible, which is the opposite of what you want to be doing when burning calories. High distance, low intensity running is optimal for burning cals, either is fine tho since it's like 90% about your diet.

I must respectfully disagree. HIIT cardio, in a fasted state (first thing in the morning before eating is the easiest timing) dramitically increased the body's production of HGH (growth hormone), testosterone, catecholamines, and epinephrine (which all promote fat loss) and greatly improves insulin sensitivity. These hormonal changes are what drive fat loss without losing muscle mass. It is important not to eat any significant amount of carbs for a couple of hours after doing HIIT cardio, because once you trigger an insulin response it shuts off the fat burning effects. Insulin puts your body into fat storing mode.

Fat loss has much more to do with hormones than with calories.

[akaTrex Senior Member Member of the Month Jan 2016 Find all posts View Profile Close akaTrex]

Agreed crunches/sit-ups will not get you AB's without dropping body fat. But they are essential for a Strong core and to protect the Back. I perform AB workouts 3-4 days a week and no longer suffer back issues.

Personally I two have been below 10 percent BF many times in my 30+ years of training. I have a Sprinter Track backround and currently am participating in HIIT training at a city run facility The fat has melted off and I'm currently at 9% according to the Hydrostatic testing at the local College.

HIIT training is not for the faint of heart. But my long distance friends spend far more time and suffer way more joint soreness from jogging than us. We perform our HIIT training on a local artificial turf football field. No hard concrete, asphalt or uneven dirt or trails for us. Just a smooth tempurpedic football field for our team of HIIT participants.

p.s. I do perform 100 hanging knee ups and 100 crunches 3-4 days a week and the Ab's DO Show! I don't even have to look in the mirror. My wife's looks of admiration are worth the work!

Quote from Bodybuilding dot com.


Oh, I almost forgot, HIIT training strips muscle away right? No, actually HIIT training stimulates growth hormone production (Goto et al., 2007; Stokes et al., 2002), lowers our respiratory exchange ratio throughout rest of the day (Maehlum et al., 1986), burns more TOTAL calories at the end of the day (Puhl & Clark, 1992), force feeds stubborn fat into action and forces the body to hold onto muscle.

[aBone2pick Senior Member Member of the Month July 2014 Find all posts View Profile Close aBone2pick]

Theres already so much good advice in this thread that it's almost pointless to post more..

Things to do from most to least important.
1. Change your diet. Replace junky snacks with leafy greens.
2. Make an exercise plan that you can stick with. P90x, crossfit, any kind of circuit training, cycling, or even weight training with high reps and very little rest.

3. Be consistent about item 1 and 2. For people who are set on losing weight, cardio should be done pretty much every day of the week.

[Sean Jacobs Retired Moderator Member of the Month Dec 2012PEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close Sean Jacobs]

p.s. I do perform 100 hanging knee ups and 100 crunches 3-4 days a week and the Ab's DO Show! I don't even have to look in the mirror. My wife's looks of admiration are worth the work!

Awesome! As part of my extreme calisthenics routine I do hanging high (feet above waste hight) straight leg, leg raises with a 5 second hold on my last rep twice per week. Plus lots of varying forms of pull ups (which work the core surprisingly well). I have a great set of abs...which currently are covered by about 8 lbs of extra fat which I accumulated by eating too many carbs over this long bitterly cold winter. However, I will have my 6 pack back by June. The last of the Easter junk food is out of my house and I'm ready to go.

Oh, I almost forgot, HIIT training strips muscle away right? No, actually HIIT training stimulates growth hormone production (Goto et al., 2007; Stokes et al., 2002), lowers our respiratory exchange ratio throughout rest of the day (Maehlum et al., 1986), burns more TOTAL calories at the end of the day (Puhl & Clark, 1992), force feeds stubborn fat into action and forces the body to hold onto muscle.

Amen to that!

[heyhey Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close heyhey]

I must respectfully disagree. HIIT cardio, in a fasted state (first thing in the morning before eating is the easiest timing) dramitically increased the body's production of HGH (growth hormone), testosterone, catecholamines, and epinephrine (which all promote fat loss) and greatly improves insulin sensitivity. These hormonal changes are what drive fat loss without losing muscle mass. It is important not to eat any significant amount of carbs for a couple of hours after doing HIIT cardio, because once you trigger an insulin response it shuts off the fat burning effects. Insulin puts your body into fat storing mode.

There's been a lot of studies made on the benefits of fasted training, from what I understand we have yet to see any actual results from it. The changes in blood tests are scientifically insignificant, which means they are even more insignificant in real life.

Fat loss has much more to do with hormones than with calories.

This is what obese people say, blame hormones while eating 10 donuts a day...

[aBone2pick Senior Member Member of the Month July 2014 Find all posts View Profile Close aBone2pick]

Fat loss can be achieved by anyone. A close friend of mine has been seriously obese his whole life. I finally convinced him it was possible to change. He goes to the gym every day now. Just saw a picture of him yesterday after not seeing anything for a little over a month.. he had lost 20 pounds. He looks totally different. This guy has been big his whole life, he just never truly combined diet and exercise before.

Anyone who diets and exercises will lose weight, it's a basic law of biology. When you don't eat enough food tonsupport the amount of activity you do, your body starts converting glycogen into glucose. If this were not the case for you, you would just die on the spot.

[Norwegian Wood Member Find all posts View Profile Close Norwegian Wood]

Personally I don't have any experince with fatloss, I've been slender my whole life. But I do recall watching a Jim Stoppani workout guide (this dude has a phd in exercise physiology) he did claim that whereas cardio training burnt more calories during the workout those that had done lifting had lost more bodyfat. He refered to some research when he claimed that, but didn't specify it.