Support and New Ideas

oroblar

Generally I am fit. I get alot of cardio in and do reps of basic strenght training. Problem area is the pudge in the middle.... Any ideas on how to attack belly fat? As with most things it is great to have a support group and would love to help back people in reaching their goals.

kristen6022

1. You can't spot reduce.

2. Abs are made in the kitchen. So, keep a caloric deficient everyday, eat more non-processed food and wait it out. No secrets or tricks about it.

Lizzy622

You should also look into core exercises(planks, etc.). It may not spot reduce but it will firm up what is under the fat so when you lose your abs start showing through.

ElliottTN

Only things that are going to help that are genetics and lowing your body fat percentage. Unfortunately you only have control over one of those things.

You could spend an hour a day doing crunches, planks, whatever, won't make a bit of a difference. In some cases you can actually make you gut look bigger by doing these things.

oroblar

I have heard that if you excercise your core when you have the uber layer of fat all you do is build muscle under your fat. Cardio and watching what I eat is the way to go?

ElliottTN

If you just wanted a flat stomach than yes. but. BUT. Keep this in mind. Everyone will spout that in order to lose a pound of fat (which translates into your bf% going down) than you need to be 3500 in the neg. The thing is, you will never just burn fat. Whenever you are losing weight you are going to be losing a mix between fat and lean muscle. This is where your strength training comes into play. By doing your strength training you are going to help preserve as much lean body mass as possible. Combined with proper protein in your diet you should be able to keep the lean muscle loss to a min.

You could get a flat stomach by just cardio and diet but what is that flat stomach and the rest of your body going to look like at the end of it? If looking like Michael Cera is your goal than you can achieve it by just cardio and diet. If you want some muscle left on that frame then better keep up your strength routine while you are doing your cardio/diet.

Also, in terms of weight loss, cardio is just creating a later caloric deficit. Some of the most esthetic looking people you have ever seen never do cardio, they just focus on diet and strength training.