darrenham Member

No single exercise will add definition. For definition you need to lose the layer of fat from under the skin. This may or may not be possible due to your genetics and your genetics only deciding where your body stores fat. Exercises mentioned in here are all great for building muscle, but you can't see it if there's a…

You may not have much choice. Continue with your weightloss, and if you aren't doing any specific muscle-building exercises on your calves, your body should realise this and reduce the size. However, if it's down to genetics you won't have a chance. Just take comfort in the fact that shapely legs are much better than…

This. It is possible to burn fat and gain muscle at the same time, it's just that you'll see quicker muscle gains if you're in a calorie surplus. If you stick to the recommended weight loss here (1lb a week) and do low-reps high-weight exercise, you'll see both a fat reduction and an increase in muscle bulk (over months,…

When you eat matters very little. As long as the net calorie expenditure is the same. It's often healthier to think of things over a longer period than a day really, somewhere this site falls down a little. The amount of calories needed to lose / gain a pound of fat is so large that weeks/months is a better time frame to…

There's no such thing as toning, in an exercise sense. Yes over-stretched skin "can" improve. But not always. If it's really getting you down, speak to your doctor about it.

Any exercise that burns calories combined with a diet with less calories than you're eating. It's that simple. Spot training for fat reduction is physiologically impossible.

That's the problem with the media these days, it's less about what you write, and more about how many people will click on and read your article.

Hmm, agree with some of that article, not all of it though by any means. Fat loss is as much diet as exercised based. Burning 200kcals in the gym has exactly the same effect as eating 200kcals less. The problem is, people then go "I'm going to the gym, I'll have this energy drink to give me the energy to exercise" or "I've…

Anything that burns calories, combined with eating less of course. Spot training (for fat loss) is physiologically impossible.

Yes. Running up stairs is excellent. You get a greater range of movement than normal sprinting, and because it's a more intense work-out, you don't need to go so far to get the heart rate up. Anyone looking for high intensity / explosive lower body exercise should do it.

Some bodybuilders are idiots. It seems to be a hobby/past-time where a lot of rubbish gets around, and often because X big-shot is doing something, Y wannabe copies it word for word. I'm not saying all bodybuilders are idiots by the way. Serious body-building is about crazy results, so they often have to do crazy and…

Why are you talking about lifting and strength training as two different things? I agree it's good to do a bit of cardio too, but for cardiovascular fitness, not purely for calorie-burning purposes.

None of this makes any difference, as long as you're in a negative energy balance, it doesn't matter if you're using fat or sugar at the time of the exercise because your body will even it out. You're unlikely to increase the size of your lungs through cardio either. Also, forget the heart rate monitor. Concentrate on your…

Why does it tell you to slow down? Is it some kind of heart-rate-zone thing? They're all rubbish. As long as you are comfortable, and have no breathlessness, chest pains or dizziness, you'll be fine. Ignore target heart-rate zones. If you're trying to burn calories you want to work as hard as you can (safely of course).

Lose more fat. If you can't then you're genetically designed to store fat there, and will never be able to see your obliques. There is no resistance exercise that makes your muscles pop out from underneath the layer of fat we all have in certain places.

Strength training does not "tone", losing fat "tones". Which is done by burning calories, so yeah my first sentence might be slightly wrong. Strength training builds strength by building muscle (providing you are lifting heavy, and keep going until you can't lift any more). Not only does actually lifting the weight burn…

You're too quick, I added an edit.

There is also no such thing as tone in the sense that most people think about it. Just definition. Definition only comes with the loss of sub-cutaneous (under the skin) fat.

You cannot spot train. So there is no point concentrating your exercise on your legs more than you want to. If you have an area that retains fat, it's because your genetics dictate that that is where fat is stored. Men tend to retain love-handles and bellies, women retain boobs, hips and thighs. That's not because men do…