DESPERATE: WANTING TO LOSE STOMACH FAT

[eddyselman]

Hi Everyone,

Great to see so many people on here helping others and passionate about fitness!

name is Edward, I am a 23 year-old student from Australia. Over the last year I
have lost approximately 95 lbs after making drastic changes to eating habits and
exercising at the gym daily.

I now weigh-in at 179 lbs which I would consider to be a healthy weight for someone
that is 6 ft 3. Despite this I am still carrying a large amount of fat around stomach.

So far I have mainly been doing cardio at the gym sessions normally range from 1 - 2 hours
in length. Interested to know would doing weights such as bench press help me lose this
stubborn stomach fat and what else could I do?

Regards,
Edward

[Boss Man]

Hi Edward, good to talk to you and kudos for losing that much weight, you deserve to be proud of yourself .

You don't really need to do a lot of cardio, you only need 20-30 minutes 3 times a week, for what you're trying to do.

You could do a schedule something like this

Squats, 2 sets, 10 reps

Lunges, 2 sets, 10 reps

Deadlifts, 2 sets, 10 reps

Bench press, 2 sets, 10 reps

Bent over Rows, 2 sets, 10 reps

Shrugs, 2 sets, 10 reps

Planks 30 seconds.

You would do that 3x a week every other day.

As for what you lift, go for the second smallest dumbbells on bench press, lunges and squats, the smallest dumbbells on shrugs and the smallest barbell on bent over rows and deadlifts

This is how your schedule could look per week

Day 1. Weights

Day 2. Cardio

Day 3. Weights

Day 4. Day off

Day 5. Cardio

Day 6. Weights

Day 7. Day off.

This prevents you doing 5 days straight and 2 days of nothing, as I think that's allowing too much consecutive taxation and 2 days of your body doing nothing, slowly starting to adjust to it, before 5 days of grind again, which might take the edge off progress potential, so the 5 split days should be better for you.

[jgerard]

Not sure what type of cardio you are doing but switching up long steady cardio with shorter bursts of cardio (sprints, hill sprints, HIIT,etc.) is important to do regularly. Even long distance runners don't only run long runs at a steady pace. Having those sprints (especially hill sprints) is a great way to increase metabolism after your workout- that will in turn keep your body working and shedding body fat. You can have cardio sessions last anywhere from 20-60min but always incorporate weighted body weight exercises in before or after. Crunches are great but remember there are tons of ways to work your core other than crunches. Plank, jump tucks, weighted squats, standing knee to elbow, burpees, and so much more ALL work your core and other parts of your body too! Mix up your workouts and if you like doing long runs, always have a dedicated day to have your longest run, like sunday runday!

[jony26]

Hi Everyone,

Great to see so many people on here helping others and passionate about fitness!

name is Edward, I am a 23 year-old student from Australia. Over the last year I
have lost approximately 95 lbs after making drastic changes to eating habits and
exercising at the gym daily.

I now weigh-in at 179 lbs which I would consider to be a healthy weight for someone
that is 6 ft 3. Despite this I am still carrying a large amount of fat around stomach.

So far I have mainly been doing cardio at the gym sessions normally range from 1 - 2 hours
in length. Interested to know would doing weights such as bench press help me lose this
stubborn stomach fat and what else could I do?

Regards,
Edward

Hey Edward, welcome to the forum.

First of all, you have very good proportions weight/height wise.

In regards to the fat that you are trying to fight, there are special foods that are recommended for waist fat.

There are also specific exercises as there are mentioned some of them in one of the posts above.

I am a certified personal trainer, and as one I would say the best thing is to consult with a professional.

I also have own blog that I would suggest you to read a specific article that could help you out exactly with your core fat.

Here it is http://www.healthfitspace.com/4-exercis ... our-/

If you do only these simple exercises, but do them consistently every day or every other day I am sure you are going to shrink your waist.

It will take you not more than 10-15 minutes a day. It is nothing, but as I said you need to be serious.

Again I am recommending you this article due to I am certain about the quality of information in it. (There is nothing to sell or something on that page!!!).

I would also suggest you not to take any pills or/and supplements as if now.

[mikepol2]

I have a similar goal as the OP but from a different starting point...

I've been working out 6 days a week for several years and seem to have maxed out with being able to put weight ON. Workouts are usually 4 days strength and 2 days cardio. I'm 49 yrs old, 5'11" and 180 lbs, and have a hard time building muscle (probably part fast metabolism and part Father Time).

Since it's hard to GAIN weight it seemed like a good idea to quit trying to get bigger and instead try to get good definition, but there's a layer of fat that prevents any ab visibility and it's driving me crazy.

I take weight, , chest and arm measurements every 12 weeks and at one point got down to 176 lbs - but stayed the same measurement and chest got smaller.

Any ideas or suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

[jony26]

I have a similar goal as the OP but from a different starting point...

I've been working out 6 days a week for several years and seem to have maxed out with being able to put weight ON. Workouts are usually 4 days strength and 2 days cardio. I'm 49 yrs old, 5'11" and 180 lbs, and have a hard time building muscle (probably part fast metabolism and part Father Time).

Since it's hard to GAIN weight it seemed like a good idea to quit trying to get bigger and instead try to get good definition, but there's a layer of fat that prevents any ab visibility and it's driving me crazy.

I take weight, , chest and arm measurements every 12 weeks and at one point got down to 176 lbs - but stayed the same measurement and chest got smaller.

Any ideas or suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

I assume you know that it is 80% diet and only 20% workout.

With that said please let us know what are your daily macros.

Also will probably be able to help you more, if you describe what are the exercises you do in these 6 days of workout.

Working out 6 times a week for several years and not seeing the result you seek is ludicrous. That means there are more than one thing in your program that you do wrong.

Without this info there's no chance for me to suggest something at this point.

[mikepol2]

To be clear, I've been very happy with the results of the past few years, compared to what body was like before I started. Everyone seems to have a max muscle size that their body is capable of and it feels like I'm close to mine. It just feels like there's a stubborn last few pounds of fat around middle that won't go away. I do watch diet but it does seem like I must be missing something. Not sure what a macro is.

Not sure how much detail you're looking for but a typical week is something like this:
Day 1- chest and triceps
Day 2 - back and biceps
Day 3 - plyometrics or interval training
Day 4 - legs
Day 5 - shoulders and abs
Day 6 - I play a couple hours of basketball with the local 20-somethings once a week, and being able to continue playing is one of main fitness goals.

[Boss Man]

Hi Mike good to talk to you.

The workouts seem okay, as long as you're not overdoing it in regards to too many sets / volume of work, but in relation to diet, what times do you eat at and what foods do you eat at those times?

[mikepol2]

Hi and happy holidays!

When I was trying to add muscle, it didn't seem to matter how much I ate or when. I could eat a whole 8 cut pizza for dinner and have a protein shake after working out and still couldn't gain a pound.

There's currently no set diet schedule but on weekdays at work, breakfast is usually coffee and a protein bar with a dollop of peanut butter, then maybe some whole wheat crackers or turkey jerky before lunch. Lunch could be anything depending what leftovers we have from dinner the night before. Dinner is whatever wife cooks. Lots of chicken, sometimes pork or beef, no seafood (neither of us like it). Not a lot of pasta. Usually after dinner at 6:00 there's no more eating for the day. But sprinkled in that diet are things like the occasional whole pizza, ice cream after dinner, or a double burger (with broccoli instead of fries) at Red Robin. I really try to watch what I eat but usually end up being so hungry after a couple days of watching that I'll pig out just to feel full, working out so much really gets your appetite going.

I work a desk job and set an alarm once an hour to walk up 7 flights of stairs and back down.

Thanks!

[Boss Man]

In terms of the eating I've given this strategy to people before, so hopefully it should work for you.

Breakfast

Option 1.

Bowl of Whole-grain Cereal and 1 rasher of Bacon, fat trimmed off and scrambled Eggs, (2 Egg Whites + Yolk)

Option 2.

Protein shake, small portion of Nuts, (excluding higher carb ones like Cashews, Chestnuts and Grapenuts), + Apple. Give the Apple 10-15 minutes to digest to improve digestion.


Snack

Option 1.

Portion of Turkey + Orange

Option 2.

Small Portion of Peanuts, some Chicken + Raw Carrott.


Lunch

Option 1.

Large Beef Sandwich with trimmings, I.E. Tomato, Lettuce, Cucumber etc.

Option 2.

Bowl of Chicken Soup, + Pot of yoghurt.


Snack

Option 1.

Turkey + Cashews

Option 2.

Ham + 2 large Tomatos


Dinner

Option 1.

Pork with mashed Potato.

Option 2.

Chicken and Rice

Option 3.

100g Halibut + Broccoli


Snack

Option 1.

Beans on Toast

Option 2.

Ham Sandwich, no trimmings.

Easy on the bread with both options.

You could add a few things to certain meals, like Sea Salt, Cracked Black Pepper, Parsley, Mustard, Herbs, Garlic.

[mikepol2]

OK so sounds like you're fairly certain that diet is the key to losing those last 5 lbs or so that cover abs? I'll see if I can make your diet plan work.

Is it "eat these foods till you're full" or "eat these foods in the portions listed"? In other words, not just eat what's on the plan, but cut back on the quantity that I'm currently eating?

Thanks very much!

[Boss Man]

There are no specific portions on that plan I:E: grams, lbs, ounces etc, so it's just a case of use a bit of common sense basically.

It is a fairly solid template, but I don't want to include specific quantities as I don't want the plan to feel really precise, rigid and possibly a little stressful for people who do it.