39 replies to this topic

[ijap1012]

Can I ask you guys what workouts the best to burn abdominal fat?

[niner]

To be honest, no workout is good for getting rid of abdominal fat. The way to get rid of abdominal fat is to eat less sugar and refined carbohydrates.

[JChief]

And if you want those abs to show you'd need to get that body fat percentage down in the single digits.

[Godot]

You can't really burn fat in a target area; if you're burning fat you'll be burning it everywhere.

The previous posters are right that you need to cut carbs to burn fat, but working out can also help. Don't focus on cardio. High-resistance exercises that engage large muscle group will do the most to increase the rate of energy consumption in your muscles. Squats are your friend.

[nowayout]

What the previous posters said, but I might add that HIIT (high intensity interval training) may be worth adding to weight training. There are indications that it may be better for cutting fat while preserving muscle and possibly healthier than plain steady-state cardio. You can look it up easily enough.

Edited by viveutvivas, 25 May 2012 - 03:19 PM.

[scottknl]

Ditto on all that. Great abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym! Cut the carbs and exercise regularly to gain muscle definition.

[ciportoon]

As others have said you can't spot reduce certain areas. Plenty of cardio and drop the food. Few ab exercises maybe good to built up the abs that are laying dormant!

I think there will be more ways in the future though. Leptin can be used and ems can work too (not your shop bought ones!)

[Luminosity]

Don't do sit ups. They can injure you.

Chinese Medicine says that overweight can be made worse by eating cold foods and drinks. An unusually large stomach can indicate weakness in the Earth element. There are foods and other things that can strengthen your Earth element. You can find out more about Chinese Medicine here:

http://www.longecity...inese-medicine/

Edited by Luminosity, 26 May 2012 - 02:18 AM.

[maxwatt]

Situps do not preferentially burn abdominal fat, as others here have noted.

Visceral fat is the hardest to burn off. Last to be used, so it will take time for diet to have an effect. Cardio helps burn it, but if you sit at a desk all day when not working out, cardio is useless. Resistance exercise (weights) does increase your metabolic rate to burn more fat, but this is undone by subsequent sitting. Long cardio workouts that will burn more visceral fat than subsequent rebound eating will put on, would have to last over two hours. If you can't do ultra-marathons, then long distance bicycling -- 50 miles or more -- is the only practical option.

But working at a stand-up desk, at least part of the time, will burn a lot of calories once you get used to standing. A job that involves standing or walking over sitting is desirable.

23andme recently published data indicating three major genetic types. About a third of the population can eat high amounts (over 30% of calories) of saturated fats without gaining weight: the paleo diet works for them, not so much for others. Another third or so can eat mono-unsaturated fat, >30% of diet without weight gain. That is the Mediteranean diet, lots of olive oil with your carbs and veggies. The rest of the population gains weight if over 30% of calories come from fat. But even with under 30% of your diet from fat, you still gain fat-weight if you consume refined sugars: sucrose, fructose, high-fructose corn syrup. Carbs are OK if they are complex carbs, and if you are burning off any excess.

In a nutshell: don't eat desert or processed food, and stand as much as possible. Don't work at a desk. I can't remember the last time I saw a fat waiter. The bus drivers I see are all fat.

Edited by maxwatt, 30 May 2012 - 12:48 PM.

[nowayout]

Cardio helps burn it, but if you sit at a desk all day when not working out, cardio is useless. Resistance exercise (weights) does increase your metabolic rate to burn more fat, but this is undone by subsequent sitting. Long cardio workouts that will burn more visceral fat than subsequent rebound eating will put on, would have to last over two hours. If you can't do ultra-marathons, then long distance bicycling -- 50 miles or more -- is the only practical option.

Don't quite agree. You are putting up such a high bar that anybody who reads this is likely to just give up hope. Cardio is not useless if you have a desk job - someone who didn't know any better might conclude that they might as well give up their daily run and be completely inactive - this is not supported by evidence unless you greatly exaggerate the significance of that recent study. And lots of people with desk jobs do lose weight without doing ultra-marathons or long-distance biking. Many of them respond very well to, and achieve significant body recomposition from, moderate cardio, or short HIIT workouts, or weight training without even any cardio, combined with clean eating.

23andme recently published data indicating three major genetic types. About a third of the population can eat high amounts (over 30% of calories) of saturated fats without gaining weight: the paleo diet works for them, not so much for others. Another third or so can eat mono-unsaturated fat, >30% of diet without weight gain. That is the Mediteranean diet, lots of olive oil with your carbs and veggies. The rest of the population gains weight if over 30% of calories come from fat.

Thank you for reiterating this. It needs to be said again and again that paleo or high-fat diets are not for everyone. Not even for a majority.

Edited by viveutvivas, 30 May 2012 - 01:33 PM.

[Luminosity]

Yeah, trying to run ultra-marathons or other extreme forms of exercise would injure a lot of people and cause more not even to try. Same with extreme diets. Most people who do not eat too much and who are moderately active are not overweight, at least outside of an extremely walking-unfriendly, sedentary, calorie-rich place like the US; therefore most of the world's humans have reasonably flat bellies without extreme regimens. Yes, it can be hard to lose a belly once aquired, but doing extreme things can be worse for you.

[platypus]

Building muscle and limiting carbs is the way to go. Forget the idea of trying to burn the fat off through calories used _during_ excercise. Instead do things that raise your basal metabolic rate, i.e. lifting heavy weights, doing intervals, taking thermogenic supplements etc.

Edited by platypus, 01 June 2012 - 08:17 AM.

[niner]

It needs to be said again and again that paleo or high-fat diets are not for everyone. Not even for a majority.

High fat (hyperlipid) diets aren't for everyone, but paleo and high fat are two different concepts, though they are frequently intermingled. Paleo means not eating neolithic/industrial foods. Paleo IS for everybody. Seriously. Virtually everyone, with the possible exception of a few genetic freaks, will be better off with less sugar and refined grains.

[The Immortalist]

just lift weights, eat at a caloric deficit, and eat some more protein and you will be shredded. It's really not complicated.

[megatron]

Run intervals 4 days a week, that's what's kept me in such great shape.

[vader]

cocaine, amphetamine, 5th a day and run all the time on no sleep and eat nothing! that's how the rockstars do it!

 

throw some lsd into the mix for better results

[Mr Serendipity]

You can actually kill fat cells by cooling them off. Children who have too many popsicles can kill some of the fat in their cheeks and develop dimples! Check this article: https://www.westlake...-coolsculpting/

 

Also Google: Popsicle Panniculitis

 

I have my own experience in this too. I was an early adopter of the Cool Fat Burner. It is a vest which holds frozen ice packs, which when you put on, activate your bodies brown fat by cooling areas of your upper torso & upper back.

 

You can see it here: https://coolfatburner.com

 

 

 

Sadly I developed frost bite on my body twice because of the vest. First time was on my back, and it took over a year to disappear. Then I re-attemped the vest, and the second time I developed it on my collar bone, which has also now disappeared. Frost bite scares the crap out of me, as usually it's not curable, and each time I developed it, it literally took around a year to disappear, so I consider myself lucky (I was putting various ointments on the areas also).

 

I now blame the ice packs for the frost bite. There are 2 you can get, but I think he only sold 1 type of ice packs in the early start of his business. The ones I got are not malleable after taking out of the freezer, and can take up to an hour or more to thaw. So when you wear the vest and the ice packs are an odd shape, they can press harder on your skin then they should, thus causing frostbite. He sells the malleable ice packs now too, but they don't stay frozen for as long. 

 

Anyway my experience with killing fat with it. I must have used the vest around 20 times for 2-4 hours at a time in total (frostbite didn't happen on the first attempts). So my upper torso, shoulders, and upper back had many hours of exposure to very cold temperatures. I don't know how effective it was for Brown Fat activation as I didn't measure or observe this. However I gained a lot of weight over the past few years, and even though I gained weight everywhere else on my body, the parts of my body that still looked very lean were my traps, my upper pecks, and my shoulders. Which I do believe is down to the fat cells being killed off.

 

 

So that's my experience. The guy also sells a cool gut burner, which is designed for killing off white fat around the waist using this theory (instead of increasing brown fat activation like his vest is designed to do). I may get one of those in the future after I lose all the weight I possible can through diet and intermittent fasting, and are still not happy. But if I do, I'll be sure to buy the malleable ice packs. Until then, IF, diet, and exercise I'll stick to, as there's no chance of me developing frostbite.

Edited by manny, 03 June 2017 - 12:35 PM.

[Rocket]

Losing fat is easy. Its caloric intake. Losing fat without losing muscle is harder. The only way I know to do that is with steroids, exercise, and proper nutrition. There is no way to spot reduce fat unless you resort to medical assistance.

[Mr Serendipity]

Except there is a way to kill fat cells using the cold, which can be used for spot reduction as I posted above.

Edited by manny, 05 June 2017 - 08:34 AM.

[Oakman]

I watched this film "Sugar" last night on Amazon (free w/Prime, and also on Netflix), and aside from being an entertaining personal journey, surprisingly, it was also an eye-opener on getting rid of abdominal fat.

 

"THAT SUGAR FILM started as one man's journey to discover the bitter truth about sugar. Damon Gameau embarked on a unique experiment to document the effects of a high sugar diet on a healthy body, consuming only foods that are commonly perceived, or promoted to be 'healthy’."

 

Synopsis and trailer

 

In the course of his personal experiment, he goes from a slim, healthy state, to one where he gains significant abdominal fat (and other health issues). Then he reverses, and takes it off in the most simple, straightforward way. I was impressed, and learned quite a bit from the film. I don't have much abdominal fat, but what I do, I'm going to try what he did. Worth watching!

[Mr Serendipity]

Can you give us a summary on what he did?

[Oakman]

Can you give us a summary on what he did?

 

Sure, cut 'added sugar' of any type from what your diet. IOW, eat real food, not processed food. The easiest way to picture this, and as shown in the film, is think of a grocery store where any food with added sugar (and the multitude of other names used for 'sugar' on the label) is removed from the shelves.  The story is him first eating that stuff, gaining belly fat, then eating almost none of it, and losing the belly fat.  He does not eat any junk food or sweets, and his calorie intake remains the same throughout.  Sounds boring, but he, and the process, (monitored by a staff of doctors and nutritionists) is both fun and revealing. 

Edited by Oakman, 05 June 2017 - 08:35 PM.

[whileitravel]

Try a 72 hour water fast. Guaranteed you'll lose fat.

[Nate-2004]

Most people who fast for that long end up gaining it back pretty quickly.

 

Cortisol levels can contribute to insulin dysfunction and the storage of fat tends to target abdominal areas in men. To address cortisol issues you'll have to make sure the basics are covered, like a diet high in soluble fiber (nuts, seeds, greens), regular, consistent quality sleep on a schedule (circadian rhythm), regular exercise... specifically aerobic exercise apparently, aim for 4x per week as both a maximum and minimum.  After all those bases are covered then you'll probably want to try therapy or if you have stressful relationships, romantic or otherwise, maybe couple's therapy. Get a pet, but one that is a good match for you. Fish oil also helps as well as, supposedly, ashwagandha. I wouldn't exactly bet on that last one just yet as all the research so far has been funded by supplement companies that sell ashwagandha. 

[whileitravel]

Nate I've tried everything that you've mentioned and I eat clean and do hiit daily and after 4 months of seeing less than desirable results I opted for a 72 hour fast. I agree with you that you regain the weight loss, but what I've noticed is the fat loss secondary to ketosis after 48 hours of a water fast.

Edited by whileitravel, 11 April 2018 - 03:49 AM.

[ceridwen]

The film is not available in the UK

[Nate-2004]

I also forgot to mention EGCG on an empty stomach in the mornings. Also try cocao, I put it in my coffee. Supposedly caffeine raises cortisol but only for intermittent users, anyone who regularly drinks coffee no longer has the cortisol spike, at least according to what I found searching Google.

[mikeinnaples]

First and foremost, losing weight is simply eating less calories than you are burning. The carbs, the fat, and the protein are all irrelevant when it comes to this. You can lose weight on a keto diet (high fat) and you can lose weight on the Ornish diet (high carb). Eating for your genetics is important of course as is the quality/type of the food you eat as others have mentioned. Even healthy fats and oils are calorie rich, so unless you are on a keto diet where you require a high intake, you have to be careful of how many extra calories you are adding into your diet. Adequate protein for recovery and repair without going over board and causing harm is also key. So is adequate fluid intake and proper sleep.

 

With that said, abs aren't made in the gym, they are made in the kitchen. There is no way to target visceral fat specifically and it is generally the last to go. Your only choice is getting down to a low body fat %. The biggest issue I see with people is that they go at the cardio too hard and neglect the weights. I usually spend on hour and a half in the gym 4 days a week as such: 45m weights, 30m cardio, 15m stretch/foam roll. If I do a 5th day in the gym, it is generally an active recovery day with minor lifting/cardio to warm up followed by foam rolling and stretching.

 

FWIW - I am 43, 6'1 187lbs with 6pack abs. I am also a software engineer that sits on my ass in front of a computer for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I do try to get up fairly often and walk around though. Yes my BMI is borderline 'overweight' but it is generally bunk for people with athletic builds. My body fat % test at my physical this year was 7.8%. I eat keto a few months out of the year and a diet similar to Ornish (plus fish) the rest of the year.

[Nate-2004]

Yes and no, eating less than you burn is certainly going to result in fat loss but aside from that when it comes to abdominal fat in men, insulin function is a major factor along with the kind of carbs you get specifically. Keeping your soluble fiber over 30g is going to go a long way towards abdominal fat reduction, so will exercise and proper sleep patterns and quality. I gain abdominal fat very very quickly if I am not careful with these things. Fasting will strip it off and so will keto, but unless my fiber is super high, I have trouble with anything else.

[RWhigham]

Can I ask you guys what workouts the best to burn abdominal fat?

 

Supplements  Goggle Tim Ferriss PAGG stack (Policosanol, Alpha-lipoic-acid, Green-tea-extract, and  Garlic). He claims it helps reduce abdominal fat  Caveat: If you have mercury in your brain, alpha-lipoic-acid can move it around causing greater damage. Google Cutler protocol

 

Exercise  For the latest exercise science, see the book "Body by Science" by Doug McGuff or just google his YouTube videos.

 

About the Author Dr McGuff is a full time practicing MD,who also owns an exercise facility.and has studied exercise physiology for many years. He personally knows many scientists in the field..His book is filled with references to exercise studies. Poor musculature causes poor health. There are chapters about the misguided routines commonly used by coaching staffs today, how to optimize training for different sports, and how to avoid wearing out your joints.

 

A 12 minute body  Doug McGuff''s YouTube videos show 90 sec weight lifting sessions of the seated row, chest press, pulldown, overhead press, and leg press, These exercises are HIT and weight lifting combined. They take about 90 sec each. With about 1 minute in between exercises, you can finish them in 12 minutes and go home. Then you must rest for at least a week to allow maximum muscle rebound-growth. Sometimes, to make progress, you have to rest even longer. He references many studies that show more frequent exercise gives worse results

 

Hi Intensity  Each exercise uses about 75-80% of your one time max. The first rep will seem easy. The movements are very slow, only a few reps--staying under load at all times until your muscles fail. The weight should be selected so failure occurs in 90 +/- 30 sec. The last few seconds you are hyperventilating like crazy and giving it all you've got. Your body should think you're engaged in a life and death struggle and pull out all the stops. When doing this your brain will be screaming for you to stop sooner than you must..For a few seconds after failure your muscles will be useless. After the leg press--done right--you cannot immediately stand. At the end of each exercise, you should be huffing and puffing so hard you cannot talk. After a minute or so when you recover enough to talk, start the next exercise.

 

The Whole Muscle  These exercises start out engaging your Slow-Twitch fibers. As they begin to fail, the faster twitch fibers will engage until the entire muscle has completely engaged to failure. 

 

More Weight Bad  If you start with a weight heavy enough to engage all fibers at once two bad things happen:

• Once you're strong, engaging all fibers at once generates a dangerous amount of force that can be damaging to your joints and tendons ie you may hurt yourself or accumulate damage
• The fastest fatiguing fibers will fail first, then the weight will be too heavy to continue and the remaining fibers will not be fatigued

Optimized Force  You need a machine with weights on a cam that optimise the force across the movement. Otherwise, you need a 2nd person toward the end of the exercise to help get you past positions where your muscles generate the least force (as shown on the McGuff YouTube videos)

Edited by RWhigham, 13 April 2018 - 10:24 PM.