Answer Fitness®: Practical Fitness Advice for Everyone

Losing Belly Fat: How Can I Do It? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Trying to lose belly fat can be frustrating. The Fitness Nerd takes a look at the best ways to get rid of belly fat and keep your stomach flat … for good.

Hi Fitness Nerd,

I have a question about losing belly fat, and getting in better shape overall. I’m 24 years old and 5′ 7″ if that helps.

So here is my story… All through college, I never weighed more than 145 lbs. (that was at my heaviest). I was competing in the Miss America pageant system, walking back and forth to class, etc. But eating the same as I do now. While this helped keep my belly fat in check — I never really was able to achieve that truly flat belly that I was looking for.

Two years later, I weigh just under 170 lbs. I don’t look that heavy, all the weight is in my buttocks and belly. I went on a special eating program to get ready for the Miss USA pageant a few months ago and was very strict with it for 3 months, brown rice, grilled chicken, eggs, sweet potatoes, green beans, salad, yogurt, and lots of water plus cardio and very small weights every day. I GAINED weight!! (about 10 pounds).

So I got very, very frustrated and quit all together. Now I have a job where I sit at work all the time, and my hours are unusual so it’s difficult for me to workout all the time. Also, I am frustrated with how I look in clothes, really want to lose the belly fat and am ready to do something to change that. I typically just do cardio at the gym, but not as religiously as I could. I get bored with it easily. I do like lifting weights though. Also, I had a personal trainer, but just wasn’t making the progress I wanted. So I stopped that as well.

My diet is pretty off - I still eat a lot of grilled chicken and brown rice (just because I love it). But, my biggest issue is that I don’t eat fruit or veggies at all - except select salads, and green beans. I eat a lot of turkey and cheese sandwiches, pizza, and drink a good bit of Coke.  I’m also kind of a picky eater. It’s time for me to change, I just want something that I know will work.

How do I get rid of the belly fat for good?  Can I lose belly belly fat, or am I just a lost cause? Thanks for your help!! (Elle — Alabama)

Elle, losing belly fat is right at the top of the list for most people when it comes to fitness goals. So you’re definitely not alone.

The challenge, of course, is that there are no easy, fast, ”silver bullet” solutions to losing belly fat, regardless of what all the “Belly Fat Diet” ads say.

If you are looking for 1 way to lose belly fat, you’re probably going to be disappointed. Also, if you’re looking for the best way to lose belly fat fast, I don’t want to get your hopes up. This is going to take some work and changes on your part. But if you want to succeed …. you will.

If you really want to reduce belly fat, it really takes a combination of diet and exercise — and the most effective combination will vary considerably from person-to-person, as you’ve learned first-hand. While improvements to diet and lots of cardio might help one person get rid of their belly fat, others do better with less cardio, better diet and more weight training.

So the trick is finding what works for you. You can either accomplish this with the help of a good personal trainer (which, unfortunately, you may not have had)  or you can try to go it on your own, based on what you learn about yourself and what works.

The good news is that you aren’t hopeless, and there are some pretty effective way to lose belly fat, starting today.

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Interval Training (HIIT) | Get Leaner with Less Cardio?

Can Interval Training help you strip off body fat faster? Learn how adding High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) into your cardio routine can reap big rewards in strength, power and fat loss.

When most people think of cardio, they think of endless hours on a treadmill, elliptical machine, stair stepper or jogging. But unless you enjoy distance or long-duration cardio (for example, if you are training for a marathon or are a running enthusiast) , many gym-goers dread climbing on that hamster wheel each day in the hopes of burning off that 400 calories and maybe losing a little body fat along the way.

But what if there was a way to burn nearly the same amount of calories in 30 minutes that you do in 60 minutes, stimulate fat burning after your cardio is complete, boost your stamina and endurance, and actually increase lean muscle in the process?

There may be.

It’s called Interval Training — also known as “High Intensity Interval Training” or “HIIT“, for short — and it uses periods of high-intensity cardio coupled with lower-intensity recovery periods in succession to shave time off your cardio workout and possibly more fat off your midsection than long duration cardio. And even more promising, Interval Training seems to do a better job than long-duration cardio of preserving lean tissue (muscle) while still burning fat.

Interval Training: What Is It?

Simply put, Interval Training is a method of cardiovascular training that has you perform the same amount of total work that you would perform in a longer session of cardio, but in a much shorter period of time by increasing the intensity of your workout.  

Interval Training is considered an advanced form of training and is popular with everyone from elite Olympic and professional athletes to body builders, fitness enthusiasts and recreational runners.  While the technique is advanced, it can be successfully modified to work for beginners as well, provided you are in good health and are free of any cardiovascular disorders that could make the routine unsafe.

Interval Training relies on the principle of rest and recovery to allow your body to do more work in less time. By alternating higher-intensity activity with short rest and recovery periods, you are able to cumulatively do more work in less time. And more work translates into more calories burned in a 30 minute session of cardio than if you did the same duration of cardio at a lower intensity.

Examples of Interval Training

High Intensity Interval Training can be applied to nearly any cardiovascular activity, whether that’s walking, running, rollerblading or biking.

For example, if you are fit and regularly walk as part of your exercise routine, you might incorporate short periods (between 1-2 minutes) of jogging into your walk between lower-intensity periods of walking. If you are less fit, you might simply walk faster for a few minutes, allow yourself to recover and than repeat the higher intensity walking. If you are more highly conditioned, you might add in sprints to your daily run or treadmill work.

The Benefits of High Intensity Interval Training

High Intensity Interval Training has a number of benefits that make it an effective addition to your existing cardiovascular training. These benefits include:

• Burning more calories in less time
• Improved cardiovascular endurance
• Possible increases in whole body fat burning (fat oxidation) versus solid-state cardio
• Reduced risk of Metabolic Syndrome
• Decreased muscle catabolism/increases in lean muscle mass
• Improvements in arterial elasticity
• Reduced boredom with your current cardio routine

Let’s take a closer look at each of these potential benefits, including some of the research behind them.

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Total Body Workout with Weight Machines | Workout Routines

Not ready for the free weight room? This total body workout routine uses the most common weight machines at the gym to give your entire body a great workout in under 60 minutes.

Total body workouts (also known as “full body workouts”) are a great way to build muscle, burn fat, develop core stability and strength, and cut down on your overall time in the gym. Generally, total body workouts are most effective when they are built around compound, multi-joint exercises that use free weights like dumbbells and barbells.

But not everyone feels comfortable in the free weight room, and if you are just starting a resistance or weight training routine, it can take some practice to learn how to perform free weight exercises with good form.  Weight machines can provide a way for newcomers to get a feel for basic form and movement, build a nice strength foundation, and eventually feel more comfortable transitioning into free weight exercises.

Incorporating weight training machines into your workout can also benefit advanced trainees as well, since machines allow you to go with heavier weight than you can typically use in a free weight lift. This can be useful for breaking training plateaus. And because weight machines don’t require you to swap out plates, you can typically move through your workout more quickly — a plus if you are pressed for time.

So by popular demand, I’ve created a version of my free weight full body workout that is adapted to give you a total body workout using weight machines alone. Actually, this workout uses a combination of multi station weight training machines, cable exercise machines and some body weight exercise equipment like chin/dip stations. With a few exceptions, the same rules and guidelines of that total body workout apply to this version. We’ll recap those a bit later.

But first, let’s take a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages of using weight machines, instead of free weights, as part of a total body workout routine.

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Full Body Workout Plan | Workout Routines

Full Body Workout Routine Not Only Builds Muscle But It Torches Fat  … in Less Than 60 Minutes.

Can you spare 60 minutes, three times a week?

If the answer is “yes” I have the perfect workout routine for you: A “Full Body Workout” program that will get you in-and-out of the gym in less than an hour, will amp up your metabolism for the next 48 hours and — after about a month — will give you noticeable improvements not only in your strength, but also your physique.

Oh, and expect to drop some body fat in the process.

Why A Full Body Workout?

Full body workouts are probably the single most under-utilized workout routines in the gym.

Regardless of your experience level or existing strength, working your entire body in a single session is not only challenging, but an extremely effective way to build muscle, strength and even burn fat in the process. Even experienced bodybuilders can reap the benefits of switching to a full body workout, especially if they’ve been on a split routine plan for an extended period of time.

Before we actually take a look at a full body workout routine, let’s quickly discuss some of the advantages of working your entire body in a single session and the basics you need to know about before getting started.

The Benefits of Full Body Workouts

There are a number of benefits to performing full body workouts, including:

• Better core development
• Less overall time in the gym
• Improved recovery intervals
• Reduced risk of overtraining
• Greater training frequency per muscle group
• Increased energy expenditure during and after training
• Increases in beneficial growth hormones
• Highly customizable to different training goals, whether that is strength, muscle size (hypertrophy) , endurance or a combination of the three
• Better overall muscular development and symmetry
• Reduced risk of developing muscle imbalances, especially among smaller stabilizer muscles
• Secondary cardiovascular benefits
• Appropriate for all ages and levels of experience, from beginners to advanced trainees

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Planet Fitness Gym Review | Gym & Health Club Reviews

The Planet Fitness Health Club Chain Promises a Less Intimidating Gym Experience, But Do They Deliver? And At What Cost?

Gym/Health Club: Planet Fitness
Location Reviewed: Northville, MI
Hours: Varies by location; many locations 24 hours

Ratings (1-4 Scale: 1= poor, 2= fair, 3= good, 4= excellent)

Cleanliness: 3
Weight Training Equipment: 2
Cardio Equipment: 3
Fitness Knowledge of Staff: 1
Amenities: 1
Overall Facility: 3
Price/Value: 3
Overall Rating: 2.2

Planet Fitness Review

First, let’s be honest: gyms and health clubs can be intimidating places, especially for a beginner.  If you are overweight, out of shape and trying to live a more active and healthy lifestyle, being surrounded by really in-shape people can either be an inspiration or incredibly demotivating.

And because everyone’s goals are different, most gyms will attractive a diverse group of people, from hardcore bodybuilders, to power lifters to soccer moms and teenagers. This of course varies tremendously from gym-to-gym, but in general, gyms are a microcosms of the rest of society. And like the rest of society, we have to live with each other and get along. Period.

Gyms can also be a magnet for all kinds of stupid and annoying behavior, from high school kids loitering around the bench press and flexing in the mirror, to middle-aged “bodybuilders” in striped clown pants grunting loudly with weights that don’t really warrant that level of exertion, to rude patrons who needlessly bang weights around or leave their equipment strewn across the floor behind them after each exercise like a Tsunami of sweat, testosterone and ripped Gold’s Gym shirts.

So when Planet Fitness says it wants to change that and make gyms a little less intimidating for average people, the fitness populist in me says “it’s about time.”

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Should I Use Free Weights or Weight Machines? | Weight Training Basics from Answer Fitness®

Free weights and weight machines each have their advantages and disadvantages. Learn how to use both to get great results in the gym.

Few issues are more hotly debated among health and fitness professionals than whether free weights are better than weight machines.

The good news is that you really don’t have to choose between the two, since they both can help you increase strength, build muscle and increase muscle definition.

There are, however, differences between the two. And understanding these differences can help you make better decisions about when each type of equipment is appropriate for your weight training, and how often you want to include them in your workout routine.

The Advantages of Weight Machines

Weight machines are often the first choice of equipment for people who are new to weight and strength training. And this is for good reason.

Weight machines by design encourage good form, because they limit the range of motion to the specified exercise you are performing. They also isolate the specific muscle group you are targeting by disengaging secondary muscle groups that normally are called upon stabilize the body during performance of an exercise.

If you’ve never performed a bench press (a free weight exercise), for example, you may not be familiar with how to align your arms properly in relation to your body in order to perform the exercise effectively and with minimal risk of injury. A chest press machine, on the other hand, will ensure that your arms are positioned correctly and will give you a sense for how the movement should be performed.

By starting out on weight machines, you can work on get a feel for the exercise, which can then be applied to a free weight workout.

Machine weights also tend to allow you to use more resistance, because you aren’t limited by the smaller (and often weaker) stabilizer muscles that are called upon to balance a free weight. This can help you make bigger gains in strength, and can help beginners establish a more solid base before moving on to more challenging free weight movements.

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How Often Should I Workout? | Fitness Tips

Workout frequency is highly individual. Learn how to find your perfect schedule and avoid over training.

How often you should work out is really a matter of your current fitness level, the types of exercises you are performing, the intensity of your workouts, and how much time you actually have available to spend in the gym.

Current Fitness Level

Your current fitness level is one of the primary factors used to determine workout frequency.

Beginners will typically need more recovery time between workouts than more advanced trainees, bodybuilders or well-conditioned athletes or runners.  Nearly everyone has experienced one of those workouts where you “over did” it and couldn’t move for three days. While this can happen at all levels of fitness, it’s more common among beginners who are still gauging their strength, stamina and recovery ability.

The body also makes certain adaptations with training over time that may shorten the required recovery time. So while some people can go heavy in the gym every day, others may need to take a break every-other-day.  

As a general rule of thumb, a good training frequency for someone who is new to the gym, or returning after a lengthy break, is three resistance workouts a week lasting between 45 and 60 minutes. This will allow you to work each major muscle group with at least one exercise and give yourself 48 hours for recovery between workouts.

This full-body workout is ideal because it helps build a solid foundation for later, more advanced training; encourages overall core development; discourages the development of muscle imbalances that can accompany “split routines”; and may burn more calories after training.

And by the way, this is actually also an excellent workout for an advanced trainee. The difference is they will work with heavier weights and may do more total sets for each exercise than a person who is less-experienced in the gym.

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