Stomach Exercise
LeicesterLad
Posts: 3,908
Conundrum - Right, so i'm 24, Ride my bike a hell of a lot (commute everyday, long ride sunday mornings) and generally in quite good shape except for a small spare tyre where my stomach used to be, Ive toned up in the legs through the bike, but has done very little to shift the weight from my stomach, I am type 1 diabetic so find myself eating a fair amount of carbohydrate to satisfy my blood glucose levels, but i have it under control and relatively stable...so what is the best excerise i can do to shift the stomach (with a room full of gym equipment)?
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Eat less, do more. Same answer every time. You cant remove fat from specific areas of your body. You could do lots of sit ups or other "core" strengthening exercises - this will tone your muscle but if its underneath a layer of fat then you wont be able to see it.
Or get some liposuction.0 -
a set of exeercises for your core (Google is your friend) will help firm things up but you can't 'burn' fat off just on your belly - you need to shift fat generally. Regarding your diabetes you should talk to a health professional. I'm not sure about this but eating lots of carbs means taking lost of insulin too doesn't it. You could probably cut down on carbs and still feel fine, just take less insulin? Perhaps you could get help to plan a careful diet suited to your condition.0
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ut_och_cykla wrote:a set of exeercises for your core (Google is your friend) will help firm things up but you can't 'burn' fat off just on your belly - you need to shift fat generally. Regarding your diabetes you should talk to a health professional. I'm not sure about this but eating lots of carbs means taking lost of insulin too doesn't it. You could probably cut down on carbs and still feel fine, just take less insulin? Perhaps you could get help to plan a careful diet suited to your condition.
This is generally true, however i take a base insulin that maintains my general blood glucose over the course of the whole day, as well as extra fast acting insulin when i have a meal, so if i ate nothing but salads all day, my blood glucose would still drop dramatically, because there is a constant flow of insulin in my body so i have to effectively eat carbohydrate to keep my levels constant. Generally though, i find myself snacking between meal times to keep my blood levels up, which is where some of the problem lies...0 -
Dunno whether this is of any use but could be worth a read. I dont know much about diabetes, hopefully you can understand it
http://4hourpeople.com/question/2386/fo ... tic-on-scd
http://www.4hourlife.com/2011/07/28/doe ... diet-suck/0 -
LeicesterLad wrote:ut_och_cykla wrote:a set of exeercises for your core (Google is your friend) will help firm things up but you can't 'burn' fat off just on your belly - you need to shift fat generally. Regarding your diabetes you should talk to a health professional. I'm not sure about this but eating lots of carbs means taking lost of insulin too doesn't it. You could probably cut down on carbs and still feel fine, just take less insulin? Perhaps you could get help to plan a careful diet suited to your condition.
This is generally true, however i take a base insulin that maintains my general blood glucose over the course of the whole day, as well as extra fast acting insulin when i have a meal, so if i ate nothing but salads all day, my blood glucose would still drop dramatically, because there is a constant flow of insulin in my body so i have to effectively eat carbohydrate to keep my levels constant. Generally though, i find myself snacking between meal times to keep my blood levels up, which is where some of the problem lies...
Therein lies your problem I think. If you could cut down the insulin levels you could cut carbs too. But obviously this would be potentially dangerous to do without medical advice. Someone on here wrote about seeing a diabetes nurse and going on a course to learn more. Perhaps you could investigate this more. The exercise/diet balance is very tricky to get right I gather... and potentially dangerous for you to adjust without good knowledge about what you are doing. Good luck!0 -
Your fitness is good with the cycling, throw a teeny bit of running in there too as that works double the amount of body parts as cycling.
Plus sit ups only work the upper abs, to remove the 'tyre', lay on your back, put your hands under your bum to create a cushion, then raise your legs together directly into the air as if you create 90 degrees, then lower them together slowly, don't touch the floor - just hover above... Then raise back up again to the upper position. Do 3 sets of 10 reps a day and it'll be gone in no time if you can keep the exercise up
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LeicesterLad wrote:Conundrum - Right, so i'm 24, Ride my bike a hell of a lot (commute everyday, long ride sunday mornings) and generally in quite good shape except for a small spare tyre where my stomach used to be, Ive toned up in the legs through the bike, but has done very little to shift the weight from my stomach, I am type 1 diabetic so find myself eating a fair amount of carbohydrate to satisfy my blood glucose levels, but i have it under control and relatively stable...so what is the best excerise i can do to shift the stomach (with a room full of gym equipment)?
LL - as a fellow type 1 diabetic, would you mind if I offered a couple of observations ?
From the wording above (which may be misleading) it sounds a bit like you are eating to cover insulin intake, rather than the other way round. Apologies if this is incorrect, but it is something that I used to do and found that I put on a fair bit of weight even though I follow a similar regime to yours. This is something that you need to discuss with your diabetic doctor/nurse, but if you are snacking regularly to maintain glucose levels, it sounds like your background dosage could be reduced. I find that I vary my background dosage quite significantly depending on whether or not I am doing a lot of cycling.
If you have not been on it, I would push your doctor hard to get you on the Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating (DAFNE) course, alluded to in an earlier post, as it is absolutely invaluable in allowing you to manage your levels more accurately. It involves a fairly significant overhead in terms of taking and recording your blood-glucose levels, but it is absolutely life-changing in terms of self-sufficiency.
Re the extra baggage around the middle, as far as I am aware, the only way to shift it is via correct diet. As I understand it, it does not matter how much work you do on your abs, if you continue to take in more calories than you expend, the spare tyre will remain. I am happy to be proved wrong though !!
Regards,
Gordon0 -
legendary27 wrote:LeicesterLad wrote:Conundrum - Right, so i'm 24, Ride my bike a hell of a lot (commute everyday, long ride sunday mornings) and generally in quite good shape except for a small spare tyre where my stomach used to be, Ive toned up in the legs through the bike, but has done very little to shift the weight from my stomach, I am type 1 diabetic so find myself eating a fair amount of carbohydrate to satisfy my blood glucose levels, but i have it under control and relatively stable...so what is the best excerise i can do to shift the stomach (with a room full of gym equipment)?
LL - as a fellow type 1 diabetic, would you mind if I offered a couple of observations ?
From the wording above (which may be misleading) it sounds a bit like you are eating to cover insulin intake, rather than the other way round. Apologies if this is incorrect, but it is something that I used to do and found that I put on a fair bit of weight even though I follow a similar regime to yours. This is something that you need to discuss with your diabetic doctor/nurse, but if you are snacking regularly to maintain glucose levels, it sounds like your background dosage could be reduced. I find that I vary my background dosage quite significantly depending on whether or not I am doing a lot of cycling.
If you have not been on it, I would push your doctor hard to get you on the Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating (DAFNE) course, alluded to in an earlier post, as it is absolutely invaluable in allowing you to manage your levels more accurately. It involves a fairly significant overhead in terms of taking and recording your blood-glucose levels, but it is absolutely life-changing in terms of self-sufficiency.
Re the extra baggage around the middle, as far as I am aware, the only way to shift it is via correct diet. As I understand it, it does not matter how much work you do on your abs, if you continue to take in more calories than you expend, the spare tyre will remain. I am happy to be proved wrong though !!
Regards,
Gordon
Cheers for that reply Gordon, Its nice to know somebody has been in the same boat. I am familiar with the DAFNE course, and i do Carb Count with main meals, but like you say, i will have to see my doctor about my background insulin, because obviously when i snack i am compensating for the dosage i'm taking insulin wise. background is currently 36units of Glargine, and i have been given free reign to mess about with it (been diabetic 10 years now) by my doctor, so i might reduce it by a couple of units and see how it goes...
Cheers!
Gav0 -
You're spot on. Fat loss cannot be targeted,it will be lost gradually as you build muscle. Bodyfat percentage has to be very low to see well defined abs anyway.legendary27 wrote:
Re the extra baggage around the middle, as far as I am aware, the only way to shift it is via correct diet. As I understand it, it does not matter how much work you do on your abs, if you continue to take in more calories than you expend, the spare tyre will remain. I am happy to be proved wrong though !!
Regards,
Gordon
Don't go mad cutting carbs out without at least keeping a food diary for a few weeks,if you're honest it will show where you're going wrong. Carbs don't make you fat, fat doesn't make you fat. Eating too much and not burning enough cals off makes you fat.
But for now:BMR calculation http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ and work out your caloric needs for your activity level
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calcu ... weight.phpIf you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
What is your commute cal expenditure per day?0 -
T.M.H.N.E.T wrote:
You're spot on. Fat loss cannot be targeted,it will be lost gradually as you build muscle.legendary27 wrote:
Re the extra baggage around the middle, as far as I am aware, the only way to shift it is via correct diet. As I understand it, it does not matter how much work you do on your abs, if you continue to take in more calories than you expend, the spare tyre will remain. I am happy to be proved wrong though !!
Regards,
Gordon
Don't go mad cutting carbs out without at least keeping a food diary for a few weeks,if you're honest it will show where you're going wrong.
But for now:BMR calculation http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ and work out your caloric needs for your activity level
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calcu ... weight.phpIf you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
What is your commute cal expenditure per day?
BMR is 1731.81, I commute in total an hour each day at fairly high intensity. (pushing hard)0 -
Multiply that by your activity level
Then take 20% off that,this is your caloric intake per day. If you take up any sort of regular gym work you may need to play with this figure,enough cals to fuel your existance + daily exercise. You also need to be able to fuel recovery and growth/repair of muscle fibres.If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.90 -
I went for option 3, but its probably some way between 3 and 4, so it reads 2684.3 calories per day! Ill measure my calorie intake tomorrow on a 'typical day' and see what it reads..should be interestingT.M.H.N.E.T wrote:Multiply that by your activity levelIf you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
Thanks by the way! all useful stuff!0 -
LeicesterLad wrote:
I went for option 3, but its probably some way between 3 and 4, so it reads 2684.3 calories per day! Ill measure my calorie intake tomorrow on a 'typical day' and see what it reads..should be interestingT.M.H.N.E.T wrote:Multiply that by your activity levelIf you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
Thanks by the way! all useful stuff!
This is your maintenence figure to stay the same weight. You're looking imo somewhere in the region of 2000 -2200 to lose gradually within a safe deficit. Tweak if needs be if you're doing any sort of weight work in the gym.(which naturally will help a lot)0 -
T.M.H.N.E.T wrote:LeicesterLad wrote:
I went for option 3, but its probably some way between 3 and 4, so it reads 2684.3 calories per day! Ill measure my calorie intake tomorrow on a 'typical day' and see what it reads..should be interestingT.M.H.N.E.T wrote:Multiply that by your activity levelIf you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
Thanks by the way! all useful stuff!
This is your maintenence figure to stay the same weight. You're looking imo somewhere in the region of 2000 -2200 to lose gradually within a safe deficit. Tweak if needs be if you're doing any sort of weight work in the gym.(which naturally will help a lot)
Cheers for that, much appreciated! 0 -
Generally though, i find myself snacking between meal times to keep my blood levels up, which is where some of the problem lies...[/quote]
To throw in my thoughts...
It depends on what you are snacking on. A mixture of fast acting and more complex carbs for snacking helps, for example homemade energy bars, where you know the exact carb content and GI of each ingredient helps you to use the energy on a ride and not store it as fat. Knowing exactly how far you can cycle on a snack helps to maintain that balance of slow release insulin with the right carbs at the right time.
One of insulin's jobs is to make fat - so if you can reduce/alter your balance it can help
I find this works for me and works well until you hit a head wind and all your calculations go out the window! my isetta is a 300cc bike0 -
A 6 pack is created in the kitchen not in the gym
To get visible abs i think you need to go sub 10% body fat. I followed the 4 hour body diet and dropped to 12% body fat losing 6kg in the process0 -
Yes all muscles are created in the kitchen. Which is why my gf can benchpress a cartrickydisco wrote:A 6 pack is created in the kitchen not in the gym
To get visible abs i think you need to go sub 10% body fat. I followed the 4 hour body diet and dropped to 12% body fat losing 6kg in the process0 -
team47b wrote:Generally though, i find myself snacking between meal times to keep my blood levels up, which is where some of the problem lies...
To throw in my thoughts...
It depends on what you are snacking on. A mixture of fast acting and more complex carbs for snacking helps, for example homemade energy bars, where you know the exact carb content and GI of each ingredient helps you to use the energy on a ride and not store it as fat. Knowing exactly how far you can cycle on a snack helps to maintain that balance of slow release insulin with the right carbs at the right time.
One of insulin's jobs is to make fat - so if you can reduce/alter your balance it can help
I find this works for me and works well until you hit a head wind and all your calculations go out the window!
Cheers Team47b - A good idea there, no matter what i do i know its going to take a lot of trial and error, and some good calculations, so its time i got stuck into it.
Just as a side note, the Meter in your avatar is the exact meter i use 0 -
I suspect gym and kitchen are required for the full-on 6 pack effect. You need to do the exercise to develop the muscles in the first place, and then lose most of your body fat in order to make it visible to others.0
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I find some basic Yoga twists and core stretches help me tone up around the mid drift.Plymouthsteve for councillor!!0
