Cardio - FreeTrainers.com Forums

Group: General Fitness & Exercise

General Fitness & Exercise

Created: 2011/12/31, Members: 382, Messages: 54581

Various general exercise related discussions. Find out what it takes to reach your fitness goals through daily effective exercise. With so many options we try to find out what works best.

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Cardio

robct1978 Posts: 120 Joined: 2003/03/20	2003/04/21, 12:46 PM Hi im kinda getting depressed b/c i went to put on a pair of pants for work today from last summer and they are a little bit tight. Im wondering how losing inches in your stomach works. If i work out my abs, wont it make the fat in my stomach burn off b/c muscle burns fat? When can i expect to see anything? I feel like i look the same. Also what should i do for cardio b/c that helps burn off fat. I do ecliptical for 25 min after my workout and my ab work out. Is that too short, how long should i go on cardio? Thanks guys rob

erirvine Posts: 196 Joined: 2002/11/20	2003/04/21, 02:35 PM When you lose fat it dose not matter which muscle group you exercise the loss happens all over (unlike when building muscle). Well technically you lose fat from areas in a genetically defined manor individual to each person either way it is independent of the muscles doing the exercise. Anyway when you are using only a small muscle group (such as the abs) will not produce much fat loss as they tire fast so can’t burn many calories. However if your use a large muscle group (such as your legs) will produce much greater fat loss because they can simply do more work and burn off more calories. Ab specific exercises will tighten the underlying muscle but do little to reduce the fat layer over them. As for how much cardio to do that entirely depends on your goals. I personally think about half an hour 3-4 times a week is a minimum for general health. Looking at the extremes a professional marathon runner is generally very skinny doing all cardio work so burning off all the calories rather than laying down lots of extra baggage. For power lifters a much larger build is needed to allow sufficient intake to allow muscle growth. What you need to do is find an intermediate to suit your goals. In short forget ab crunches for losing a belly you need sufficient exercise to produce a calorie deficit, and the easiest way to achieve this is a controlled diet and cardio work. The ab crunches will do nothing more than tone the six-pack hiding under the fat layer. Hope this helps, ED!
jwallace Posts: 10 Joined: 2003/02/10	2003/04/21, 04:39 PM Try to work in a H.I.I.T program into your cardio workout. This site www.elainereid.com/xtremebodies/hiit.htm has some good information on it or do a google search. It's a great way to lose weight fast. Plus, don't forget that your diet is as important as your workout is.