Fat reduction & running!

"gary" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Hi I run 6 days a week & also lift a fiew weights to
strengthen my arms, back & shoulders. I do sit ups &
pressups also, to try & define my chest & stomach. However
i cannot reduce a certain area of fat around my chest, no
matter how much i do. I eat a low fat diet, lots of
stirfrys , no margarine or butter & hardly any dairy
products, but i just can't shift this fatty area! Any
advice welcome!

It really doesn't matter what you eat, as long as your
caloric intake is less than the caloric output. In other
words, eat less and exercise more in order to create a
greater caloric defecit. If you are eating low fat, that
doesn't necessarily mean low calorie. If you are already
taking in less calories than you burn, then maybe you just
need to give it more time. Also, if you are as obsessive
about this stuff as I am, then you won't mind tracking
everything you eat and every calorie you burn. Only then,
can you be sure you are at a caloric defecit.

Phil M.

--
"I gotta go. You're killin' me."

I Don't think you can choose the spots where you want to
reduct fat deposits.

You can reduce it overall, but the proportions (eg, more in
the belly, or arms, or chest) will remain the same.

So short of liposuction, you'll need to significantly reduct
your body fat
%, which is done through lots of aerobic exercise and losing
%some weight,
eg, getting your BMI down to 23 ought to do it.

-- Dan

"gary" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi I run 6 days a week & also lift a fiew weights to
strengthen my arms, back & shoulders. I do sit ups &
pressups also, to try & define my chest & stomach. However
i cannot reduce a certain area of fat around my chest, no

matter

Quoted message said:

how much i do. I eat a low fat diet, lots of stirfrys , no
margarine or butter & hardly any dairy products, but i
just can't shift this fatty area! Any advice welcome! Gary

gary said:

Hi I run 6 days a week & also lift a fiew weights to
strengthen my arms, back & shoulders. I do sit ups &
pressups also, to try & define my chest & stomach. However
i cannot reduce a certain area of fat around my chest, no
matter how much i do. I eat a low fat diet, lots of
stirfrys , no margarine or butter & hardly any dairy
products, but i just can't shift this fatty area!

you're not a girl are you?

fat will come off where it comes off. if you still have more
than you want, lose it! that's all. eat a bit less. exercise
a bit more. you might check if your chest and arm workouts
are actually building muscle. if you're not getting bigger
or stronger, then change what you're doing. then as the fat
goes away, the muscles will start to show.

just as an aside: how many miles a week do you run? and
altho you say pressups, i hope you mean bench press.
...thehick

Quoted message said:

I Don't think you can choose the spots where you want to
reduct fat deposits.

You can reduce it overall, but the proportions (eg, more in
the belly, or arms, or chest) will remain the same.

This has been my experience, too.

However, I have noticed recent products called "Ripping
Gel," "Cutting Gel," and the like, targeted toward
bodybuilders or women desiring spot-sculpting, and have
wondered a bit about these products because they are
marketed through seemingly-reputable businesses such as GNC
and Vitamin World.

These products are supposedly trans-dermal fat mobilizers,
which, so long as you are in fact running caloric deficits,
will allegedly assist the loss of fat in a specific place
where you apply the stuff. Maybe its voodoo, maybe its not.
Anyone have any experience with this kind of stuff? I could
stand to lose some fat on my brain.

Quoted message said:

and have wondered a bit about these products because they
are marketed through seemingly-reputable businesses such
as GNC and Vitamin World.

What a laugh. 90% of the their products is undocumented
bunk. People will pay good $$$ for any shortcut.

Hi Frank
I run around 30 miles a week, My arm & back exercises do show
muscle & are quite defined, but i have a fatty area around my chest &
stomach & when i say press ups, i mean push ups!, these tend to make my
chest stick out & show the fat as more!
My vice is a beer, but i guess it's what i want more!
Thanks
frank-in-toronto <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

gary said:

Hi I run 6 days a week & also lift a fiew weights to
strengthen my

arms,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

back & shoulders. I do sit ups & pressups also, to try &
define my chest

&

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

stomach. However i cannot reduce a certain area of fat
around my chest, no

matter

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

how much i do. I eat a low fat diet, lots of stirfrys ,
no margarine or butter & hardly any dairy products, but i
just can't shift this fatty area!

you're not a girl are you?

fat will come off where it comes off. if you still have
more than you want, lose it! that's all. eat a bit less.
exercise a bit more. you might check if your chest and arm
workouts are actually building muscle. if you're not
getting bigger or stronger, then change what you're doing.
then as the fat goes away, the muscles will start to show.

just as an aside: how many miles a week do you run? and
altho you say pressups, i hope you mean bench press.
...thehick

gary said:

Hi Frank I run around 30 miles a week, My arm & back
exercises do show muscle & are quite defined, but i have a
fatty area around my chest & stomach & when i say press
ups, i mean push ups!, these tend to make my chest stick
out & show the fat as more! My vice is a beer, but i guess
it's what i want more!

i can't imagine that push ups will do much for hypertrophy.
but at 30 a week, if you watch your diet, the pounds should
be difficult to keep on. i'd guess you're eating too much.
eat less. lose weight. some will be fat. ...thehick

For losing weight consistency is most important, not total
miles. Run everyday, at least 6 days a week, even if you
need to walk/run every other day. For me this is the only
thing that works, and also I need to do an hour minimum to
keep my weight under control. If I do 90 minutes every other
day, it simply does not keep the pounds off like an hour a
day does, yet the time and miles is identical. I believe
it's a body metabolism thing.

frank-in-toronto <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

gary said:

Hi Frank I run around 30 miles a week, My arm & back
exercises do show muscle & are quite defined, but i have
a fatty area around my chest & stomach & when i say press
ups, i mean push ups!, these tend to make my chest stick
out & show the fat as more! My vice is a beer, but i
guess it's what i want more!

i can't imagine that push ups will do much for
hypertrophy. but at 30 a week, if you watch your diet, the
pounds should be difficult to keep on. i'd guess you're
eating too much. eat less. lose weight. some will be fat.
...thehick

Yeh, i too believe it's a metabolism thing, some i know
drink & eat so much & never put a pound on, my bent over
rowing i do for my back, helps my shape & defines my torso.
Is running 6 days a week, not too much, like overtraining!,
i do run 5 days a week. Thanks Gary
. <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

For losing weight consistency is most important, not total
miles. Run everyday, at least 6 days a week, even if you
need to walk/run every other day. For me this is the only
thing that works, and also I need to do an hour minimum to
keep my weight under control. If I do 90 minutes every
other day, it simply does not keep the pounds off like an
hour a day does, yet the time and miles is identical. I
believe it's a body metabolism thing.

frank-in-toronto <[email hidden]> wrote in
message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

gary said:

Hi Frank I run around 30 miles a week, My arm & back
exercises do

show

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

muscle & are quite defined, but i have a fatty area
around my chest & stomach & when i say press ups, i
mean push ups!, these tend to make my chest stick out &
show the fat as more! My vice is a beer, but i guess
it's what i want more!

i can't imagine that push ups will do much for
hypertrophy. but at 30 a week, if you watch your diet,
the pounds should be difficult to keep on. i'd guess
you're eating too much. eat less. lose weight. some will
be fat. ...thehick

. said:

For losing weight consistency is most important, not total
miles. Run everyday, at least 6 days a week, even if you
need to walk/run every other day. For me this is the only
thing that works, and also I need to do an hour minimum to
keep my weight under control. If I do 90 minutes every
other day, it simply does not keep the pounds off like an
hour a day does, yet the time and miles is identical. I
believe it's a body metabolism thing.

No idea whether it's a "body metabolism" thing or not,
but either way, I'm 100% with the "consistency" school
of thought.

90min every other day is less than an hour a day. The point
? It's hard to even keep total miles high without
consistency. Conversely, it's easy to do fairly high milage
with consistency -- someone who does 30mpw as 3x10 could
easily increase it to 45 via 3x10+3x5 without greatly
increasing stress.

I'm doing 70mpw now, and I doubt I'd be able to do this by
running two or three times a week.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

gary said:

Yeh, i too believe it's a metabolism thing, some i know
drink & eat so much & never put a pound on, my bent over
rowing i do for my back, helps my shape & defines my
torso. Is running 6 days a week, not too much, like
overtraining!, i do run 5 days a week.

Some of us run twice a day most days. There's no harm in
running several days a week. Doing so makes it much easier
to get in the sort of milage you'll need to lose weight.
It's easy to do 50mpw if you run 6x/week (e.g.
15,10,7,6,6,6), but quite hard to do so if you run only
3x/week. For any given milage total, the stress on your body
will be lower if you spread it over more workouts.

You'll overtrain if you try to increase training load too
rapidly. You won't overtrain from high training frequency.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

"gary" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Yeh, i too believe it's a metabolism thing, some i know
drink & eat so much & never put a pound on, my bent over
rowing i do for my back, helps my shape & defines my
torso. Is running 6 days a week, not too much, like
overtraining!, i do run 5 days a week. Thanks

For some people it can be overtraining. You need to work up
to this gradually. Also, as Donovan said, twice a day is
another option. If you can't do 8 miles at once, do 4 in the
AM, and 4 in the PM. This REALLY burns the cals.

Donovan Rebbechi <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Doing so makes it much easier to get in the sort of milage
you'll need to lose weight.

See here's where common misconceptions come in. You don't
need high mileage totals, it's the length of time you run,
not how far. Slow your pace down to do longer distances. Run
for time (longer the better) not for mileage or speed.

I'd have it checked. I read this story about a guy with a
fatty lump in his chest, and it turned out to be his
deceased twin brother. Of course, the same magazine also had
an article on how the Olympic Committee was banning a figure
skater from competition, because she had 3 legs.

You guys are something else! Let me ask a question?

Do you walk every day? Yes, then why should it not be the
same with running. As a point of experience: I have gone for
6 months at a time, never taking a day off, without injury.
As many of you know, days off often times have the effect of
making the 1st run harder than when running consistently.
This was my basis for starting this routine, but I found
that running became as natural (easy) as walking. Now, my
advice is geared for smaller distances (4-8 miles per day) .
Yes, if you are running more than 50 - 60 miles per week,
then I recommend time off; simply, because of the
"excessive" strain put on the body. However, for me, I
consistently run 4-5 miles a day, sprinting intervals, & I
can do so without a day off. Another added benefit is
increasing my speed. I have found that training in an air
conditioned room, on a tread mill, sprinting intervals (3
intervals of .3 over the entire run) has INCREDIBLY
increased my speed. When I first started the program I had
never run a 12 minute mile. I quickly accomplished that
goal. I went from running 4 miles in 34 minutes to 4 miles
in 27 1/2 minutes. I never clocked it but I'd guess my top 2
mile time was around 10:30 - 11:00. Now, for a competitive
runner, these #'s don't mean anything, but for the average,
every day, recreational runner, they are impressive! They
will put you in the upper 1/3 of any event. So, I recommend
starting slow (both mileage and speed), but run EVERYDAY! Of
course, if you were to feel pain, then back off.

Also, while distance/time is important to burning calories,
speed is equally critical. 2 miles run at a 5 minute pace
are going to burn way more calories than 2 miles at a 9
minute pace! Of course, the argument is that the first 20
minutes or so of aerobic activity, one burns more glycogen
than fat; thus, the argument for time/distance, which I
agree with. But, granted that you are pushing the 30 minute
mark with your training, always go for speed!!!!

CHRISTOPHERGUESS said:

You guys are something else! Let me ask a question?

Do you walk every day? Yes, then why should it not be the
same with running. As a point of experience: I have gone
for 6 months at a time, never taking a day off, without
injury. As many of you know, days off often times have the
effect of making the 1st run harder than when running
consistently. This was my basis for starting this routine,
but I found that running became as natural (easy) as
walking. Now, my advice is geared for smaller distances
(4-8 miles per day) . Yes, if you are running more than 50
- 60 miles per week, then I recommend time off; simply,
because of the "excessive" strain put on the body.

Consistency is an excellant goal.

Quoted message said:

However, for me, I consistently run 4-5 miles a day,
sprinting intervals, & I can do so without a day off.
Another added benefit is increasing my speed. I have found
that training in an air conditioned room, on a tread mill,
sprinting intervals (3 intervals of .3 over the entire
run) has INCREDIBLY increased my speed. When I first
started the program I had never run a 12 minute mile. I
quickly accomplished that goal. I went from running 4
miles in 34 minutes to 4 miles in 27 1/2 minutes. I never
clocked it but I'd guess my top 2 mile time was around
10:30 - 11:00.

Those times and improvements point more toward the gains of
a beginning runner than towards any specific training
method. Don't stop because of my comment. If you feel your
training works for you, that's more important than other's
opinions. But your experience will be different from others.

Quoted message said:

... Now, for a competitive runner, these #'s don't mean
anything, but for the average, every day, recreational
runner, they are impressive! They will put you in the
upper 1/3 of any event. So, I recommend starting slow
(both mileage and speed), but run EVERYDAY! Of course, if
you were to feel pain, then back off.

I don't know where you are, but around here (northeast Ohio)
those times are in the lower half in most races. Upper third
is the 8minute per mile or better. So I'd like to know what
events you run. Maybe I can take a road trip and win a
trophy! Or at least, upper third is what I call the front of
the pack. If 10minute pace is front of the pack around you,
I would easily take a trip. Heck maybe even movce there.

Quoted message said:

Also, while distance/time is important to burning
calories, speed is equally critical. 2 miles run at a 5
minute pace are going to burn way more calories than 2
miles at a 9 minute pace! Of course, the argument is that
the first 20 minutes or so of aerobic activity, one burns
more glycogen than fat; thus, the argument for
time/distance, which I agree with. But, granted that you
are pushing the 30 minute mark with your training, always
go for speed!!!!

I'm not taking either side on the time vs. distance calorie
burning debate. I work by time just because it is easier to
measure. My stop watch can measure intervals to 0.01seconds
which in a 33 minute run is 5parts in 1million. But I have
nothing that can measure distances with comparible
precision, which would be about 1 quarter inch per mile. And
actually I don't worry about counting calories, so it's a
mote point for me. (It's more about having a chance to get
up and out of the office.)

--
Ed Prochak running faqs.orgrunning faqOpen ↗
netiquette psg.comemily.htmlOpen ↗
--
"Two roads diverged in a wood and I
I took the one less travelled by
and that has made all the difference."
robert frost

"Donovan Rebbechi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

gary said:

Yeh, i too believe it's a metabolism thing, some i know
drink & eat so

much

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

& never put a pound on, my bent over rowing i do for my
back, helps my

shape

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

& defines my torso. Is running 6 days a week, not too
much, like overtraining!, i do run

5

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

days a week.

Some of us run twice a day most days. There's no harm in
running several

days

Quoted message said:

a week. Doing so makes it much easier to get in the sort
of milage you'll

need

Quoted message said:

to lose weight. It's easy to do 50mpw if you run
6x/week (e.g.

15,10,7,6,6,6),

Quoted message said:

but quite hard to do so if you run only 3x/week. For any
given milage

total,

Quoted message said:

the stress on your body will be lower if you spread it
over more workouts.

You'll overtrain if you try to increase training load too
rapidly. You

won't

Quoted message said:

overtrain from high training frequency.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

You will overtrain if you are not recovering properly
either. In many cases overtraining is really underrecovery.
Most recreational runners are not going to get into a true
overtraining state.

. said:

Donovan Rebbechi <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Doing so makes it much easier to get in the sort of
milage you'll need to lose weight.

See here's where common misconceptions come in. You don't
need high mileage totals, it's the length of time you run,
not how far. Slow your pace down to do longer distances.
Run for time (longer the better) not for mileage or speed.

Number of calories burned depends on distance, so to track
calories one needs get in miles. However, I agree that it's
wise to place more emphasis on aerobic running for time, and
less on running for distance or speed.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

Donovan Rebbechi <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Number of calories burned depends on distance, so to
track calories one needs get in miles. However, I agree
that it's wise to place more emphasis on aerobic running
for time, and less on running for distance or speed.

Cheers,

Negative on the distance part. We've been down this road
before. Distance is relevant, but not completely. The boost
to your metabolism only happens with LS runs, doing it fast
takes too much out of the body to allow the steady boost
that burns fat over the other 23 hours. It has been proven
that runners burn more calories even while sleeping, than
sedentary hogs do, but this only occurs after LSD runs, at
least that's how it effects me. It seems to hold true with
all my runner friends too, so it's not just me. Try this,
set out to lose 5 lbs (not easy for a fit runner whose
already in shape) and try fast runs until you lose oit. Next
gain it back, then do the same thing doing LSD runs instead
of fast runs. You'll see it'll take much longer to lose the
5 lbs running faster. Try it.