Quote from: jeff37923;445277Hey Kyle, I've lost a lot weight over the past 8 months. A little over 60 pounds have been shed. Now I got a problem. My belly isn't so much fat anymore as it is muscle now, but it is still extended too far for my liking

There are three ways a belly can stick out on a guy.

The guy may have loose fatty tissue and skin. Unfortunately this is part of losing large amounts (20+lbs) of weight in a short time (more than 1-2lbs/week), parts of your body look like a balloon a week after a party. Slower rates of weight loss make it more likely the body will have time to adjust the tightness of everything, but a lot is just how you're made. Not much you can do about that except for surgery.

If on the other hand it's not all loose and flabby, what we're talking about is simply the fact that wherever the fat first went on, that's where it lasts comes off. On us blokes that's usually the belly. So you could be lean everywhere except there. This will eventually come off if you keep doing what took the other weight off, but it's slow - the closer you are to a healthy bodyweight, the slower the rate of change.

The last possibility is that your belly isn't that big, you're just sticking it out a bit.



Look around at guys in shopping malls or whatever, look at the belt line from the side. Many guys, especially those who are or have been heavier and/or have mainly seated work and leisure, have a strong anterior pelvic tilt and big curve in their lower back - you can see this from their beltline, if it's sloped down they have this issue (they might just have their belt under a big gut, but big guts tend to pull the hips forward anyway, so same-same). I talk about the Western posture here.

Quote- any exercises good for flattening a belly on a 40+ year old man? My friends are telling me about planks

Planks are good, they may or may not be challenging enough for you, I don't know. As I talk about in an article here, simply doing normal compound movements like bodyweight squat, pushups and inverted rows, and doing them with good posture and bracing - this will improve your abdominal muscle strength and endurance.

Not a bad problem to have, Melan. Perhaps you just need longer walks for leisure. Diet will be an issue for you, I seem to recall your posting pictures of great feasts for game sessions. My Hungarian friend here is the same, when he signed up for my gym, I took him through the first session but a co-worker was listening in, when the other trainer told him to eat less cheese there was a distinct look of amused contempt My friend has still had much success simply by trying to do something active every day, whether it be a weights workout, game of squash or whatever.

What is a plank?

[I do lots and lots of sit ups (on an inlcine) but I'm skinny/scrawny].

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;445272He didn't share it with us, so I will: apparently Kurt lost a stack of weight and got himself a hot girlfriend. And he didn't even have to give up gaming.

Yup yup. I've slacked off for a few weeks now, I need to get back on the program. Haven't put any weight back on in the meantime so that's good.

Quote from: Werekoala;445332Yup yup. I've slacked off for a few weeks now, I need to get back on the program. Haven't put any weight back on in the meantime so that's good.

I just got back to the machine this morning after a week off due to illness. I fucking hate losing momentum. Conratulations on the weight loss/hot GF score by the way.

Quote from: Aos;445307What is a plank?.

Basically, get in a pushup position, and hold it at the top - body straight. Most people will tend to have their hips high, get someone to watch and tell you to drop them. As you fatigue you'll start shaking and/or your hips will drop.

The job of your "core" is as postural muscles - help you stand up straight. You work your core by challenging your ability to stand up straight by adding a load (eg barbell squats) or going into a difficult position (eg planks).

The plank has many versions. Easiest is on knees and forearms/elbows.
Next is toes and forearms/elbows.
Then toes and hands.
Then, raise one leg.
Then, drop the leg and raise one arm.
Then raise one arm and leg.
And so on. Most deconditioned people will need to begin on their toes and elbows/forearms.

Begin by doing this three times, each time holding it for three breaths. Each session or at least each week, hold it for one breath longer, until you can hold it for 3 sets of 15 breaths. That's usually a minute or so, and then it's time to progress to the more difficult version of the exercise, eg rise from forearms/elbows to hands. And back to 3 breaths.

Obviously this exercise is not recommended for those with a history of back problems, as I've said from the beginning, see your doctor. That aside, the exercise is recommended for those who are underweight, a healthy weight or overweight, not recommended for the obese. If you're obese it'll put a lot of stress through your lower back, and make you feel humiliated as your belly or breasts scrape on the floor underneath you.

Feelings of humiliation during exercise tend to make the person stop exercising, which doesn't help. So the obese person builds their core muscle strength simply by doing the compound movements of squat, push and pull with good posture. When they're down to merely overweight they can do planks etc.

Thanks.
I'm not obese, quite the opposite in fact, but I've had several minor back injuries over the years (warehouse work and excavation are not really all that easy on the back).  I'll stick to what I'm doing.

My weight has been a Hell of a problem. My hyperactive metabolism meant I was under weight for my childhood and teenage years. Then I went on Olazapine and got overweight.

I just can't win!

Quote from: Ian Warner;445477My weight has been a Hell of a problem. My hyperactive metabolism meant I was under weight for my childhood and teenage years. Then I went on Olazapine and got overweight.

I just can't win!

Life's not about winning.  It's about the struggle.  
probably not what you wanted.  Sorry.

Quote from: LordVreeg;445491Life's not about winning.  It's about the struggle.  
probably not what you wanted.  Sorry.

Bullshit.
Life is all about ponies, rainbows and gumdrops. Your inability to face the truth sickens me and shames us all.

I have a couple questions.

I am an active, healthy guy. I love winter sports but late last year I had a wee bit of an injury and had to sit the season out. Now I am planning a spring hiking/camping trip through the Black Hills and Badlands (ND&SD USA). But after being very inactive all winter I am a little out of shape. Do you have any advice on getting back into the swing of things?

For my other question. I enjoy hiking, biking, winter sports (snowboarding, snowshoeing), climbing and riding. Now that I am in my 40s I am wondering if I should not be slowing down a bit. I really do not feel much more different from I did in my 20s stamina and endurance wise, but my injury has me reassessing the sort of risks I am willing to take.

Any health/safety tips for active guys sliding into middle age?

Thanks

Same as for everyone else, just a bit slower than for the younger fitter ones.

As we age, we can definitely do as much as we've been doing. If we've been doing a lot, we can do a lot, if we've been doing nothing...

A decline of strength etc is not inevitable with age. What does change is our recovery. A workout we'd take a day to recover from at 20 we need two days at 40, an injury that'd heal in six weeks at 20 might take six months at 60. Thus, in attempting progression in our training, as we age our progression must slow, and we can't take the same stupid risks we took when we were younger.

Nonetheless, just because the progress is slower does not restrict where we get in the end. A 20 year old might be able to add 2.5kg to the bar for a squat in each workout for 3-4 months until they get to a 140kg squat. We might have to add 2.5kg to the bar every month only, but still in two years we've managed the 140kg squat - "two years?!" you cry, but how many people two years older than you squat 140kg?

I have a client in his 40s, when I look at the journal of his workouts he's doing literally twice the work of another client in his 20s. Yet the first guy is always saying how unfit he is. So it's all about how you work yourself, about attitude.

Urrrrrrrrrrrrg, I'm literally about to work out right now- beginning with squats- which I hate. Needless to say, I won't be doing 140kg.
In solidarity with our Australian trainer and my inner juvenile delinquent, this morning's workout will be accompanied by some blaring AC/DC.

Doesn't matter what you're doing, so long as you're doing more than you did before. More weight, or more reps, or more sets - or more distance or time or whatever. Progress is progress.

Yeah, I upped all my weights today. It really sucked. For some reason, I dislike doing my lower body workout more than the others.
I use an old Soloflex machine, btw; much to my surprise it is good for something other than hanging clothes on.
I am aware, of course, that using resitance bands has some drawbacks, but I do some stuff with free weights too. I'm not looking to bulk up, anyway.

Congratulations, Kyle, on the impending Baby- get some sleep now, while you have chance- I'm not kidding.

Bulking up comes from doing more in each session than you did before, plus eating. Without the eating the bulking up won't happen. What form the resistance takes is irrelevant to the bulking up except in a motivational sense; people using machines tend not to progress the resistance as quickly as those who use free weights, since moving a peg in a stack isn't as exciting as slapping another plate on.

The difference between free weights and machines comes not in how much it makes you bulk up, but in other areas, like improving joint mobility, balance, working your postural muscles along with the others, teaching you correct movement, and so on.

But in the end the most important thing is not what stuff you use, but that you use it consistently over time, and progress. The best workout is the one you stick to.