[BasilRathbon]

Thanks to my hobbies of walking and cycling I have, if I say so myself, wonderfully taught thighs and the pert buttocks of a man half my age.

Unfortunately my fondness for real ale and curries means that the top half isn’t quite so impressive and I’m not only 2 stone heavier than I was a year ago, most of it appears to have settled on my stomach, giving the impression I’m in the early stages of pregnancy.

So apart from the obvious - cut down on the beer and curries – are there any activities or exercises anyone can recommend that might reduce the beer gut to something more manageable?

[JoeP]

Bad news, Basil - I gather that the fat laid down there is the hardest to get rid of.

I'm similar to you - legs and backside OK, but whilst soem men have a 6 pack, let's say I have a small keg.

Seriously - shifting abdominal fat is the hardest part of weight reduction, and there are no spot-reduction techniques available except for surgery.

I'll read this thread with interest as well.

[Hecate]

It's virtually impossible to spot reduce lard, and belly lard is notoriously difficult to shift. So, in addition to the obvious, the most you can do is up the aerobic activity (start running; if you've got the fitness from cycling and walking, make sure you're going for around 70% of your max heart rate for at least thirty minutes - buy a heart rate monitor).

You could start doing some crunches to work on the abdominal muscles, which will start to appear once the lard has been reduced a little.

[CockneyMafia]

You could try these guys....

www.britmilfit.com

Not cheap, but it doesnt get more intense. Or maybe take up boxing training, which focuses on fat reduction, fitness, and crucially, a strong stomach.

[Jonny5]

Once you get to a certain age (30) the only way is to stop drinking beer and eating fatty food. That'll stop it from growing.

To reduce it you need to do some serious aerobic exercise. Jogging about 20 miles a week for half a year should do the trick.

To get a six pack you'll need to do 1000+ sit-ups a week in tandem with the jogging.

Personally that all sounds a bit too much like hard work for me.

[Minesadouble]

I know a workout that would shift it

[Agent Orange]

Originally Posted by Hecate

It's virtually impossible to spot reduce lard, and belly lard is notoriously difficult to shift. So, in addition to the obvious, the most you can do is up the aerobic activity (start running; if you've got the fitness from cycling and walking, make sure you're going for around 70% of your max heart rate for at least thirty minutes - buy a heart rate monitor).

You could start doing some crunches to work on the abdominal muscles, which will start to appear once the lard has been reduced a little.

I'm with her. You really need to concentrate on the cardio side of things such as running, cycling, boxing and of course holding back on the beer and curries

Edit: try doing circuit training sessions at your gym, we do em in the RAF and they certainly work you hard.

[pleathwood]

cardio, lots and lots of cardio and a healthy diet. I did 3 months doing body attack and body pump 3 times a week and lost a stone and a half (down to 13 and still classed as overwieght ), most of which came from my hips and stomach. I have the start of definition but I twisted my ankle and never got back into it.

[GazB]

Originally Posted by Jonny5

To get a six pack you'll need to do 1000+ sit-ups a week in tandem with the jogging.

That won't work. The abdominals are muscles and if you overwork them you'll put strain on them, forcing longer recovery time and less development.

You need to do several things:

Drink more water
Have a coffee in the morning to kick start your metabolism
Eat less, more. As in, don't just have 3 big meals a day, have several smaller meals. It will naturally boost your metabolism as your body is constantly burning.
Don't skip breakfast
Do more CV work and plenty of running/fast walking
Don't eat complex carbs (rice, potatoes, pasta, bread) after 2pm. They take too long to digest and be ready to burn off.

You don't get fat overnight, and you don't lose weight overnight either (slimming world etc that makes you think they're great because you lose 2 or 3lbs in a week are false, you've just lost excess water in your body) - Be patient.

[whitewitch]

lay on the floor basil, i will come and jump up and down on your belly

[bionicdreams]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Bad news, Basil - I gather that the fat laid down there is the hardest to get rid of.

I'm similar to you - legs and backside OK, but whilst soem men have a 6 pack, let's say I have a small keg.

Seriously - shifting abdominal fat is the hardest part of weight reduction, and there are no spot-reduction techniques available except for surgery.

I'll read this thread with interest as well.

Well that makes me feel great! I am a normal weight but am getting a bit of a beer belly! How about sit-ups? I can't afford lipo! (I'm a lady so it's not just you guys that get it!)

[Agent Orange]

Originally Posted by whitewitch

lay on the floor basil, i will come and jump up and down on your belly

Hope you are gonna remove those high heels?

[Jonny5]

Originally Posted by GazB

That won't work. The abdominals are muscles and if you overwork them you'll put strain on them, forcing longer recovery time and less development.

True. I should have made it clear that you have to work up to that level (and get the weight down first). If someone were to attempt 1000+ sit-ups in a week after not doing any for years they would end up in hospital (assuming that is, that they could get through the various pain barriers that their body put up)

Last time I tried to do 50 in a day after a period of inactivity it took a week to recover.

But when you've built upto it, 1000 a week or 300 every other day isn't a lot. Damned boring doing them though.

[KidPhunk]

Originally Posted by GazB

That won't work. The abdominals are muscles and if you overwork them you'll put strain on them, forcing longer recovery time and less development.

You need to do several things:

Drink more water
Have a coffee in the morning to kick start your metabolism
Eat less, more. As in, don't just have 3 big meals a day, have several smaller meals. It will naturally boost your metabolism as your body is constantly burning.
Don't skip breakfast
Do more CV work and plenty of running/fast walking
Don't eat complex carbs (rice, potatoes, pasta, bread) after 2pm. They take too long to digest and be ready to burn off.

You don't get fat overnight, and you don't lose weight overnight either (slimming world etc that makes you think they're great because you lose 2 or 3lbs in a week are false, you've just lost excess water in your body) - Be patient.

I always find that working on my CV flattens my tummy - just added my new second job and couple of new interests and the pounds are falling off!!

[bannercroob]

Here you go.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/746000...ome_version_2/
Tonight we dine in......the New India Garden.

[mifsit]

Hi Basil, if you can pm me an email address i'll forward you a pdf ebook on abs.

Phil

[slickwitch]

Treasure it Basil! You have spent some of your favourite hours acquiring it. You know doubt rub it lovingly whilst thinking lovely abstract thoughts. It is like a love child and should be worshipped accordingly.

[fabulous_girl]

Do 'tha plank' every day. You lie on your tummy and then hold yourself up using your elbows and feet, pulling in the abdomen. Hold for as long as you can. It strengthens the core muscles

http://exercise.about.com/od/abs/ss/abexercises_10.htm

comme ca

[fred_notdead]

As others have said already - jogging. Build up from 10 minutes, ie 5 mins out 5 mins back. Start by making 2 days such as Saturday morning and Tuesday evenings your jogging time, then once you've set this 'me' time aside you can take it from there. The first time I started I went out in the car to somewhere I felt more comfortable with. Lots of people feel embarrassed to begin with.

Aim to be jogging 20 miles per week after 3 months, say every other day. The non jogging days you need to be slowly building up your sit ups to at least 50 every other day. Keep a record or an excerise diary to remind you how well things are going.

Checkout the videos on here, and the sit-up ones on youtube.
http://www.iwantsixpackabs.com/abs.html

Cut out as much as possible of the chips, pies, white rice, white bread, white pasta, dairy products, cut down on the beer, try something like blackcurrant or lime juice with soda water. Replace red meat with fish and chicken. Stop eating after 7pm, go to bed earlier to avoid late night snacks, get up earlier, drink/sip at least 2 litres of water each day and dump the tea and coffee (or at least the milk & sugar), instead - start the day with a slice of lemon in hot water to kick start the metabolism, burn off more calories than you take on board. If your serious you could buy something like a Polar heart monitor that tells you how many calories you've burnt but the treadmills at the gym can do that too.

Also, have a look at http://www.sparkpeople.com and of course join a gym, get a friend involved to help you motivate each other. The secret is not to try too much exercise too soon. Get your body used to the new regime change gradually.

These things worked for me. I came back from my summer holiday binge and dropped a stone in a month following the above routine, but I was already into jogging, or should I call it plodding. Nothing to fast, just keeping it sensible.

Good luck Basil, your on your way once you decide you need to do something!

[AtticusFinch]

About 21 months ago I hadn't been to the gym for quite a while and had let myself get seriously out of shape. I was eating cookies every day at work and as I work in an office I was barely doing any exercise at all. I knew that I was overweight but it was an initial checkup with a new GP that made me realise how bad it was.

I weighed 14 stone 11, which on a BMI scale classed me as obese. I decided there and then that I had to do something serious about it, so I started dieting. After a while I joined the gym too, and I'm now 12 stone. My diet was to have a bowl of cereal in the morning, three tuna sandwiches on wholemeal bread for lunch and then a fruit smoothie in the evening.