Question:

I am professional dancer and I have recently change my eating and exercising habits and dropped 20 lbs. I do 40 minutes of cardio first thing in the morning 5 days a week and I do the ab wheel every night and some push ups pull ups and dips 3x a week. I still have a little bit of fat around my lower abdominal area. I know diet is 80% of the battle and I eat fruits and vegetables everyday along with lean protein and a little bit of carbs. Are there any little tricks I can do to lose the last little bit of fat? Otherwise I am quite happy with my body… Thanks Doug!

Congrats on your weight loss and getting a body you’re happy with. And props for addressing the major issues like exercise and nutrition and for realizing their importance before worrying yourself with the smaller details.

Here is what I noticed you’re doing right:

• Nutrition–eating lean protein, fruits, and vegetables every day-keeping carbs to a minimum.
• Exercise
  • Frequency- This is how many times per week you exercise. I haven’t stressed this very much on this blog, but frequency is crucial. You’ve built a lifestyle that incorporates exercise so you can get your work in 5+ days a week–way to go!
  • Strength Training- You’re doing 3 days/week of some sort of strength work with your dips, pushups, and pull-ups.
  • Cardio- You’re also incorporating cardio 5 days per week (though I recommend interval training).
  • Core-Training-Keep it up with the pushups and ab wheel exercises.
• Mindset–You realize the importance of nutrition and consistent exercise, are not looking for shortcuts, and you’re obviously willing to put in the necessary work.

That being said, there is one thing I noticed from what you told me about your program that jumped out at me.

Where’s the lower body strength training?!!!!!

Ya know, for your ass and legs—You missed a few BIG muscles here.

Remember, you want to build muscle so that your body burns fat more efficiently. And believe me-if you’re not yet incorporating resistance training with your lower body, you still have a lot of room to grow.

I know you’re doing cardio (and a lot of it), but you’d be better off replacing 20 minutes of cardio with some squat, deadlift, and lunge variations on your three strength training days. This will allow you to keep the ball rolling with your results.

This will ensure that every part of your body will be constantly in a state of building new muscle and burning Calories, (which is what you want in order to lose that last bit of fat.)

So go do some squats and let me know how it goes!!!

Technorati Tags: ab roller, abs, calories, cardio, Core Training, fat loss, lower-body-training, meal frequency, Nutrition, Program Design, strength training, weight loss

What are the best ways to get them [my abs and thighs] in shape pretty quickly but without taking over 15 minutes a day? And I’m 5′4; 125lbs and was considering getting my belly button pierced, opinions?

It is definitely possible for you to do something 15 minutes a day and see results– as long as your session is of a high intensity (meaning hard)!

You should stick to two basic types of training:

1. Total Body weight training.

These exercises consist of compound movements-these are movements that involve multiple muscle groups:

Think squats, lunges, deadlifts (picking stuff up off the floor), bench presses, rows, chin ups (assisted), and you can’t go wrong. If you lack fancy equipment or the time to head to the gym, you can perform movements that simply use your bodyweight–squats, lunges, pushups, and planks can be done anywhere-put all these exercises back to back in a circuit and should be breathing hard..

2. Interval Training (high intensity)

Rather than doing long, slow, boring cardio for 60 minutes (who has the time?? not you!), you should use high intensity interval training.

For example, on a treadmill, you could go for a minute and a half at a moderate pace like a slow jog or walk (say 3.5 mph–this is your “rest pace”). Followed by 20 seconds of an all out or close to all out sprinting (Say 10 mph–this is your work pace). After the 20 seconds, go back to your rest pace. Doing this for 7 intervals (an interval includes the work and rest period) would take about 15 minutes.

Note: I picked the speeds above as an example, but feel free to adjust your intervals to your fitness level. Your work interval should be strenuous enough so that you couldn’t go much longer than the designated time.

You can apply this principle to other things like the Elliptical, Stair Climber, Rowing machine, running outside, etc. As long as you have a rest phase and a work phase.

Just make sure that during your 20 second phase, you’re busting your butt! I’m talking, when you get to the end of the interval, you should be absolutely spent–use the rest phase to recover so you can do it again.

Feel free to play with the times if you want to change it up-a 20 second (more advanced) work phase is going to be more intense than a 40 second work phase.

Time to get to work!!

These above two types of training are meant to be hard, as they squeeze a lot of work into a short time period–the other goods news is that every new study that comes out has shown this type of training to be MORE effective than traditional cardio in that it breaks down muscle and stimulates EPOC, which speeds up your metabolism even after your workout!

Simply put, your body will keep burning more Calories throughout the day, and your metabolism will increase–meaning more fat burning–meaning abs that show.

Technorati Tags: abs, EPOC, exercise selection, fat loss, Get A Flatter Stomach, interval training, Program Design, strength training, time-management, total-body-training

Okay, so it’s your designated time to go to the gym and work out. How are you going to spend your time?

What is the short term and long term goal you are trying to accomplish?

Lose weight? Get stronger? Get faster? Get in better condition for a sport? Overall Health? Flexibility?

If you arrive at the gym and find that you don’t know what your short and long term goals are, then stop and go home. Don’t come back until you know.

The movements you choose in the weight room should serve to accomplish YOUR goals.

If you do know what you’re trying to accomplish, then you need to ask yourself at every exercise station the following three questions:

1. Is this exercise directly bringing me closer to my goals?
2. Is this exercise indirectly bringing me closer to my goals by improving an inefficiency or serving as a progression to a movement that would bring me closer to my goals?
3. Is there an exercise other than this one that would be a better use of my time?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions or if you have not even thought about them, you really need to. I see FAR too many people (of all ages) in the weight room that look like they’re there just so they can tell their friends that they worked out.

• Why are you choosing the leg extension if you’re 80 pounds overweight?
• Why are you doing 7 sets of Smith Machine inclines presses?
• Why are you spending 3/4 of your time doing ab exercises on the stability ball?
• Why are you balancing on a Bosu ball?

I guarantee if I went up to some of these people and asked them why exactly they chose that particular exercise, they couldn’t tell me the answer. And if they did, I bet they couldn’t justify their answer with anything that makes any sense with regard to training.

Your time is valuable–why wouldn’t this include the time you spend in the weight room. Everything you do should be bringing you closer to your goals–otherwise it’s a waste of time.

Wouldn’t you agree?

You really have to look at whether what you’re doing is in line with your goals and if it’s actually working.

I hate to burst anyone’s bubble but in most cases:

7 sets of Smith Machine incline presses is NOT the best way to increase upper body strength and get huge.

Walking on the treadmill for long periods of time or using a leg machine is NOT the best way to lose weight.

Spending excess time in the ab station is NOT going to melt away your belly fat.

Balancing on the Bosu ball is only going to teach you how to balance on a Bosu ball. Are you planning on joining the circus?

Do yourself a favor and start BEING AWARE of everything you’re doing. Find out if there’s a better way–your time is valuable and there could (and probably is) a more efficient and SAFE use of your time.

Find it and DO IT.

(HINT: It may be something that’s actually hard to do and that you’re not particularly good at.)

Technorati Tags: exercise selection, goal-setting, Program Design, training-philosophy

Question:

Does the ab roller really work? Or are sit-ups just as good? What are the best exercises for firming your middle?

I know there are a few products out there similar to the ab roller (like the ab dolly, ab slide, ab wheel..) so I’m assuming you’re talking about any one of these similar products where you grip the device with both hands laying face down on the floor, and extending out with your truck, using your core to stabilize yourself.

Anyway, I’ll answer your first two questions right now:

Ab roller or Sit-ups?

The short answer is, yes the ab roller does work and no, sit-ups aren’t just as good. When I say work, I’m not necessarily talking about what you call “firming”, but I’ll get into that later.

For now, the more interesting question is why the ab roller a better exercise than the sit-up.

Function of Abs

First let’s examine the function of your abs. While they can serve to flex the trunk (as in a sit-up), their main function is to stabilize the body.

Your abs are there to PREVENT MOVEMENT during activities that require you to stabilize yourself—which is virtually every movement.

Think about when your throw a ball, reach over your head to put something on a shelf, stand on one foot, or serve a tennis ball—start to notice what your abs are doing. They’re being activated and holding your core in place so that you are able to perform these movements.

Have your abs ever been really sore after a tough workout?

If yes, notice how difficult every day activities become with sore abs!! Yes, in all these normal movements, your abs are firing and active–because they’re preventing movement.

So let me ask you—what are you accomplishing by doing a sit-up?

Well, a sit-up is pretty much just repeated flexion of the trunk, rather than stabilizing your body—not good. Not to mention, sit-ups are a good way to injure yourself!

The ab roller exercise, however, does make sense. You’re not flexing or extending at the trunk, but you’re supporting your own bodyweight as you roll out. This uses your abs in a role of preventing movement, acting as a core stabilizer—this makes much more sense!

Problem With the Ab Roller

The problem with the ab roller exercise is that it’s extremely advanced and, quite honestly, I’d be surprised if you could find a handful of people at your gym at any given time that could do 10 of these with no problem.

(If you’re one of them, good for you—you probably don’t need to read below).

Ab Variations

The good news is, there are some simple progressions and variations to this exercise, and you don’t have to go out and buy anything from a late night infomercial to do it!!

I’ll summarize two basic exercises that can be found on T-nation. Feel free to check out the article as it goes into more depth, but for most people, these two will be enough.

1) Basic Plank

I love planks. Just ask any of my clients!!

This is where you’re in a prone (face down) position, with only your forearms and feet touching the ground. Your back is in a straight line, and your core and glutes are completely tight and activated, working to keep your body in this position.

You should be able to hold this position for 60-90 seconds. If you can’t hold it for at least 40 seconds, definitely start with this exercise before moving to move advanced ab rollouts.

The great thing about planks is that you can do them anywhere, any time! For a while there, my dad was doing these along with pushups every time he changed clothes.

2) Stability Ball Rollout

This is pretty much the same exercise as with the ab roller.

The only difference is you’re placing your forearms on the ball rather than gripping the ab wheel.

The smaller the ball you use, the harder the exercise will be—so start with the biggest one. Trust me—these are hard.

If you get to a few sets of 15 reps on your stability ball rollouts, you can progress to the ab roller!

Now to your third question…

How to Firm the Middle

I did my best to answer your core training questions, but I can’t help but wonder what you meant by “firm your middle”..

So far, I’ve assumed that you meant better, stronger, more functional abs.

You chose the phrase “firm up”!

What this hints to me is that you want to lose any fat in that area so that your abs will show and you’ll have the healthy, slim, and dare I say toned look that so many people strive for.

That’s a great goal!

But..

It’s important for you to realize that while taking care of your abs and doing the proper exercises is a good thing, this alone will not give you a 6 pack or the slim look you desire.

It really drives me nuts when I see infomercials full of people with very low body fat, abs showing, etc., swearing that X product will deliver instant results and give you sleek, sexy abs.

Give me a break.

The reality is that you cannot isolate fat loss to a specific area of the body by targeting it with a particular exercise. Period.

I went over this in some more detail in a previous article titled, Help Me Get a 6 Pack that you may want to check out if you haven’t already. I also talk about what does work in getting that healthy, slim look.

Basically, you’ll need to follow an exercise plan designed specifically for fat loss while also focusing on proper nutrition—which is absolutely crucial.

I also highly recommend downloading this very popular book:

The Truth About 6-Pack Abs - I think you can even try it out for a whole week for under five bucks, and the information is fantastic.

So go get started with your planks and stability ball rollouts! Five minutes of ab work per workout should be plenty. If you need to lose some fat, start an exercise and nutrition program with that goal in mind.

As always, keep the questions coming by using the “Ask Doug” section, and feel free to comment and let me know what you think.

Technorati Tags: 6-pack, ab exercises, ab roller, core, Core Training, exercise selection, fat loss, Get A Flatter Stomach, role of abs, sit-ups, toning

Question

I haven’t worked out or conditioned in years. I am running a 5K in less than a week. What do I need to do to prepare?

Well—this is an interesting question.

Obviously, you should have started training for this event several weeks in advance—but since you haven’t and you’re going to go ahead and run it anyway, I am going to assume that you’re participating in this event for fun.

Awesome!

Depending on how deconditioned you are, this race is likely going to be a challenge for you.

Since you don’t really have time to get your body in shape for the race, all you can do is make sure you don’t do anything drastic that could make you sick or prevent your from finishing.

1. Don’t try to pack 6-8 weeks of conditioning in to the few days before the race. This will just make you sore so you’ll be better off just resting or going for an easy jog. If you had even a week or two more to prepare, my advice would be different. But you don’t.
2. Eat like normal. Hopefully, you’re eating healthy foods already. If not, try to make sure you’re getting your veggies, fruits, proteins, good fats and good carbs in. I wouldn’t try anything drastic like carb loading or anything if you haven’t tried this technique before as it could give you unpredictable results during the race.
3. Drink plenty of fluids between now and the race. Use the pee test: if your pee is translucent, you’re ok. If it looks like the color of lemon lime Gatorade when you dump the whole box of powder in, then you probably need to go fill up your water bottle. Or heck–just go to the nearest faucet and starting sucking back some H2O straight from the tap!
4. Have fun! Don’t expect to break any world records. You’re probably doing this for fun or for a charitable cause, which is great—so leave it at that. If you happen to be a very competitive person or if you were a competitive runner in the past, don’t beat yourself up if you don’t set any personal records..

It’s OK. Next time, just make sure you train!

Maybe this race can serve as a starting point for you to start a conditioning program—either for another race in the future of just for health benefits. Use the race as psychological momentum to get yourself active again.

Good luck and have fun!

Technorati Tags: 5k, endurance training, Momentum, Performance, running

I’ve heard that lifting weights helps you burn more calories if you lift weights before cardio and would like some insight on this.

Answer:

This is a good question, and there is not really a definite answer either way–it depends on your preference.

But, I will give you an answer anyway.

It doesn’t make sense that doing one before the other will burn more Calories, assuming you’re doing the same amount of work.

However, this doesn’t mean that your order doesn’t matter..

It’s true that you’ll see the greatest improvement in the activities you perform first in the session and the least in the activities you perform last.

Now judging by your question, it sounds like your primary goal is fat loss. Your other goals are likely to increase your strength and improve your cardiovascular fitness.

So..

Pick which one is more important to you (getting a stronger body or a stronger heart) and perform that one first.

Yes, that’s the answer–not really rocket science, huh?

It just makes sense that the first activity you perform will be when you’re fresh and will be able to give 100%–thus you’ll see the most improvements.

If you wanted to take this principle a little bit further…

You can break it down to individual strength exercises–putting the area you want to improve most first or toward the beginning of the program.

Also, if you’re doing a split routine, put the body parts you want to improve most at the beginning of your training week. So if you wanted to improve leg strength, do legs on Monday rather than Friday.

If you REALLY can’t decide which is more important to you, aerobic capacity or strength, don’t be afraid to experiment.

Try doing your cardio first one day–then switch it around on the next day. See which one you LIKE better.

Simple huh?

You never know–you may like both and decide to switch it up regularly to keep your program from getting boring. Aren’t options great?

Ultimately, the most important thing if you’re relatively new to exercise is trying to pick an order you can enjoy and will keep you coming back to the gym–but if you’re looking for an objective reason for picking one order over another, just do the one you want to improve the most first.

I hope this helps!

And be sure to check out the audio below.

Technorati Tags: calories, cardio, exercise order, Performance, Program Design, strength training