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Gwen, Tom and Reinhard, >it might just be a problem of 'sucking >it in,' although that is a bad description of what >takes place. Strengthing the transverse abdominus--the "sucker-inner" muscle. That any better? No? Darn. I think you hit the nail on the head, Tom, as usual. At a "normal" bodyweight, you shouldn't have flab hanging around, which leaves two distinct possibilites in my mind. (Note that this is a long eMail which basically says that you should try Shovelglove. So if you don't feel like reading it... just go take a look at Shovelglove.) 1. You have weak abdominal muscles (despite "toning" exercises). As Tom said, and I'll reiterate, I reccomend Pavel Tsatsouline's Bulletproof Abs book. It's expensive, but good. (Actually, if I could only have one of Pavel's books, I'd get Power to the People! as I reccomend below). In short summation of that book's principles, do harder exercises for fewer (5 or less) reps, 1-5 sets. Learning "Vaccums" would be good, and power breathing also might work. You might be able to find links to these on the internet. 2. You have a bad (very bad) ratio of muscle to fat. This is what's called "skinny-fat"... undermuscled and overfat. If you've been a chronic dieter, this is a distinct possibility. In the case of extreme calorie deprivation, your body wants to rid itself of the most metabolically active (read: hungry) tissues while preserving fat tissue. This happens a lot with experienced dieters. Lumberjacks and Couch Potatoes, anyone? There's two ways out of this particular hell. The first one is to cut calories even lower (as you're doing) and increase exercise more (as you're doing). What's going to happen is that your metabolism is going to shut down even more... but yes, you'll lose the last few pounds. Then if you ever slip... bang, the fat starts piling back on. Obviously, I don't reccomend this solution. The second solution, especially since you're already at a healthy bodyweight, would be to start trying to build muscle more seriously--something more strenuous than "toning" exercises. I know this initially sounds like a bad idea, but here's the thing. Being "bulky" is mostly accounted for by the number of calories that you consume. I've worked with a few women on diet and exercise, and a big fear is that they're going to bulk-up like bodybuilders. None of them ever have, and all of them have commented on how much "tighter" they look and feel. Truth be told, few women have the genetics to bulk up too much, and further, they don't consume the requisite number of calories to do so. (Not to mention the requisite amount of Anabolic Steroids that all pro bodybuilders, male and female, take.) So here's another option. Continue your diet at a point where you are maintaining your weight. Maybe ramp up your protein a little bit (don't have to go overboard... maybe switch to some beef jerky instead of the granola bars) and start doing more serious strength-building. Here's what will happen. Slowly, over time, though your body weight will remain stable, you'll add muscle and lose fat. This will not happen in a month, it probably won't happen in three, but if you stick to it for 6 months to a year, you will see results without having to go through bizzare gyrations, exercise and dietary manipulations, or any other stuff. Maintain your level of cardiovascular exercise, and you're home-free. Yes, there are faster ways, but they get both weird and complicated. Fast. Best book on this topic would be Power to the People! also by Pavel Tsatsouline. He outlines a 20 minute program that will cost about $150-200 worth of equipment (olympic set of weights... and maybe a mat to protect your floor). You perform the program five days a week, twenty minutes per day. If you want to go even lower tech, I highly reccomend Reinhard's own exercise program. Start with a light sledge and work up. Reinhard wins the contest on both equipment cost ($50 or so for each sledge) and time (14 minutes, five days a week). As for the results, you'll have to judge for yourself, but I'm pretty certain that Shovelglove will attack the problem from all sides: you will add muscle (resistance training), lose fat (diet), and tighten your abdominals (again, resistance training), all in one go. Plus, the program itself is completely free. Can't get a better deal than that. I guess this is a long winded way of saying: give Shovelglove a try, because no matter what the problem is, Shovelglove will help it. Anyway, that's my semi-professional opinon. Dan __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway http://promotions.yahoo.com/design_giveaway/ |
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