I feel your pain. Just yesterday, I was trying on clothes in a store, (smaller waist than last summer), looked in the rear view mirror and thought WTF!!! My weight is down 8 lbs (165@5’9") from last June, I am stronger, and my veins are poppin in my arms, legs and visible in my chest. Why does my lower back look like my skin is draped on ?!
Maybe I’ll go low carb too. But I wonder if that is smart after lifting.
33 years old btw
If you’re already lean and having trouble with the last little bit of abdominal fat, I wouldn’t respect you any less as a personal trainer if you had some surgical assistance.
On the other hand, if you had calf implants and were telling me I needed to focus more on my calf development, I couldn’t take you too seriously.
The thought of getting the last bit of fat surgically removed from my abdomen area has crossed my mind. Every time I have the thought, I always think about that the money could be used for an incredibly clean diet for a few months.
Another surgical deterent for me is CT’s article, Beast Evolves. That’s an incredible transformation unaided by any surgery.
[quote]dreamboater wrote:
The higher fat (good fats) and lower carb seems to really take mine away also. I notice as soon as I consume something high carbs I notice it first in my lower abs and love handles. I have been cutting away at them but is has been pretty slow. This is where most guys store fat and the last place it comes off of. I know for me I will have to be below 10% to have ripped abs and no love handles. I guess everyone is different.[/quote]
Yeah. Look, it’s no mystery-some people are just unfortunate in the way their body deposits fat. But I’ve never met many (any) people who have love handles at 7-8% bodyfat. It’s unfortunate that some people can get away with being at 10% bodyfat, but that’s the way it is. People disposed to them have two choices-get and stay very lean or have surgery to remove them and be able to be at a higher bodyfat.
Same boat here. I’m probably at around 10% body fat and my love handles are still pretty big. I am still really young (21) and am convinced that I can lose them with a strict diet for 12 weeks at some point in the future. I don’t carry as much LBM as I want to so I don’t want to diet down that far just yet.
I did look into the liposuction just in case I ever decided to take route. I think it is perfectly acceptable to do.
One night I went out with a couple of girls from work. My uniform is long-sleeved white shirt that I wear a wife beater under, so I just took the work shirt off. Since I’m kind of known as the guy who works out and eats right, the girls were all laughing at my handles…Not a good time. My girlfriend doesn’t mind them though (too much…)
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Since I’m kind of known as the guy who works out and eats right, the girls were all laughing at my handles…Not a good time. My girlfriend doesn’t mind them though (too much…)[/quote]
That’s how I feel. I am definately known as a gym-rat fitness-freak, but the love handles screw up the image. It’s easier to look good to your peers the older you get. At age 36 all you have to do is not be fat and the 30-something women are impressed. Add a little muscle and you are a serious head-turner. Get a bulldog tattoo on your muscular, well-defined chest and you’re downright irresistable.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
One night I went out with a couple of girls from work. My uniform is long-sleeved white shirt that I wear a wife beater under, so I just took the work shirt off. Since I’m kind of known as the guy who works out and eats right, the girls were all laughing at my handles…Not a good time. My girlfriend doesn’t mind them though (too much…)[/quote]
Damn, that is harsh. A good example of how hard that fat can be to get rid of is Chuck Lidell. Some people just are gonna have em unless they get them removed. Look at a lot of fighters the night of weigh in and then the next day. They have no love handles the night before, then by the fight after eating a few carbs and drinking some water they are back. Clint Eastwood is another example of a lean dude with a wide waste.
The problem is we’ve let the pediphiles that run the media dictate what is ideal. And to them it’s the physique of a 15 year old boy that is ideal. Fuc that, sport your love handles with pride. They’re the sign of a sturdy core.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
I did look into the liposuction just in case I ever decided to take route. I think it is perfectly acceptable to do.
[/quote]
Really?
[quote]jsbrook wrote:
But I’ve never met many (any) people who have love handles at 7-8% bodyfat. It’s unfortunate that some people can get away with being at 10% bodyfat, but that’s the way it is.
[/quote]
Yep.
[quote]doogie wrote:
jsbrook wrote:
But I’ve never met many (any) people who have love handles at 7-8% bodyfat. It’s unfortunate that some people can get away with being at 10% bodyfat, but that’s the way it is.
Yep.
[/quote]
Unless you’re Iggy Pop, you’re not going to maintain 7% bodyfat for very long.
[quote]Lost_Dog wrote:
MickeyG wrote:
With that in mind, the type 2 diabetes pill Glucophage (or similar) might help. I used low doses of a similar product called Metformin years ago, and it worked well while dieting.
Can you elaborate on this? Not sure how you would take it and how it would work.
[/quote]
That’s really my own theory, but it’s a logical conclusion. Chromium might be something else to try, although it’s obviously not going to be as powerful, and doesn’t seem to work for everybody. Green Tea Extract and r-ala may have a positive effect on insulin sensitivity as well. IGF-1 or GH may also have an effect on this particular bodyfat storage pattern.
As far as the Glucophage dosage, 500mg 2x daily is a good standard dosage, maybe going up to 500mg 3x daily maximum. Glucophage isn’t nearly as dangerous as insulin use, but you still don’t want to go overboard, and I wouldn’t use it for longer than 6 weeks.
Dan Duchaine was a Glucophage fan back in the 90s. Keep in mind it was years ago that I used it, but it did make a noticeable difference in my fat loss and vascularity.
Targeting the problem area like love handles while doing cardio may be another thing to try. It can increase circulation to the area. Doing twists while stationary biking or using the stationary bike with the moving handlebars. I’ve used a cardio machine that looks like a bike, but you row your bodyweight…it actually made a difference in my obliques. High rep pulley crunches where you contract the obliques is worth a shot too.
Topical solutions like LipoDerm might be worth a shot, but these seem to work better on areas with thinner skin, like the pec line and upper abs. The love handle/oblique area is pretty dense.
If you Google ‘bodybuilding glucophage’ you’ll find some info from various sites and boards. You’ll find mixed opinions as well…seems to work well for some, others weren’t that impressed. I would imagine it works best for those that actually have varying degrees of insulin resistance, and probably don’t know it.
But in the case of using it for stubborn fat deposits on the obliques (combined w/ a ketogenic or low carb diet), it does make sense. There IS research to prove that love handles are likely caused by insulin resistance.
[quote]doogie wrote:
Lonnie123 wrote:
I did look into the liposuction just in case I ever decided to take route. I think it is perfectly acceptable to do.
Really?
[/quote]
Umm… Sure. Not really sure what you were trying to do with that statement, but I’ll bite.
If he is anything like me, and it sounds like he is, he is probably busting his ass in the gym, doing cardio 2 - 4 times per week AND watching his diet. Even after the velocity diet (I even continued cutting for 4 weeks after THAT) I still have sizable love handles. Getting down to 6 or 7 % sounds like a great idea, but it really isn’t maintainable. The only reason I’m dissapointed at 10% is because of my handles… I think after 15 years of smart eating and exercising, if you can’t HONESTLY get rid of the handles, get them cut off.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
If he is anything like me, and it sounds like he is, he is probably busting his ass in the gym, doing cardio 2 - 4 times per week AND watching his diet. Even after the velocity diet (I even continued cutting for 4 weeks after THAT) I still have sizable love handles. Getting down to 6 or 7 % sounds like a great idea, but it really isn’t maintainable. The only reason I’m dissapointed at 10% is because of my handles… I think after 15 years of smart eating and exercising, if you can’t HONESTLY get rid of the handles, get them cut off.[/quote]
Busting your ass in the gym is a very relative thing. So is “smart eating and training” for that matter.
I’ve been skinny (5’10.5", 114lbs.) and I’ve been fat (5’10.5", 240lbs.) and I’ve been everywhere in between. When I was skinny, I thought my genetics wouldn’t let me put on muscle. When I was fat, I thought my genetics wouldn’t let me get rid of my fat.
I don’t believe for a second that someone can put in 15 years of smart eating and exercising, and HONESTLY not get rid of the love handles.
[quote]doogie wrote:
Busting your ass in the gym is a very relative thing. So is “smart eating and training” for that matter.
I’ve been skinny (5’10.5", 114lbs.) and I’ve been fat (5’10.5", 240lbs.) and I’ve been everywhere in between. When I was skinny, I thought my genetics wouldn’t let me put on muscle. When I was fat, I thought my genetics wouldn’t let me get rid of my fat.
I don’t believe for a second that someone can put in 15 years of smart eating and exercising, and HONESTLY not get rid of the love handles.
[/quote]
I’ll let you know in 13 years. I don’t think I have even come close to my “genetic ceiling”, so I am certainly not considering lypo; However, If the fact of the matter is that you have worked as hard as you are willing to work for as long as you were willing to do it (Hopefully long and hard in this community), and still no flat midsection, get rid of it the “easy way”.
If someone can honestly say that from the ages of 20 - 35 they have really pushed themselves and are still dissapointed with their physique, considering it is only gonna get harder, I say a little surgical help might be just the confidence booster they need to KEEP training instead of saying “Whats the use?” and stopping.
[quote]doogie wrote:
I don’t believe for a second that someone can put in 15 years of smart eating and exercising, and HONESTLY not get rid of the love handles.
[/quote]
It’s not a good idea to base your assumption of what works for other people based on your own experiences… as there are a lot of differences between people.
At the very least, issues such as insulin resistance, natural inclination to fat storage and base T levels (and the ability of these factors to adjust to dietary and exercise habits) all have an impact on body composition.
While I am sure that ANYONE can starve themselves and eventually achieve leanness, I am not sure of much else.
[quote]MickeyG wrote:
According to the regional fat storage study by Charles Poliquin, Supra-illiac (love handles) accumulation is highly correlated with insulin resistance.
With that in mind, the type 2 diabetes pill Glucophage (or similar) might help. I used low doses of a similar product called Metformin years ago, and it worked well while dieting.
As far as diet, I think the higher fat/lower carb type diets work better (in theory) for insulin resistance.
[/quote]
Youn are 100% spot on with this.
I have insulin resisitance if anyone would like more info on my experiance IM me. P.S. I use Glucophage