I know this isn’t the typical kind of question you guys want to deal with, but if some of the women could respond I would appreciate it. I am an older woman (around 50), not overweight, happy with the progress I am making in my program, but carrying extra fat around my waist and stomach. I have had children and do not expect to have a flat stomach. I do lots of abs and know that they will not reduce fat in that area.I weight train now and plan to increase in that area (will that do it for me?) and I do enough cardio to keep my heart healthy. I do not need to lose weight overall (5’6", 140 lbs.) I metabolize quickly and eat well. Is there something anyone can recommend to reduce the bulkiness around my middle? Or is it just that I’m at that age where I have to accept the fact that things have shifted and they will stay there? I have used the search engine, but given that most of the info is for gaining weight or losing lots of weight, it doesn’t really apply. I know you can’t really spot-train, but has anyone else had this problem? Any recommendations? I do not eat a lot of desserts as a rule and am trying to cut out the foods that tend to make me feel bloated, but after eating my belly just balloons. It always has, but now it feels uncomfortable. I am not huge, by the way.
I have tried to find stuff on other sites because I know this isn’t a “hardcore” issue, but other sites are just so inadequate and uninteresting.
Use the search engine on this site, just click on current issue.
Unfortunately, that bulky area in the middle takes a lot of defined effort to get rid of and a dedication to keeping it off. For now, the best option is what you are planning to do, lift weights. Make sure you have a good plan of attack and hit the weights at least 3 times a week (2 full body workouts would be the minimum and can be effective, but I like a more frequent game plan). Doing a lot of abdominal work and rotational work will help keep the muscular around your midsection strong and tight and will help with the problem, but losing the extra fat is the only way it will go away. Check out Ian King’s “Thinking Man’s Guide to Ab Training” and Paul Check’s “Tornado Training” for tips on abdominal exercises. As for your workouts, there are a lot of good options, but reading through the old Dawg School programs would be a good place to start. After doing some serious weightlifting for a while, you can reevaluate and see if that has helped your problem area. I think it will and even if it does not help your target area, weightlifting at your age is the best form of exercise you can get to assist in bone maintenance and to build strength. Hope this helps and please ask more questions if you need clarification or anything else.
How long have you been weight training? Also what are you doing in your current routine? How many days a week? How do you mean “eat well”? Also, do you have a tendency to eat late in the day? I find that can make a difference on fat loss. Also of note, that one of the best ab “exercises” for me (since I also can store fat around my waistline), is just keep my abs tight - be aware of them through out the day. One more thing, there is no such thing as “men only” or “women only” workouts. Just “good form/technique” and “bad form/technique”.
Have you recently lost weight as a result of your diet and training? I’m curious because so many people get frusterated when they plateau from their diet or training. That’s the signal that it’s time to mix things up a bit.
In the past, I’ve found that if you aren’t losing any additional fat from your diet, then you need to do something different. For instance, you could pick a day, or even just a meal, one week to go out and get whatever you want: cheeseburgers, pizza, chocolate, whatever. It throws your metabolism a curve and stokes it so when you go back to your normal eating you will continue to make progress. If you don’t like that idea (although, who wouldn’t?), another method is to up your calories by about 300 - 500 per day over the weekends. Again, it throws your metabolism a curve and you can continue the fat loss once you eat normally again throughout the week. It’s worked for a number of people, myself included.
Also, you mentioned discomfort (bloating) after eating certain things. Have you ever been tested for food allergies? My girlfriend recently found out she’s allergic to gluten (mostly found in wheat). Since she stopped eating that stuff she lost about 5 lbs. No bloating, stomach is much flatter, and she feels a hundred times better. May be somthing you’d want to check out.
Tyler
Re-read your post and saw that you diduse the search engine sorry. The programs in this site are not necessarily made for losing weight but for dropping body fat, which is what you are interested in doing. Picking up the intensiy with the weights should help tremendously, and don’t worry you won’t turn into a musclebound monster by lifting heavy weights.
I have to add some things. As for Jason N: yeah, what he says…THEN let me say, that one of the first woman I met when I had first started working out at this gym back in 1985, was 53 AND a competitive bodybuilder. She was amazing. She trained hard and with her husband. Very inspiring. Despite her hard work, she was in no way NOT feminine. Quite the contrary.
when women have children the abdomonal wall often gets stretched out. This can be seen in women as the pouch below the belt line, if this is what you’re talking about then you can look up ‘thin tummy’ exercise that Ian King discribes in a few of his articles. This is an exercise use quite a bit in physiotherapy circles. As far as general training advice, you can do what most others do just use a lower intensity, ie)little need for someone your age with your experience to be doing singles. I don’t mean to say that you shouldn’t lift heavy, just that you should take your time getting into this sort of lifting (5reps or less). My own mother (60yrs old) started lifting maybe 5 years ago and can now deadlift 150lbs in good form. She also says that she feels more fit than she has ever felt in her whole life. So it’s nice to hear of an older woman who isn’t afraid of the weights.
Good luck, hope I helped a bit.
Wow! Thanks so much for the support and the advice. Jason–I will check out those articles. I know a lot of different ab exercises, but it can’t hurt to mix it up and vary it a little. I do 2 full body workouts a week right now and plan to increase that to 4. I like the full body better than breaking it up (I think). I still use hand weights, but am proud to say that soon there will be too many to hold, so I’ll have to look at other equipment. Patricia–yes, I guess some of my meals are late in the day, but I have a family to feed. I try to consume less late in the day, but unfortunately I am not very hungry in the morning at all. I know, I know–eat breakfast. I do, but must admit that the bulk of my food intake is later. It’s difficult to adjust that one while working and maintaining a family, whoever. By eating well, I mean fresh food (yes, I cook! and so does my husband), few sweet, fattening desserts, lots of fruits and veggies. Tyle–yes I know about the gluten thing and I think I am one of those people affected by wheat, so I have cut out lots of it, but not all.And ko–I am not worried at all about lifting weights. I want to get muscular–I think it looks terrific on women! And I know I won’t look like Arnold. I used to do a lot of aerobics, but I prefer the weights. The results are greater. I’m a little wary to “lose the fat” because I always lose it first where I don’t want to (ie. boobs), and except for my middle, I can honestly say I’m not concerned about fat anywhere else. I’m not one of those saggy, baggy older women. Most people who don’t know me think I am ten years younger than I really am. (Smile) I attribute it to good fitness. I will admit that I let that lapse a little because of other things that overwhelmed my life recently, but I have gotten back into it and am determined never to stop.
Thanks so much for everyone’s advice and encouragement. Lots to think about.
So, I just took some time and checked out some of the sites you guys mentioned and have picked up a few things that I plan to try. I’m off work for a week now and will have the flexibility to change my eating patterns and increase the workout.
I would disagree a little with patrica on this one… It really depends on your need and goals are and I do feel that some women not all should train differently then men. But what ever you do make sure you do resitance training which is training with weights… It helps espicailly with older population. Prevents Arthritis ect… Also vary your work-outs.