HELP: Problems with my middle

[crgardner]

Hello to all,

I have been faithfully been working out with Cathe's step tapes and I just started doing the Cardio and Weights and I have really noticed a difference in my legs, but my stomach has not gone down at all. I do not like doing sit ups and I have tried doing the ab routine at the end of Cardio and Weights and I think my form must be wrong because my neck starts hurting. Does anyone have any recommendations to help me get my stomach down?
Thanks

 

[lorihart]

Hello there,
First thing I have to ask, Have you adjusted your diet any? Normally I have to cut back in order to see results around my middle.I can exercise until the cows come home but if my diet is poor I see absolutely NO results.The experts say that it is 80% diet and I am a firm beleiver.But not always a follower!
I have currently upped my cardio and watched my diet and I am now seeing results.I didn't have a big belly but just a little pop and my pants didn't feel right.
If your diet is in tack ,then just be patient.You have already seen results from your lower half so it just may take a little more time.
Cathe also suggest that running keeps her middle trim.Others suggest that even though you think you eat well you may want to start a food journal and take note of everything that goes in your mouth.ANd you may be surprised.
Good luck and let us know how it goes...
Lori

 

[Aquajock]

If you want to see positive changes in the core area you are going to have to work it. The core muscles, including the abdominal muscles, need to be worked in isolation just like any other muscle group to see results. Making positive nutritional changes may help reduce overall bodyfat stores (and PLEASE note that you cannot lose storage fat preferentially in one area; where you store and lose fat is genetically determined), but working the legs is not going to train the core.

Learn to like sit ups, curl-ups (both for the rectus abdominus and obliques) in all their variations via Cathe's abdominal routines. The Ab Hits DVD is a great tool for that. Also bring in plank work to train all the core muscles including the transverse abdominus, the deepest core muscle that has no motor function but instead acts as a stabilizer.

The Cardio Weights ab routine is a very advanced one IMHO because the lever lengths are so long and you spend so much time with these long levers or with the legs elevated. I would suggest, again, training with more traditional and moderate ab routines from Cathe's earlier workouts before attempting Cardio Weights ab routine again. If you're experiencing any pain along the spinal column, including the neck, you're doing yourself no favors by continuing to do it. Train up to it over time with other routines.

A-Jock

 

[crgardner]

Making positive nutritional changes may help reduce overall bodyfat.

I have heard that many many times and that is one thing I am trying to work VERY VERY hard on. As long as I bring my lunch to work, I am usually fine and I do great with my eating at home because I try not to buy sweets or anything, but sometimes at work (since I work for a very big company) somebody is always bringing cookies and cakes, etc and sometimes I just seem to not have any self discipline with that since sweets are my downfall, but I am trying to work on that and I will have to be patient. I am 5'5" and 215 pounds and I carry a lot of that weight in my lower half (just like my mother and all of my aunts) My goal is to lose 45 pounds this year.

Thanks so much for the advice and I will order Cathe Ab DVD.

 

[Aquajock]

One thing I found is that when I finally brought in total-body strength training as an ongoing, integral part of my weekly workout program, I developed wonderful amounts of muscle mass AND my sweet tooth dropped radically. I still love fruits and the occasional cookie or piece of candy, but the Sweet Fang has been really filed down. I also developed far more of an appetite for good, bioavailable proteins as well. I'm not one of those Carb-Haters (a really tiresome crowd IMHO) but again, upkicking strength training really helped me wean off of simple refined sugars AND fats.

Good for you to get the Cathe Ab DVD. It's awesome!

Keep up the good work!

A-Jock

 

[crgardner]

One thing I found is that when I finally brought in
total-body strength training as an ongoing, integral part of
my weekly workout program, I developed wonderful amounts of
muscle mass

Hi A-Jock,
What does your total-body strenght training consists of and what workouts by Cathe do you use?

Thanks,
Chrischelle

 

[Aquajock]

Hi, Chrischelle! Actually, although I buy ALL of Cathe's DVD products including strength training DVD's, I do not actually use these workouts as produced in my own program. I am apt to steal many of her lifts, but I prefer to do my own thing, in silence and at my own tempo, when I'm lifting.

My own program is fairly bread-and-butter, and actually the routine for legs and upper body does not vary very much. On Sunday I do kind of a monster cardio and strength session, spending about 30 minutes on slow squats and lunges with barbell and weight vest and then single-joint leg work with ankle weights; then abs and low back; then about a 40-minute upper body routine hitting all the majors up top. During the week I'll do at least one land workout at home, usually a leg-circuit style cardio routine and abs, and at work at least once during the week I'll close my door to my office and bang out an upper body set with lighter weights just to keep everything pumped up.

Mine's a somewhat different schedule from most Cathe-ites because I teach and perform two aqua classes per week and do some pool drill work as well on my own, so I only do 2-3 land workouts per week.

A-Jock