Best cardio for losing weight off tummy?

white apples

Okay so I joined a gym last week and went and got my initial assesment, well they didn't really assess me rather just made up a program for me after asking what my goals were. There was no measuring or weighing or anything, but I guess I can do that myself so no biggie.

But in terms of my program, the weights part of it I'm happy enough with as it's just toning up, but the cardio part, she basically just said, do 40 to 60 mins of cardio on any of the machines....which I find a bit vague. Will all the machines achieve the same goal, will any of them achieve it quicker than others, what kind of speeds, resistances do I need to be doing etc., and frankly I tried asking a few of these questions and the answers were so vague that it didn't really give me much to go on.

Anyway, I'm female, 30 about 5'10. My BMI is within the 'normal' range. I'm not dramatically overweight, look fairly normal in size. Problem is that all my excess weight goes straight to my waist (as opposed to most women getting it on their boobs and bums) so with even a tiny bit of extra weight my body just get a weird shape.

So my question is, what's the best cardio to do to shift weight off my middle? Is there a 'best' machine / exercise or will they all do the same thing anyways? I'm doing abs exercises as part of my program on the ball and can definately feel it in my muscles but I know there's excess weight that I need to shift there for this to make much of a difference.

ronbyrne2005

Diet is key to keeping your bodyfat down and cardio can help you burn any excess energy you have stored around the body. Any cardio is fine, do whatever you like most, the key is getting your heart rate up to around 60-80% of maximum heart rate to burn fat. exercise too vigourously and you'll just tire yourself out by depleting your muscle energy levels, too little intensity and you wont do much really. If the machines don't have heart rate monitors then workout at such a rate so that a light sweat builds up on you during workout and make sure you are'nt out of breath. You could do fast walking or jogging outdoors if you don't enjoy being on a threadmill for an hour three times a week. The weight training is great as increasing your lean muscle mass will increase the amount of calories your body burns even at rest.
Good luck and make sure you are eating a good balanced diet but have some treats along the way!

As for your question about a best way to lose weight from around waist, No, theres no best form of cardio. The way an individual lays down body fat and it location (bum or tummy or all over) is determined by your genes and you can't do anything about it except lose overall body fat through diet and exercise as I said above.

white apples

Thanks Ron. In that case I'll prob do the treadmill for half hour and bike or cross trainer for the other half hour, might alternate so as not to get too bored! And do rowing as a warm up for 10 mins or so.

Zamboni

The best cardio you can do for fat loss is running to the weights room. :pac:

Seriously though, if you want to dramtically drop fat from your waist you need a full body weight training workout.

CoachBoone

Zamboni wrote: »

The best cardio you can do for fat loss is running to the weights room. :pac:

Seriously though, if you want to dramtically drop fat from your waist you need a full body weight training workout.

I would agree with this, but I believe it is a fairly contentious issue. I remember reading a thread a while back about the trade off between weights for fatloss and cardio for fatloss.

HiiT is also meant to be very beneficial for Fat Loss.
As is any form of Cardio.

Personally, I have been doing weights for the past 4 Months with the aim of losing as much fat as possible.

I think though when you get to a certain % of bodyfat Cardio is then more beneficial to fat loss (i.e losing that stubborn bit around your stomach/lower back etc) while using the weights to keep whatever muscle you have put on.

This is just imo though.

RacoonQueen

You don't need 40-60 minutes of cardio unless CV fitness is your main goal.

rubadub

Zamboni wrote: »

The best cardio you can do for fat loss is running to the weights room. :pac:

+1

Basically a calorie deficit will result in fat loss. i.e. ingesting less caloires than you expend. Approx 3500kcal is needed to gain or lose 1lb of fat. So in a week you could eat 500kcal less each day, or exercise 500kcal more each day. Better to do a combination, like exercise 250kcal more a day and eat 250kcal less per day too.

For 1 hour on a bike the average person might expend 500-600kcal, lifting the weights with short breaks might expend 500kcal. Around the same amounts depending on intensity. BUT on the day you did the weights AND every other day your body is expending calories developing and maintaining new muscle. Calories are used to develop the new muscle, like a pregnant woman needs more calories for developing a child. So in the long run if you were to eat the same amount and either did cycling or weights for the same duration, then you will get a greater calorie deficit doing weights- which in turn leads to more fat loss.

And don't worry you will not get "too big" from lifting. The gyms are fully of skinny lads trying in vain to get "too big" and they have the genetics & testosterone to pack on way more muscle than the average woman.

corkcomp

in fairness guys, some people will chose to focus on cardio more than weights and this is not necessarily a bad thing, just the same as others hate cardio and will do weights only .. If you enjoy cardio then focus on that .. to answer the OP's question, any type of cardio that brings your heart rate up to 80% is fine, if you have the time to do 45 - 60 mins per session go for it! if not, try some HIIT / interval training

white apples

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Zamboni wrote: »

Seriously though, if you want to dramtically drop fat from your waist you need a full body weight training workout.

Well I have a weights program which exercises all main muscles including the abs. BTW, I find the abs ones a lot harder to do than most of the other ones so I know I've very little muscle around my waist which is obviously part of the problem. My intention is to alternate days so that I'll do cardio / weights every second day as it's just not practical for me to spend 2 hours a day in the gym at the moment.

mp1972 wrote: »

You don't need 40-60 minutes of cardio unless CV fitness is your main goal.

Well, I'm glad to hear that as I did think it was quite a long time. I do want to get my fitness up as well but the main thing at the moment is losing the belly so should I maybe do the abs exercises every day along with cardio on the cardio days? or is it better to give a day recovery for my muscles at the start.

rubadub wrote: »

And don't worry you will not get "too big" from lifting. The gyms are fully of skinny lads trying in vain to get "too big" and they have the genetics & testosterone to pack on way more muscle than the average woman.

Yeah, I know loads of girls say that but it'll be ages before I have to start worrying about that as I'm starting right from base level so I'm not worried and happy to strengthen up as much as possible.

corkcomp wrote: »

in fairness guys, some people will chose to focus on cardio more than weights and this is not necessarily a bad thing, just the same as others hate cardio and will do weights only .. If you enjoy cardio then focus on that .. to answer the OP's question, any type of cardio that brings your heart rate up to 80% is fine, if you have the time to do 45 - 60 mins per session go for it! if not, try some HIIT / interval training

Thing is, i like them both and enjoy doing the weights so don't want to concentrate only on cardio. The HIIT sounds interesting, I've read up a little about it but have never done it before. Do you know any good places on the web that might give a basic program for beginners?

Once again thanks for all the replies, its' good to find ppl who know what they're talking about!!

ronbyrne2005

white apples wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies guys.



Well I have a weights program which exercises all main muscles including the abs. BTW, I find the abs ones a lot harder to do than most of the other ones so I know I've very little muscle around my waist which is obviously part of the problem. My intention is to alternate days so that I'll do cardio / weights every second day as it's just not practical for me to spend 2 hours a day in the gym at the moment.



Well, I'm glad to hear that as I did think it was quite a long time. I do want to get my fitness up as well but the main thing at the moment is losing the belly so should I maybe do the abs exercises every day along with cardio on the cardio days? or is it better to give a day recovery for my muscles at the start.



Yeah, I know loads of girls say that but it'll be ages before I have to start worrying about that as I'm starting right from base level so I'm not worried and happy to strengthen up as much as possible.



Thing is, i like them both and enjoy doing the weights so don't want to concentrate only on cardio. The HIIT sounds interesting, I've read up a little about it but have never done it before. Do you know any good places on the web that might give a basic program for beginners?

Once again thanks for all the replies, its' good to find ppl who know what they're talking about!!

Doing abdominal exercises wont get rid of fat around you're waist. Diet and the training outlined above will. You only need to work your core, abs lower back etc around 3 times a week at most. Look up core exercise routine.

http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_100/135b_fitness_tip.html

Vegeta

white apples wrote: »

So my question is, what's the best cardio to do to shift weight off my middle? Is there a 'best' machine / exercise or will they all do the same thing anyways? I'm doing abs exercises as part of my program on the ball and can definately feel it in my muscles but I know there's excess weight that I need to shift there for this to make much of a difference.

Ok I don't see it pointed out but you cant spot reduce fat i.e. you cant remove fat from just your stomach. Exercising your stomach (abs etc) will not remove fat from just your stomach EDIT: ah I see ronbyrne just said it

To lose fat you need to use up more calories than you take in. No amount of exercise will help you lose fat if you eat more than you burn.

So while your program will make improvements in your life, better CV fitness and maybe a little stronger from the weights, if you want to change the way you look what you eat is very important.

Keep it simple, get in the gym, bust your metaphorical balls and see how you go. If you're not seeing the changes desired after 3-4 weeks then you know something has to change. Just be honest with yourself