do you think stuff like this is a crock of shit?

otispunkmeyer

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http://www.bellyfatisugly.com/

so here we go, another guy who's wrote a book claiming you dont need to spend hours in the gym or do specific abs exercises all the time to get great "chiseled" abs. the usual too good to be true crap.

usually i dismiss these ad's immediately as complete BS because they usually are but this time i did at least read the first page. he says steady cardio and a mass of ab exercises are not the way to great abs, and that those ab rocker contraptions are a load of crap.

and i have to say i kinda of agree with him, based on experience.

there has been two times in my life so far where i had decent lookin abs... one was when i was pummelling out 50,000m a week in the swimming pool when i was 16-17 and the second was when a few months ago we got a new coach for speed lifesaving and i joined breakdancing.

in both cases, i havent really bothered concentrating on anything at all. i went swimming to get faster and i joined break dancing because i wanted to learn. in both cases my bodies been in better shape as a result than when i went to the gym to specifically work on looking decent.

so im inclined to believe what this mans saying somewhat. i agree completely that the best way to burn fat is not steady cardio...not at all. you gotta push the boat out....if your not completely exhausted by the end of the day...you havent tried hard enough.

what do you lot think? BS or not?
 
Great abs is all about body fat percentage, you can do all the ab exercises in the book, but if your % is to high you wont see them.

So the solution, do all the proven exercises, work your whole ab region, it is a muscle after all, then shed the fat. Set your goal below 10% and your there!

And there is no such thing as spot dieting, meaning you cant decide this week I'm gonna lose the belly fat, and next week the hips. The body chooses and there is nothing you can do about it...
 
Like epp_b said, if he's trying to sell something then it's probably a crock of shit.

In my experience, different things work for different people. For some people, the repetitive ab exercises and fat-burning cardio works whereas other things (like swimming or martial arts) will work for other people. The simple answer is there's no simple answer.
 
too much effort, i'm happy just being thin :D
 
Great abs is all about body fat percentage, you can do all the ab exercises in the book, but if your % is to high you wont see them.

So the solution, do all the proven exercises, work your whole ab region, it is a muscle after all, then shed the fat. Set your goal below 10% and your there!

And there is no such thing as spot dieting, meaning you cant decide this week I'm gonna lose the belly fat, and next week the hips. The body chooses and there is nothing you can do about it...

Yea that's pretty much it. You can have really intense abs but have it covered by half a foot of fat; you have to eat well as well as exercise.
 
I don't think this guy can hide from you, so buy the book, photocopy the important bits, then send it back and get your money back under his '100% moneyback guarantee'.

I do like what he's saying, but then again, that's what he wants me to think. He also states 'surveys' and 'scientific studies' with random percentages, with no references, or links. Check these out:

Survey After Survey Always Shows That the Body Part Women Vote the Most Desireable on a Man is Their Abs
double the number of women voted abs as the sexiest body part on a man compared to biceps, and THREE TIMES the number of women voted abs as sexier than pecs!
In another survey I saw recently, as many as 90% of women preferred a man's body that was "lean & athletic" vs. a man's body that was "big and bulky".
I actually took a course recently that was devoted to scientific research into why steady-pace cardio exercise is actually not that effective at strengthening the heart.
about 95% of supplements are a complete waste of your hard earned money.

umm, ok...
 
internet's screwing up, so accidental double post
 
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Like most people said here, I don't know what the website people are selling, but in my opinion they may be right about a couple of things:

1. Food marketing always lies. You think some things are safe just because it says "low trans fat" on the label ... but then again trans fat is not the only type of fat. As well as foods that are named "organic". Organic doesn't mean that it was grown naturally without treatment, without genetic alterations and without the use of pest deterrants. It just means they used organic chemicals to do the same job where they normally use non-organic chemicals. However, that doesn't mean they're any safer. So although organic, it's still not the way they would grow in nature by themselves.

Want healthy food? Buy it from farmers ... and I don't mean multi-million dollar farming complexes or a family farm which hires 40-or-so workers on a daily basis. Buy from small farms, or better yet from the Amish. Now THEY grow it naturally, and I gotta say, every time I buy from them the food kind of tastes better too. Also, cook for yourself. Eating out and already-prepared dishes usually are made with the most generic (to be read as "unhealthy") stuff.

2. Going to the gym once a week will not get you very far, nor will it cause long-lasting results. If you go to the gym, you're basically adapting your body to be able to deal with a lot of stress for a very small fraction of the time. In that very small amount of time, you're not burning very much, just a bit, momentarily. And as far as muscle growth goes, you're basically doing very few reps with the biggest weights you can find. That won't cause you to grow much. It will momentarily, but because you're just doing the same thing all the time, you'll hit your plateau fast. There's only so much that changing weights can do. So the only thing your body will adapt to is so that it can handle lifting 100 lbs for 5 times each week or twice a week.

Best advice I got from people who are in shape is not to go to the gym, but to pick an active sport. Yeah, sure, personal trainers will tell you that the gym is the best way, but it's because it's their livelyhood and they look as good from going to the gym because they're in the gym for at least 6 hours every day and every day they do random numbers of reps on every single machine in the place. And I'm sure nobody else can do that much. So the answer for most people is to pick an active sport. One reason is that it's motivating; even if you're dead-tired, you're still going because you're having fun or because you want to win or defend your honor in the game. There's more intense feelings driving you than just the need to look good. And if you're doing it with friends, it's even better, you're having fun while you're at it, as opposed to a boring gym with very noisy pumping music. Also, an active sport you can do more often than the gym, will cost you less to do it and you're probably going to want to do it more often, to socialize with friends if anything.
Also, when doing sport, you know you're going to be beat at the end of the session and you'll just keep going until you drop to the floor rather than until the end of the cardio session, because your trainer says that's the time you paid him for. Also, you'll probably be exercising a lot of muscle groups at once, if not all the muscles in your body at some points, and you won't usually do the same exercise more than once. Take basketball for instance, sometimes you're dribelling, sometimes you shoot for the net, sometimes you pass, sometimes you're running and sometimes you just for a block. And you never do something too many times in a row before you switch to something else, instantly.

So, pick an active sport and eat healthy. I think those are the best choices for most people.

And no, baseball, golf, and football are not active sports ... it's a whole lot of intensity and then you take a break ... that's the same as the gym. I'm talking about sports that keep the action going and don't have regular stop intervals in the schedule.
 
Pick an active sport.

Good idea, I suggest a martial art/fighting sport such as kickboxing or taekwondo.
I do that sort of thing and guys I see who do kickboxing are VERY well built - they have lean, strong limbs for attacking and hard abs for taking punishment.

oh, and 69 posts! :D
 
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@ Toma Alimosh

Does tennis count?, because the only break I get is when we pick up the tennis balls and we only do that at the end, and I'm still moving because I run between them. (the tennis balls)
 
yes, tennis counts, you're always running around for the ball and you're exercising .. well, at least one arm. Just make sure it's not the arm with which you masturbate and that should keep you balanced. :p But no, really, tennis is a good example of an active sport that you can pick up with friends and you can do regularly (if you have a tennis court near your house).

Martial arts may not be the best thing if all you do is sparring, though. The good thing about martial arts as far as staying fit goes are the repetitions and group exercises. The sparring and hitting sand bags won't help you lose much weight or gain much muscle, those just teach you fighting techniques. But the group work can do wonders, again, you're doing it in a group rather than by yourself and that's the best. You won't do it till you drop, because you can't be drained before you even start the sparring lesson though. So it's not as much exercise, but should be enough to keep a person fit. It gives motivation to keep a schedule ... at least to show up and socialize with your training buddies ... and then when people are moving, even though your muscles and bones will be aching you near the end of the session, you'll keep going because of the instinct to stay in sync with everyone else.
 
^seems like you know your shit, ever done a combat sport?
 
I'd recommend martial arts in addition to hitting the gym. Cardio is great for burning fat, despite what that website says. I take karate and hapkido for endurance and toning, and hit the gym five times a week for strength - you definitely need a combination of a high-movement activity and strength training for the best results. Variety helps to get you in shape, rather than just bench-pressing weights for 3 hours a week. And of course a healthy diet, which I've been ignoring (new year's resolution #1). You need protien...at least a gram per pound every day if you want to sustain your weight; add another 20-30% if you want to gain muscle mass.
 
i honestly recommend swimming, but swimming takes a while to master if you havent done it before. ill bosh out 3k/hour without thinking but for alot of people that simply wont be achievable for a long time. but it does provide lots of resistance on your body which sorts you out for a bit of strength and because you dont get to breath as much as say when you go running... the cardio element is very very high, it will help increase lung capacity as well.

break dancing is easy to get into (well the basic moves), its interesting and requires imagination as well. it'll improve core strength, coordination and suppleness and i tell you.... i might be able to do 2 hours in the pool with consummate ease, but doing a throw down that lasts only a few minutes really takes it out of you.

so yeah +1 for screwing the gym and doing a sport! (though breaking isnt a sport as such)

klutch : yeah i've been ignoring the diet lol! and for reasons outside of my control havent been able to swim or dance for over 2 weeks so im quickly loosing what i have gained. i know its christmas/new year but goddamit i wish the swimming club wouldnt take time off!

while we are here.... diets/nutrition.....

i dont wanna get massive but lets say i wanna put on a kilo or 5, whilst at the same time reducing fat (not that i have much). with the following weekly exercise:

monday: 1 hour swim (3k) 2 hours break dancing
tuesday: nothin
wednesday: 2.5hour swim (1 on morn (3K), 1.5 on night (4.5k)) + 2 hours breaking
thur: nothing
Fri: 2.5 hours breaking
sat: nothing
Sun: 1.5 hours swim (4.5K)

(this is the least ill do in a typical week)

what sort of stuffs should i be eating? dont realy wanna use supplements either.
 
Maybe log a couple sessions in the gym - doesn't need to be huge amounts of time; 3 sessions of a half hour to 45 minutes a week, focusing on a certain muscle group really helps. I don't really see the point of spending 2 hours in the gym, trying to do a whole body workout - its a waste, you'll exhaust yourself, and your body won't repair itself efficiently. Focusing on one area or a certain muslce will likely yield better, faster gains for strength and muscle growth - your body focuses on repairing that torn-down area.

As far as nutrition - I'm constantly recommended to eat smaller, nutritious snacks throughout the day, rather than 3 big, filling meals. The larger meals tend to overwhelm your system and drains your endergy as your body concentrates on digestion. Having smaller meals during the course of the day keeps your metabolism up, and energy levels constant. You don't need to totally eliminate fats, but keep an eye on high protein foods: fish, lean beef and chicken are great sources of nutrients and contain high quality protiens (fish especially, with those fatty acids and oils). Stay away from sugars altogether (this is where I'm having issues); try not to drink soda at all, stay away from refined sugar, even fruit juices (fruit by itself is ok). Snack on nuts, which have some kind of beneficial oils, are great for energy and protein. Lots of (fresh) vegetables.

For suppliments - find a good protein isolate (not concentrate). It can take a while to find one that doesn't cause indigestion and tastes tolerable. The isolates (more pure) are a higher concentrate per weight of protein, generally digest faster and easier, and mix much better with milk and water. If you want to really gain mass, you'll pretty much have to take a protein powder, unless you can stomache a lot of steaks in a day.
 
And there is no such thing as spot dieting, meaning you cant decide this week I'm gonna lose the belly fat, and next week the hips. The body chooses and there is nothing you can do about it...

I don't understand this issue, I've always heard that whatever spot training is its a load of crock, but then certain activities definitely seem to give different body structures, so whats the difference between having a specific body shaped by exercise and spot training?

Maybe I've read into it wrong, maybe somebody could explain?
 
I don't understand this issue, I've always heard that whatever spot training is its a load of crock, but then certain activities definitely seem to give different body structures, so whats the difference between having a specific body shaped by exercise and spot training?

Maybe I've read into it wrong, maybe somebody could explain?

I think spot dieting refers to exercising a certain group of muscles as a way of losing fat in that area, you could be building muscle in that area but not necessarily burning fat there.
 
Cardio is great for burning fat, despite what that website says.

+1

exactly! what the fuck is this guy on about? cardio/aerobics/wtf you want to call it has been a proven way to lose fat but does bugger all for your muscle mass. Perfect for fat chicks. :lol: And martial arts is also a great way to develop endurance. And it's cooler too, "oohh i do a 3-hr moderate intensity cardio fat burn program blahblahblah" "I know kung fu!"

This might become the bodybuilding thread. :hmm:
 
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