02-23-2012, 06:34 PM
Blast Off Stubborn Belly Fat
by Dave Goodin
Q: Iâm looking for advice. I have stubborn belly fatâIâm 45âbut am pretty tight everywhere else. Iâve competed naturally for years and still maintain a healthful lifestyle and diet, even though I can go a little overboard on pasta. About a year and half ago I had knee-replacement surgery and was forced to lay off training for about six months. I accumulated a lot of bodyfat in my belly, possibly from the stress of the operation. Iâve heard that cortisol can affect your abdominal fat, but Iâm not sold on the idea yet. Have you used any supplements that could help or trained anyone with my particular problem? Also, Iâm not delusional. I know I canât expect to maintain the same size, density and level of fitness I did in my 20s and 30s, but Iâd at least like to have a flat stomach.
A: Iâm sorry to hear that you had to get a knee replacement, especially as young as you are. But Iâm happy to hear that youâre back to training and getting your body back in shape.
Letâs get down to your question. First of all, while studies have shown a correlation between high cortisol counts and high abdominal fat, cortisol does not make you fat, nor does it make you have more belly fat. Some companies have taken a small bit of scientific information and used it to sell their products. They tell consumers that itâs not their fault that theyâre fatâitâs because of cortisol, âAnd we have a pill to reduce your cortisol!â People donât want to hear that theyâre fat because theyâve overeaten for years and have not exercised enough. They donât want to hear that in order to get rid of the fat theyâre going to have to consistently eat a clean diet and consistently exercise. That kind of honesty doesnât sell very well.
I suspect that your belly fat is due mainly to genetics and inactivity while you were recovering from your surgery. You werenât able to train, and that probably stressed you out tremendously. Quite often people respond to stressâand the accompanying higher cortisolâby eating more.
Youâre accustomed to hard training on a regular basis. If you followed the same diet during your six-month recovery period as you did when you were training, youâd accumulate bodyfat because you werenât burning off the number of calories you did when you were able to train. Compound the problem with the loss of muscle and the metabolic slowdown that comes with not being able to work out. Then add the fact that our loved ones like to comfort us with food when weâre feeling poorlyâhell, I like to comfort myself with foodâand you can see that the calories were adding up on you pretty darn fast.
Where you store your bodyfat is largely genetic. If you have more fat cells in your abdominal area, and most men do, more bodyfat will accumulate there when you gain fat. Iâm one of those very lucky people who store bodyfat very evenly over my whole body. Quite often when Iâve gained 10 to 12 pounds in the off-season, most of my clients canât tell that Iâve put on weightâor at least thatâs what they tell me.
My best friend, on the other hand, stores much more bodyfat around his waist. Years ago when he was training for a bodybuilding show, he ended up losing 70 pounds and got down to 3.5 percent bodyfat. When he was still about 20 pounds away from contest shape, his arms, legs, chest and shoulders were ripped to shreds, but he still held considerable bodyfat on his abdomen. When he lost the final 20 pounds, everything was shredded, his waist was tinyâhe went from a 40-inch to a 27-inch waistâhis six-pack was poppinâ, and he won his weight class.
As a competitor you know how much easier it is to gain fat than it is to lose it. And the gaining takes place so much more quickly! You need to approach your waist reduction just as you would a contest. You also have to deal with having a new knee, however, so you must be much more cautious with your weight training. Since youâve lost muscle and your metabolism has slowed, youâll probably have to lower your calories more than you would on a contest diet. You have to be consistent, and you have to be patient.
Shoot for losing one pound of bodyfat per week. If you find yourself losing weight faster than that, increase your calories. I also recommend that you monitor your bodyfat using skinfold calipers. You might find that as you add muscle, your bodyweight might stay constant or even go up, even though youâre losing bodyfat. Monitoring your skinfolds is the best way to determine whether your bodyfat is dropping.
Remember to gradually work your way back into training. Start with low volume in both cardio and weight training, and increase your volume and intensity gradually. You certainly donât want to suffer setbacks due to injuries from too much training at too high an intensity.
Okay, earlier I said that cortisol doesnât make you fat, but the fact is that cortisol can definitely slow the muscle-building process. Managing your cortisol slows down protein breakdown caused by training, which enables you to gain muscle faster. More muscle enables you to handle more weight in your workouts. Training with more weight enables you to burn more calories.
Adding muscle also speeds your metabolism, which enables you to burn more calories at rest. So as you can see, managing your cortisol can speed up fat loss.
Two great supplements can help you manage cortisol. Cort-Bloc taken before your workout has been shown to suppress the cortisol increase related to intense exercise. RecoverX, used immediately after exercise, helps suppress cortisol because the carbohydrates in RecoverX elevate your insulin count. Not only does insulin suppresses cortisol, but it also transports amino acids and glucose from the RecoverX into the muscle cells for faster recovery and accelerated muscle building.
Another supplement that I highly recommend is GH Stak. Itâs a unique blend of amino acids and other nutrients that stimulate your body to release more natural growth hormone. Growth hormone is instrumental in muscle building and repair and in the fat-burning process. I used GH Stak religiously while I was recovering from a hamstring reattachment surgery a couple of years ago.
The speed of my recovery was absolutely phenomenal! My orthopedic surgeon was astoundedâespecially considering my age. And I won the overall title at my first bodybuilding show backâthe â08 NPC John Sherman Classicâless than a year after the surgery.
Keep in mind that the supplements arenât magical. Theyâll definitely aid your quest to lose that belly fat and gain back muscle, but you must be both consistent and smart with your training and your diet.
One more thing: You can expect to have the muscle density and fitness that you had in your 20s and 30s. Hell, my 50-year-old body would blow the doors off the body I had when I was in my 20s. Donât limit yourself by thinking that you canât do it. The main difference between my training now and when I was younger is that I have to be much stricter on my form these days. I move the weights more smoothly and more deliberately. I pay much more attention to contracting the muscle Iâm supposed to be working. And my off-season diet is about 100 times better than it was back in the day.
Donât let your age limit your mind, and donât forget that your mind certainly can limit your body. Be patient and be consistent! Train hard, eat clean, and let me know how youâre doing.
by Dave Goodin
Q: Iâm looking for advice. I have stubborn belly fatâIâm 45âbut am pretty tight everywhere else. Iâve competed naturally for years and still maintain a healthful lifestyle and diet, even though I can go a little overboard on pasta. About a year and half ago I had knee-replacement surgery and was forced to lay off training for about six months. I accumulated a lot of bodyfat in my belly, possibly from the stress of the operation. Iâve heard that cortisol can affect your abdominal fat, but Iâm not sold on the idea yet. Have you used any supplements that could help or trained anyone with my particular problem? Also, Iâm not delusional. I know I canât expect to maintain the same size, density and level of fitness I did in my 20s and 30s, but Iâd at least like to have a flat stomach.
A: Iâm sorry to hear that you had to get a knee replacement, especially as young as you are. But Iâm happy to hear that youâre back to training and getting your body back in shape.
Letâs get down to your question. First of all, while studies have shown a correlation between high cortisol counts and high abdominal fat, cortisol does not make you fat, nor does it make you have more belly fat. Some companies have taken a small bit of scientific information and used it to sell their products. They tell consumers that itâs not their fault that theyâre fatâitâs because of cortisol, âAnd we have a pill to reduce your cortisol!â People donât want to hear that theyâre fat because theyâve overeaten for years and have not exercised enough. They donât want to hear that in order to get rid of the fat theyâre going to have to consistently eat a clean diet and consistently exercise. That kind of honesty doesnât sell very well.
I suspect that your belly fat is due mainly to genetics and inactivity while you were recovering from your surgery. You werenât able to train, and that probably stressed you out tremendously. Quite often people respond to stressâand the accompanying higher cortisolâby eating more.
Youâre accustomed to hard training on a regular basis. If you followed the same diet during your six-month recovery period as you did when you were training, youâd accumulate bodyfat because you werenât burning off the number of calories you did when you were able to train. Compound the problem with the loss of muscle and the metabolic slowdown that comes with not being able to work out. Then add the fact that our loved ones like to comfort us with food when weâre feeling poorlyâhell, I like to comfort myself with foodâand you can see that the calories were adding up on you pretty darn fast.
Where you store your bodyfat is largely genetic. If you have more fat cells in your abdominal area, and most men do, more bodyfat will accumulate there when you gain fat. Iâm one of those very lucky people who store bodyfat very evenly over my whole body. Quite often when Iâve gained 10 to 12 pounds in the off-season, most of my clients canât tell that Iâve put on weightâor at least thatâs what they tell me.
My best friend, on the other hand, stores much more bodyfat around his waist. Years ago when he was training for a bodybuilding show, he ended up losing 70 pounds and got down to 3.5 percent bodyfat. When he was still about 20 pounds away from contest shape, his arms, legs, chest and shoulders were ripped to shreds, but he still held considerable bodyfat on his abdomen. When he lost the final 20 pounds, everything was shredded, his waist was tinyâhe went from a 40-inch to a 27-inch waistâhis six-pack was poppinâ, and he won his weight class.
As a competitor you know how much easier it is to gain fat than it is to lose it. And the gaining takes place so much more quickly! You need to approach your waist reduction just as you would a contest. You also have to deal with having a new knee, however, so you must be much more cautious with your weight training. Since youâve lost muscle and your metabolism has slowed, youâll probably have to lower your calories more than you would on a contest diet. You have to be consistent, and you have to be patient.
Shoot for losing one pound of bodyfat per week. If you find yourself losing weight faster than that, increase your calories. I also recommend that you monitor your bodyfat using skinfold calipers. You might find that as you add muscle, your bodyweight might stay constant or even go up, even though youâre losing bodyfat. Monitoring your skinfolds is the best way to determine whether your bodyfat is dropping.
Remember to gradually work your way back into training. Start with low volume in both cardio and weight training, and increase your volume and intensity gradually. You certainly donât want to suffer setbacks due to injuries from too much training at too high an intensity.
Okay, earlier I said that cortisol doesnât make you fat, but the fact is that cortisol can definitely slow the muscle-building process. Managing your cortisol slows down protein breakdown caused by training, which enables you to gain muscle faster. More muscle enables you to handle more weight in your workouts. Training with more weight enables you to burn more calories.
Adding muscle also speeds your metabolism, which enables you to burn more calories at rest. So as you can see, managing your cortisol can speed up fat loss.
Two great supplements can help you manage cortisol. Cort-Bloc taken before your workout has been shown to suppress the cortisol increase related to intense exercise. RecoverX, used immediately after exercise, helps suppress cortisol because the carbohydrates in RecoverX elevate your insulin count. Not only does insulin suppresses cortisol, but it also transports amino acids and glucose from the RecoverX into the muscle cells for faster recovery and accelerated muscle building.
Another supplement that I highly recommend is GH Stak. Itâs a unique blend of amino acids and other nutrients that stimulate your body to release more natural growth hormone. Growth hormone is instrumental in muscle building and repair and in the fat-burning process. I used GH Stak religiously while I was recovering from a hamstring reattachment surgery a couple of years ago.
The speed of my recovery was absolutely phenomenal! My orthopedic surgeon was astoundedâespecially considering my age. And I won the overall title at my first bodybuilding show backâthe â08 NPC John Sherman Classicâless than a year after the surgery.
Keep in mind that the supplements arenât magical. Theyâll definitely aid your quest to lose that belly fat and gain back muscle, but you must be both consistent and smart with your training and your diet.
One more thing: You can expect to have the muscle density and fitness that you had in your 20s and 30s. Hell, my 50-year-old body would blow the doors off the body I had when I was in my 20s. Donât limit yourself by thinking that you canât do it. The main difference between my training now and when I was younger is that I have to be much stricter on my form these days. I move the weights more smoothly and more deliberately. I pay much more attention to contracting the muscle Iâm supposed to be working. And my off-season diet is about 100 times better than it was back in the day.
Donât let your age limit your mind, and donât forget that your mind certainly can limit your body. Be patient and be consistent! Train hard, eat clean, and let me know how youâre doing.
What a RUSHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!