Fitness Advice Available If Needed!

[Fene]

Hey there, I've been on this forum for awhile now posting my problems and doing my best to help others with theirs.

Basically my passion in life is fitness and helping others achieve their fitness goals. I'm a fitness instructor / personal trainer and when I saw this Personal Development forum I thought it would be a great opportunity to offer advice to anyone who would like some help. Whatever your goals might be.. Fat loss, hypertrophy etc.. Don't be afraid to ask, i'll do my best to help you out.

Speak to you soon!

[Gigabitch]

That's much appreciated. Our last fitness guru went off the deep end and ended up getting banned. Glad to have you.

[Fene]

That's much appreciated. Our last fitness guru went off the deep end and ended up getting banned. Glad to have you.

I'll try not to make the same mistakes then

[afterhourz]

Is sprinting better for burning off the last bit of stubborn abdomenal fat, as opposed to long distance running? I would say I am in pretty good shape, but don't have 'visible' abs quite yet. I used to be overweight, and lost 50lbs my first semester of college. I am 5'11, and right now im about #175. I have muscle mass, but not a whole lot. I feel that I need to lose about 10 more lbs of bodyfat, but i'm not sure if its working.

If you're familiar with p90x, I do the 'plyometrics' workout DVD about ocne every 4-5 days. I also go to the gym atleast twice a week, one day upper body, and one day lower body. I have a pretty good number of things to do at the gym, and also do the p90x Ab workout routine twice a week(sometimes at the gym with friends, and use the medicine balls for killer ab workouts).

But I don't seem to be losing the last 10 lbs of 'stubborn' body fat. I would say I have an above average diet, NO soda for 1-2 years, no white bread/rice, no high fructose corn syrup, lots of food from wholefoods etc. basically this is what my typical diet consists of:

Morning:
8:30am
-15g pure spirulina powder mixed with water of coconut water(tastes gross! but i know its good for me)
-Followed by a fruit smoothie(organic blueberries, 1 banana, strawberries, coconut oil, cinnamon, almond milk, carrot juice)

10:30am
-1 sunny side up egg from my hen outside(she gives me an egg everyday ) on a piece of whole wheat bread, with organic goat cheese spread on it. I then put some nutritional yeast on it with fresh avocado.

12:30~1:30

-Good fresh salad with lots of mixed greens, almonds, coconut oil/basalmic vinegar, maybe a little yeast and either a can of sardines, or some canned sockeye salmon.

4:00
- Some sort of snack to keep my metabolism going, usually a teabag of caffeinated greentea, and a granola bar from whole foods or something.

6:00~7:00

-My dinner varies quite a bit. Maybe ill have some steak with brown/wild rice. Or some sort of fish with same rice. Usually finish with a small salad to cleanse everything down properly.


Thats about it really. I drink a lot of water.. and I live in Hawaii, and have easy access to fresh coconut water, and almost always have some when im working out.

So basically my workouts throughout the week look like this:

Day1 - Plyometrics
Day2 - Gym - Upper body(and abs)
Day 3 - Sprints in my neighborhood(uphill, about 200meters, ~45 seconds or so uphill, cooldown by walking back downhill, then sprinting up again, do this about 6 times)
Day 4 - Gym - Lower body
Day 5 - Plyometrics (abs DVD right after plyometrics)
Day 6 - Sprints again
Day 7 - recovery day

Also for more info, i'm 21 years old. I usually take a multi vitamin pill in the morning, and maybe some milk thistle/5-HTP pills.

Feels like im kinda plateaued a bit, but at the same time I know I can be pushing myself a bit more. would appreciate any advice! I really want visible abs... also at the gym I don't see much improvement on my chest arms. I mean, they're strong, but they dont hurt the next day like they used to. And I push myself pretty hard when it comes to lifting weights and seem to exhaust myself, but they just arent getting bigger! My pects are wimpy

[Sonrisa]

I miss our last fitness guru, is the new fitness guru just as sexy as the last?

[Fene]

I miss our last fitness guru, is the new fitness guru just as sexy as the last?

Sounds like abit of competition.. How do I win?

[Gigabitch]

Sounds like abit of competition.. How do I win?

You've already won, with your respectful, non-combative attitude and general offer of helpfulness. That's a lot sexier than a huge ego and a misogynistic streak, which is what our last fitness guru displayed.

[hurt_confuzd]

:/

I liked his huge ego and "misogynistic streak."

[Sonrisa]

unfortunately....as much as i hate doing this....i have to agree with H_C...

Neo, Elle, Coco, etc have brought some unforgettable moments to LF.

[Fene]

Hey afterhourz you've got alot of questions in there so I will answer as much as I can but I don't have alot of time atm

The Long distance vs Sprinting for burning fat has always been in debate. I personally think that sprinting first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is the best way to burn body fat as it sky rockets your metabolism for the rest of the day causing you to burn a alot more fat / calories than if you were to just do long distance running for an hour because it takes 20 minutes before your body starts to actually burn fat instead of carbohydrates when doing long distance. What you're doing with your sprinting is good interval training though. Sprint as hard and as fast as you can for like 6 - 10 seconds then slow it right down to a walk and have a breather then repeat it 5-6 times.

With your abdominals.. You can do the most hardcore ab workouts in the world but they aren't going to give you a six pack if your stomach is covered by a layer of fat, that's where alot of people go wrong thinking that if they workout their abs alot they will get a six pack but it just doesn't work that way. By working them too much, just like any other muscle they can be overtrained and this can actually reverse your gains. My abs are pretty defined and I just do 1 ab workout per week and this is more than enough to build / maintain your abdominals, just progress the workout like you would with any other muscle group by increasing the weight / intensity etc.. Try doing a couple of extra reps or hold a weight plate behind your head but not against it.

With your diet try having 5-6 small meals every 3 hours throughout the day, this can be hard to do sometimes and requires dedication and preparation. Also with each meal try having all 3 food types: Carbs / Proteins & good fats. The good fat can just be something such as olive oil or if your protein is fish it should already contain the essential fats especially if it's fresh fish. If you're looking to build muscle mass then you definately need to be getting alot of protein in your diet, have you ever tried taking protein shakes? Alot of people make the mistake of using protein shakes instead of having a proper meal which is a bad idea because you'll never get the same amount of nutrients, but protein shakes are great for straight after a workout when your body needs protein to repair the muscles or when you're out and about because it makes getting your required protein more convenient as it can be mixed with water and is absorbed into the muscles much faster than if you were eating a meal as food has to be broken down in order to retrieve the nutrients from it.. Something to consider It's great that you're drinking alot of water as that really helps the body out in many ways, keep it up!

About your plateuing with your workouts.. If you want to increase muscle mass I recommend splitting your workouts into muscle groups and going to the gym more. For example I workout my Chest / Back on Monday.. Legs / Shoulders on Wednesday & Biceps / Triceps on Friday (Abs can be added onto the end of any of these days as it really doesn't take long to do). This is probably the best way to increase muscle mass as each muscle group in the body is getting a proper workout, some bodybuilders even go as far as to workout certain body parts twice a week but they intend on getting stupidly massive so you don't need to do that Also when you're working out how many sets and repititions do you do for your exercises? I usually stick to 4 sets of 8 - 12 reps (8-12 is supposedly the best for hypertrophy).

I hoped all this information helped you out, if you have any other questions or if I missed anything out feel free to ask me anytime, have a good day!

[Gigabitch]

I have to go swimming in an hour. I hate swimming. I was instructed by my doctor to do something to get my circulation going that did not involve being on my feet because I'm seven months pregnant.

Can you help me with my crappy attitude?

[Fene]

I have to go swimming in an hour. I hate swimming. I was instructed by my doctor to do something to get my circulation going that did not involve being on my feet because I'm seven months pregnant.

Can you help me with my crappy attitude?

You could always try using a Recumbent Bike in your gym if they have one.. It's the bike where you sort of lay back and cycle instead of sitting upright. This isn't a weight bearing form of cardio so it's great for overweight or pregant women I believe. You could always try taking a friend to go swimming with you to make it more fun and have a little competition going, abit of competition never hurt anyone

Now as for the motivation.. You can do anything you put your mind to, the only thing stopping you is yourself! I BELIEVE IN YOU! Go get em tiger...

[the_robot]

I have to go swimming in an hour. I hate swimming. I was instructed by my doctor to do something to get my circulation going that did not involve being on my feet because I'm seven months pregnant.

Can you help me with my crappy attitude?

How can someone hate swimming? That's simply not possible.

[lahnnabell]

If I don't want to do anything, but need to get some circulation going (I have poor circulation in my feet), I look to my guy for a good rubdown.

[Fene]

Yeah a massage is a good idea to get circulation going but there are certain contraindications with pre and post natal women.