Fitness
Admonitions for abs
Getting rid of ugly belly fat requires patience, dedication
Carrying extra weight, especially belly fat, can be risky.Ā While belly fat is more common in men, having extra weight around the middle for anyone can come with a host of health risks.
Men are generally shaped like apples and women like pears. Added weight tends to rear its ugly head in the belly of men much more than women.
Nonetheless, excess weight on men or women, even as little as 10 pounds, comes with a price and several potential health risks. Wider girths are more likely to have excess amounts of deep-hidden belly fat around their organs. This fat is often considered the most dangerous of all types of fat.
Generally, men whose waists exceed 40 inches and women who exceed 35 inches are at the greatest risk of developing health problems. George Blackburn, associate director of the division of nutrition at Harvard Medical School likens it to falling off the edge of a cliff.
From lower back pain and structural imbalances to high blood pressure, extra pounds can mean unnecessary health problems that can be alleviated with some essential guidelines.
Potential risks include heart disease, cancer, stroke, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, high triglycerides, low lipoprotein (“good” cholesterol), metabolic syndrome and sleep apnea.
How do you get rid of belly fat? It’s a long, arduous process and it takes a systematic and consistent approach. Attaining washboard abs is another story. A very small percentage of people will actually be able to develop washboard abs and grace the cover of a magazine. Those select few have to work extremely hard at maintaining the perfect body, but equally important is that they have genetics on their side.
However, there is no magic bullet, diet plan, specific food or type of exercise that specifically targets belly fat. But the good news is belly fat is the first kind of fat you tend to lose when you lose weight.
Not everyone will develop washboard abs, but with the right methodologies, lower body fat and a flat stomach is possible.
Other professionals advise eating a healthy, controlled-calorie diet and regular exercise. About 60 minutes a day of moderate activity, such as brisk walking, is advised.
However, hundreds of crunches each day won’t flatten your belly if you need to lose weight. If your abdominal muscles aren’t covered with excess fat, strengthening them can help you look tighter and thinner. But spot exercises won’t banish belly fat.
And the harder you exercise, the more belly fat you may lose. Jensen suggests that people who engage in high-intensity aerobic exercise tend to be leaner around the abdomen.
Other factors to consider:
Reduce calories. Reduce your portion sizes. Replace your usual fare with healthy foods that contain fewer calories.
Maintain a diet low in refined carbohydrates. Stick to complex carbohydrates and avoid excess sugar. Also, get adequate protein to build and repair muscle and fiber to make you feel full.
Increase physical activity. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends adults get two hours and 30 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, in addition to strength training. You may need to do more to lose weight and keep it off.
Also, remember to alternate your workouts between cardiovascular activity and weight training. Creating muscles makes the body more metabolically active and will exhaust more calories and lead to greater weight loss.
Consume enough water to flush out toxins and harmful chemicals in your body and keep hydrated. Drink a minimum of eight, 8 ounce glasses per day.
After you shed excess pounds, maintain your weight loss with a healthy diet and regular physical activity.
Fitness
NEW YEAR NEW YOU 2020: Local VIDA master trainer on trends, tips and technology at the gym
Get good technique down first; you can always add weight later
Jesse Johnson makes his living working as a master trainer at VIDA Fitness (U Street location) but he agreed to share some of his tips and advice with us for free.
The U Street location is one of five of the gay-owned chainās D.C. locations. A sixth is slated to open this spring in Ballston (Arlington, Va.). Johnson is 33, gay and left a career in corporate staffing to join the VIDA team in 2011. He averages between 50-60 clients in mostly 30-minute sessions per week. Find out more at vidafitness.com. Free introductory classes are available this month. The offerings are listed at vidafitness.com/uniqueclasses.
Johnsonās comments have been slightly edited for length.
WASHINGTON BLADE: How much does the coaching you give your clients vary from year to year as new studies and findings are made available? And how do you know if something is just another fitness fad vs. something we should really heed?
JESSE JOHNSON: There are always going to be fitness trends, thatās a given. However before we alter what we tell our clients, we look to peer-reviewed literature. One or two studies doesnāt give much evidence ā thatās not enough proof. We definitely pay attention to what is trending and we try to stay as current as possible, but we donāt incorporate it until itās been through a more rigorous review process.
BLADE: What trends have you seen of late?
JOHNSON: In the collective big picture, thereās been a big uptick in group training. The term thatās thrown around is fitness cocktails where somebody may do a couple classes back to back, some cardio, maybe some core body work, different muscle groups ā thereās been an uptick in that. And also more of what we call functional training. People want to be pain free and strong. Sure, thereās always the aesthetic benefit of lifting weights, but what people really want is to be functionally strong into their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.
BLADE: Anything else?
JOHNSON: I think workouts are becoming more mindful as people use technology ā apps and wearable tech to be more aware of what theyāre doing. From a metric-tracking standpoint, itās easy now to tell your heart rate, number of calories burned, number of steps taken in the course of a day with Fitbit, Myzone, the Apple watch, to the apps themselves like the Peloton apps are pretty innovative and help people be more aware of what theyāre doing, how frequently. Thereās more mindfulness in working out. Also people see going to the gym as more of a club or social space among millennials and Gen Z. They work out with friends, itās seen as more social, not punishment after a weekend of drinking.
BLADE: How much does the industry really change? For instance, would you say thereās anything significantly different youāre telling your clients today vs. what you might have said when you started at VIDA nine years ago?
JOHNSON: Well, knowledge has increased dramatically and a lot of it is due to the fact that this industry didnāt even exist 40-50 years ago. People didnāt have the same needs then they do now. But a lot of the basic fundamentals are the same ā keep moving, stay active, eat purposeful and do things you enjoy doing. If you enjoy doing it, itās easier to make it a habit. Iād say we take more the sniper approach today vs. the machine gun approach. We target more instead of just spraying a bunch of bullets hoping something hits.
BLADE: So often with nutrition it seems youāll hear one thing, then five years later the exact opposite is what experts are saying: donāt eat eggs, no eggs are good. Stuff like that. Does fitness advice change that drastically as well?
JOHNSON: Not as much. A lot of it has to do with whether people are already moving or not. We donāt take them right out of the gate to a high level of intensity. We let them work up to it. But no, I canāt think of any particular exercise we were advising a few years ago weāre saying, āNo, donāt do that one anymoreā or anything like that.
BLADE: What do you do if you see people working out on their own using improper technique? Can you really hurt yourself with bad form, like lifting with your back and that kind of thing?
JOHNSON: Well we try to be as polite as possible. Weāll only approach someone if we thinkg theyāre about to injure themselves. But knock on wood, I havenāt seen very many injuries at VIDA and I like to credit that to the large staff of personal trainers we have on the floor. There is an inherent risk to working out ā you can hurt yourself, but it doesnāt happen very often.
BLADE: Is it better to stay at a weight level at which you can maintain excellent form or push yourself out of your comfort zone with heavier weight even if your form suffers a little?
JOHNSON: Numerous studies have found if you take a lighter weight and do more reps but push yourself to your failure threshold vs. doing fewer reps of a heavier weight to failure, the outcome is the same. And thereās a higher risk of injury with heavier weights. We like to focus on form and technique before we progress, especially if somebody is just joining the gym and they may not know much about resistance training. You can always add weight later.
BLADE: How many of the New Years resolution folks really stick with it? Do you see many of those same faces by March or April?
JOHNSON: Almost all my new clients stay with me for months, sometimes years. However statistically within the industry, the number is very low. The honeymoon period on average is about six weeks and itās a shame because often you see your best results 12-16 weeks into a program. Youāll see more immediate results sooner but thatās when it starts to get really spectacular.
BLADE: How bad are the wait times for machines at VIDA? Is it pretty crazy at peak time?
JOHNSON: Iām not gonna lie, the gym is very busy and there are peak times. But the U Street location is more residential and we have between 50,000-60,000 square feet of space so thereās not a lot of wait time for many of the machines. And people tend to be pretty aware. Theyāll let you work in with them.
BLADE: How gay is it?
JOHNSON: Iād say 50-60 percent of our clientele is gay.
BLADE: Some lesbians and trans folks as well?
JOHNSON: There are lesbians. I donāt personally have any trans clients but we have 30 trainers on staff so there may be some but yeah, itās mostly gay men. Obviously everybody is welcome.
BLADE: Has that ebbed or flowed much over your years there?
JOHNSON: No, D.C. is a pretty good city to be a gay person in. I havenāt seen any major change.Ā
Fitness
Why a personalized diet can help you achieve better results
One size fits all is not the best approach when it comes to eating and fitness
From custom-designed sneakers to tailor-made sunglasses, the trend of personalization is going head to toe, and for good reason, making its way to the world of weight loss and wellness.
Specifically, researchers have been studying two converging topics in recent years. One is the importance of body type in determining the combination of fats, carbohydrates and protein that will provide the best results for a given individual. The other is the variability of results associated with a single diet ā the idea that if two people start the same diet at the same time, their results could be drastically different.
On top of that, consumer research shows that people overwhelmingly prefer personalized experiences. Sixty percent of consumers agree that personalization is essential to weight loss and overall wellness.
Hereās what to know about why personalized diets are becoming so popular and how to find the right diet for you:
The importance of body type
The places your body stores excess fat may be the single greatest predictor of health outcomes. This is the concept behind Nutrisystemās assessment of the four most common body types: āApple,ā āPear,ā āHourglassā and āRectangle.ā
āWeāre going a bit old school here, because these categories have stood the test of time for a reason. They provide crucial information on how you respond to food intake and can help you to adjust what you eat based on your goals,ā says Courtney McCormick, corporate dietitian at Nutrisystem.
Body type can also influence how macronutrients like fat, protein and carbs are processed. To fulfill your individual needs, first determine your body type, food preferences and goals, then look for a weight loss plan that takes these important factors into consideration, such as Nutrisystem.
One size does not fit all
The DIETFITS study, a large, randomized research study comparing low-fat versus low-carb dietary patterns found no difference in weight loss between them. But drilling down into the data, one can see great variability. Some dieters gained weight while others lost a lot. But itās not always about weight outcomes, as recent research has shown that factors such as body shape may play a bigger role in the determinants of health risks than body weight alone.
For instance, a woman who is apple-shaped tends to carry her extra weight in the mid-section. She would see best results on a lower-glycemic nutrition plan that is lower in refined carbs and higher in healthy fats and protein.
āResearch shows that one size does not fit all when it comes to weight loss and disease prevention,ā McCormick says. āThatās why weāve created a unique, personalized approach thatās easy to follow and designed to help participants lose weight and get healthy.ā
For more insights on how to personalize your diet and maximize results, visit leaf.nutrisystem.com.
While itās no secret that achieving oneās weight loss goals is challenging, personalizing your plan can help make things easier, ultimately providing you a greater chance of success.
Fitness
Al Roker blasts Jillian Michaels for criticizing Keto diet
The fitness trainer says the ‘personal attacks’ were ‘bizarre’
Jillian Michaels revealed she “hates” the increasingly popular Keto diet but “Today” show weatherman Al Roker slammed the fitness trainer for dissing the high-fat, low-carb diet.
Speaking with Prevention, Michaels says she doesn’t like the diet because “There’s no calorie restriction;” “You may miss out on important nutrients;” and “It could shave years off your life.”
In response, Roker, who is a fan of the diet, called out Michaels for her aggressive reputation as a fitness trainer on “The Biggest Loser” on Twitter.
“So @JillianMichaels says #Keto is a bad idea. This from a woman who promoted on camera bullying , deprivation, manipulation and more weekly in the name of weight loss. Now those sound like bad ideas,” Roker tweeted.
So @JillianMichaels says #Keto is a bad idea. This from a woman who promoted on camera bullying , deprivation, manipulation and more weekly in the name of weight loss. Now those sound like bad ideas
— Al Roker (@alroker) January 10, 2019
Roker further defended the Keto diet, which he says he has been on since Sept. 1, on “The Today Show.”
“My point is, what works for you, works for you,ā Roker explains. āThereās science on both sides that says itās not a great idea and science that says it is a good idea.ā
.@alroker explains why the #keto diet works for him, "What works for you, works for you. There's science on both sides." pic.twitter.com/d05pSjIKLE
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 11, 2019
Michaels responded by posting a video on Twitter saying she didn’t appreciate Roker’s “personal attacks”
“It’s bizarre, it’s unnecessary, it’s beneath both of us,” Michaels said. “Read my book, ‘The 6 Keys.’ I’ve extensively researched everything in that, and nutrition is about way more than weight loss.”
. @alroker here to chat whenever pic.twitter.com/nK1bhi8kBc
— Jillian Michaels (@JillianMichaels) January 12, 2019
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