Hey there.. new member.. looking for some advice

P

patreek

0
Back in the day, lets say 8 years ago, I was in great shape. Having served in the military for 5 years my body was outstanding. Six pack abs all day long. I ran a 5:30 mile. Worked out twice a day.

Then.. broken tib/fib during a training excercise. Metal rod and screws were inserted to hold my leg together. Two additonal surgeries to fix what the Army doc had screwed up. At this point I stopped running, I was medically discharged from the Army. 4 years of college, girlfriends, and laziness set in.

So that brings me to this point. I'm still in okay shape as I don't over eat. However, beer has been bad to my belly. :) I'm 6'2", 190lbs.. Not bad.. and my arms are still pretty toned. Actually everything is pretty decent except the midsection.

My question is this. I think I'm mostly lean except the midsection. Should I straight work on cardio/abs until the midsection is back in shape.. or should I work on weight training and let the abs work itself out? I have really good genetics and have no problem putting muscle on... I've just never had to lose "fat" and unsure if cardio is the smart move for me as I am already pretty lean. (except the midsection of course).

Hope the intro wasn't too long. Any questions of me feel free to ask. I'm motivated and ready to get back on track. I've ran 9 miles the past two days. First time i ran in years and I'm psyched.

Thanks much.
 
Hey Patreek,

Glad to see you've decided to get back in shape. If you want to reduce your midsection, just keep in mind that spot reducing is a myth and that doing a lot of abdominal workouts will not lose the fat around your midsection and make your abs show again. Fat is burned globably around the body and not localy. So I would suggest you hit the weights. Do some compound lifts that will force your midsection to balance out your body, some big lifts like squats, deads, presses/pulls while standing/leaning over whatever you wish. Cardio could help maybe throw it in 2-3 times a week with 2-3 times a week of weights. The extra muscle you build will also help in burning away the fat. G luck.
 
Hey Friendly Giant~

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I knew that spot reduction was a myth which is why I still only do one sit-up a day. :) Hah.. I kid. My body type is more ectomorph than anything else. Not extreme as I actually gain muscle and definition rather quickly. So I'm just curious what ratio I should try to maintain with cardio vs. weight training for my situation.

More than anything prior to joining the military I was a skinny kid. I gained alot of muscle in the military but lost about half of what I had gained and gained a beer gut. I'm still active, mountain biking, and rock climbing.. my midsection just got carried away from all that beer.

Having only gone from skinny to muscular. I used to limit my cardio and stressed weight training when I wanted to put on muscle. Now that I need to lose some midsection "love", I didn't know if I should hit cardio only hard for a few months, lose the fat (and some muscle), then work hard to put the muscle back on through weight training.

I'm able to go to extremes with my training and disciplined. I'm just out of practice. I ran hard the past two days.. So tomorrow I'll hit the weights. I guess I'll go 50-50 for awhile and see how that pans out.

Thanks again for your input. My thoughts are all over I know.. Just excited and tired.

~patreek
 
Doing a 50/50 would be okay. But I suggest you lose some of the excess before you start focusing on bulking up. Because the last thing you want is troublesome fats lying around with muscle under them. Welcome to the site btw. :)
 
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