how much cardio is the right balance to shed weight

[lui-33]

I can’t seem to lose the fat I have on top of my lower abs. I look weird am very muscular for my age, am in no way trying to be a body builder or nothing but my body looks weird. You can see the abs clearly underneath, very well developed but there’s a layer of fat there that I can never lose. That’s the only clearly visible layer of fat I can find. I have around 7% body fat and am beginning to think that 7% is purely concentrated in my lower abs region. I do a lot of cardio since am in my school’s track team. Running intensely seems to be doing the job very slowly, but I also see my muscles start to fade in a way or get softer. Some guys at the gym were telling me that “you cannot be buff, and run a lot it’s either one or the other” that’s word for word what they told me, and I cannot deny it they look great. So now tell me how I can lose this small amount of persistent fat without losing muscle? And how can I lose fat specifically from that lower abs region. And yea I do a lot of abdominal exercises in fact I have a day at the gym where I only do abs, leg raises, knee tucks, and a lot more. But they aren’t doing the job they just seem to be toning the abs not getting rid of the fat. also i eat pretty well, lots of pretein, veggies, not alot of fat heavy foods.

 

[Clinton]

I used to have a similar concern in my teens and I've always been fairly thin. I don't know the answer but with me it just gradually reduced as I grew, exercised more and improved my diet. I also have a suspicion about the fizzy beverages I was into at the time. I would'nt worry too much about losing muscle from too much cardio. As long as you maintain protein and strength exercises.

 

[SXIPro]

You can not target fat loss. It is a complete myth. That is why all those informercials for the ab exercise machines are total BS. Your body will lose fat from where it chooses to, not from where you choose it to. On guys, typically, the gut is the last thing to go. To lose fat you need to burn more calories than you take in. Period. That is it. Lift heavy, get enough protein, and do cardio as well. You will get there.