Long story short...I am down to 180 from 205 at the begining of the year. The top portion of stomach is showing the outline of a nice 6 pack, but from around my belly button area down a bit is still holding onto some fat. And, this fat does go around my midsection in my lower back.....ye' ole spare tire I guess. Granted, it is small...I would rather it not be there at all. I work out 6 days a week....running(trails, track, street) and i do HIIT 1 day a week. I do this for the better part of an hour each session...sometimes longer. I also lift a bunch. My diet is clean.
I feel like I have gotten to a point where my body has gotten bored with the things I do. is there something I should do to shock the system or to push forward with loosing the weight around my midsection? If I had to guess, I would say I have 12 to 15 pounds there to loose. I'm 6 foot tall......
TIA
Maybe some new core training stuff for me.....I dunno...
DF:
May you have the foresight to know where you are going, the hindsight to know where you have been and the insight to know when you have gone too far.
May you ALWAYS carry this WISDOM with you--WITHIN Diet and Fitness.
Lets rock with these like thoughts, BABY!
When one plateau's, the types of plateau's and its degrees can be different in many ways (and related to one another) and the causes can be a variable blend of different stumuli within the persons life.
The amount of calories and the circumference of DIET can a be major driving factor. You could be eating inappropriately and not allowing enough "proper" REST between workouts.
In other words, it could be not allowing enough recuperation to repair and rebuild your body, and not
feeding in the tools of repair with your diet.
To build upon the link I gave you in the previous post:
Having a caloric/macro-nutrient log, personal feelings log (just for yourself), and weight training log have extra-ordinary benefits:
1. You can pinpoint exactly when a progression plateau develops in your training routine, and you know the corresponding rest periods given at this time (between sets of exercises, AND between workouts).
You also know what type of training you have been doing.
2. You can then look at your diet (with a
KNOWLEDEABLE EYE) within this period--because you have a very CLOSE approximation of what you had been consuming up to the point of the problem.
3. You also have a history of how you felt leading up to your problem. In addition, you will have a log on your strengths achieved from your training and any physical improvements.
Now, lets say one embarks on "active" learning toward, weight training, diet, and mental factors associated with what they are doing (Is trying to learn all he/she can while exercising at the same time).
One can take this foundation, make applicable changes,
and will not be guessing as to prior history and will have something SOLID to work with.
Additionally, if one decides to get a trainer........this information is absolutely PRICELESS.
Its been my opinion from the day I joined the forum, that one needs to learn how to "master their self" within the confinement of the types of bodily feedback (psychological, biological, etc) that one WILL receive when deficit dieting or surplus dieting.
We deal with motivation issues with college and issues in life, and meet and exceed our goals, and pay so little attention to the VERY ISSUE that is the motivation killer in diet and fitness.
ONE MUST TRAIN THEIR MIND and while in development, you will have the tools to work with to deal with psychological, biological, etc, that WILL COME your way. Be not surprised.
This WILL NOT BE THE FIRST TIME nor the last.
It should be no surprise that if you "diet", that the body is going to kick in some psychological and biological defenses to compel you to eat or if one is in surplus, cause barriers in eating enough. And, it should be no suprise that the body can (and could) adjust "metabolically" as you deficit diet/surplus diet, and learning how to adapt along with it (by using knowledge to IMPROVE IT), will assist you.
In addition, it should be no surprise that parts of ones personality (likes and dislikes, etc) can be a inhibitor. We can spend so much time on the basics on diet and fitness, and lose focus on one of the PRIMARY functions that can cause failure: Psychological and biological feed back of the body. Give TIME to gain knowledge on how to deal with them.
Then learn how to apply what you have learned--you WILL NOT be sorry for the time or effort sacrificed.
With this in mind, give the members of this forum the following:
1. What has your diet been like? Your calories and macronutrients? Have you determined your MT Line? What types of deficits have you been including in your diet?
REMEMBER THIS: As your body weight DROPS (as in your present weight loss history)--so do your CALORIE REQUIREMENTS slightly. Have you made any minor adjustments?
Diet can mess with strength and physical progression. Diet can mess with mental attitude, cause depression, and a feeling of being lethargic (to name a few examples). It can also mess with motivation.
In addition the Diet is the first place one looks if there not gaining good weight, or losing fat tissue and the first issue is the amount of calories, and then whether your eating enough nutrients to allow some growth/loss decisions to occur in the body.
2. What specifically has your training been like? The specific exercises, days of rest, etc. The stimulation of muscle growth occurrs within the gym (or the reason for a body change), however, actual growth AND/OR strength occurs during rest.
What you are doing and what you are not doing in your training can mess with strength and physical progression. This too can mess with mental attitude, cause depression, and a feeling of being lethargic (to name a few examples). It can also mess with motivation.
3. What has your physical improvements been like? What has your strength increases been like--leading up to the present. This is one PRIMARY personal motivator and inhibitor of motivation at the same time--dependent on progress toward ones goal.
ALWAYS set time intervals of review and reflection. Do not stick with one routine--too long. Stick with it long enough, but change it every now and then.
Answer my questions.
On a Side Note:
The lower your body fat the harder your body will fight you to maintain it. If one does not make adjustments to compensate for the body's increase fight you will plateau.
Either you increase your fight to combat the bodys ability to make fine adjustments or you will stay the same path. You have to meet and exceed your bodys fight or you will lose every round of the match.
Look, I am just basically some average middle aged man that has just hooked up with with basic and advanced basics of diet and fitness coupled with learning how to manipulate the things learned.
There is really no advanced science about it.
You do NOT need to be a fitness scientist to get low body fat. Either one learns how to deal with the body-mind relationship or go friggen home.........
However, if you cannot afford a trainer.........You do have to learn to be your own trainer.
You already to took one GIANT step toward solving your problem. First you recognized it, second, you are seeking advice and knowledge to solve it. Add in "application", and you will NOT FAIL--EVER.
ROCK ON!
Best wishes to you in life and within fitness,
Chillen
