Q: I am a 49year-old male who has a low percentage of body fat. The fat that I do have is all in my waist. I am active but do not do heavy-duty running. Can you give me any suggestions on how to get the waist fat off me?
A: Almost all men and many women share your complaint. Fat seems to gravitate to the waist, and it is most difficult to dislodge from that location.
Partly it is a posture problem. Stand with your back against the wall. Flatten the inner curve of your lower back, attempting to make it contact the wall. Make a habit of always standing with a reduced inner-back curve. That flattens the abdomen.
Partly it’s a matter of flabby abdominal muscles. Abdominal exercises do not selectively remove fat from the waist. They do, however, strengthen abdominal muscles, and those muscles can keep abdominal organs and abdominal fat from protruding.
Kneel in a doggy position with the hands and knees on the ground. Take a deep breath in. Exhale slowly and, while exhaling, draw the bellybutton inward and upward and hold it in that position for 10 seconds. Relax and repeat the exercise 10 times. Once you get the hang of the exercise, you can do it while standing.
A variation of the sit-up is also an abdomen flattener. With lower legs resting on the seat of a chair, knees at a 90degree angle and hands joined behind the neck, raise yourself and twist as though you were trying to touch your right elbow to your left knee. Return and repeat the motion with your left elbow twisting toward the right knee. You don’t have to touch the knees with the elbows. Raising the back only a quarter to half the elbow-to-knee distance is more than enough.
Alcohol creates a beer belly and reduces the rate at which fat calories are bumed. And for some inexplicable reason, alcohol calories gravitate to the waistline.
Q: Is it possible to train for speed on a treadmill? My dad has a fancy one. I am not a distance runner, but I am a sprinter. I wonder if running on the treadmill could increase my speed.
A: Treadmill running can increase speed. Increasing the speed of the treadmill belt keeps you running fast. You cannot slow down as you can when running on the ground. The speed of the treadmill won’t allow you to do so. That is one big plus for speed training on a treadmill.
Speed depends on the length of your stride and the number of strides you take per minute. The treadmill will help you here. You can vary your stride length to find the one that is the longest possible without causing you to be unbalanced. The same goes for the number of strides you take every minute.
Wearing a weighted vest while running on the treadmill also increases your speed. When you take the vest off and return to ground running, you will find that the contact time of foot with ground has diminished.
You can’t rely solely on the treadmill to improve your speed. You have to do ground running also. Furthermore, you have to do some weight training.
With a weighted barbell behind the neck and, resting on the shoulders, do modified squats. Bend only a quarter to half the distance that a full squat requires. A modified squat builds leg muscles without straining knee joints.
Q: My friend smokes. He also is a runner. He can run far without becoming short of breath. He says running protects his lungs from cigarette smoke. Does it?
A: Running does not protect the lungs from cigarette smoke. Your friend is doing some wishful thinking. If he keeps smoking, as sure as the sun rises he is going to become short of breath when running. If he continues to smoke, he will become short of breath when sitting. |
