fit dimensions your personal trainer | by dave hawk A World-class Expert Answers Your Questions.
I’m embarrassed, as I have a lot of fat around my lower pecs and underarm area. I started weight training every other day three days a week, but can’t seem to lose the fat around my chest. I have man boobs and hate it. Is there anything you suggest to help?
A
With any weight-training or fatloss program, you need to be on a healthy diet of high protein, moder-
ate carbs and low fat. You also need to perform cardio activity four or five days a week for approximately 30–45 minutes a day to help stimulate your metabolism and get it rocking, so you can burn calories and fat. I find performing quick giant sets on a circuit program can help with firming the lower pecs and lats. A giant set is performing three or four different exercises in a row with little to no rest in between. Here’s a circuit I recommend for you. Using light to moderate weight,
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physique 3d Summer 2014
perform 3 or 4 giant sets with 15–25 reps per set per exercise and work for a burn. n Single-arm
reverse-grip, high-cable pulldowns n Dumbbell pullovers n High-cable lat pushdowns n Low-cable crossovers n Rest and repeat.
These unique exercises allow you to focus on hitting the lower pecs, expanding the rib cage, and targeting the inner lats and intercostals under the arms. Since you’re not performing these exercises for muscle building but to condition and shed fat, I suggest performing them with a shorter range of movement, with quick, high reps, taking time to flex and squeeze the muscles during the set. This will do wonders in shaping and toning the area. To help shed fat faster, you may want to consider supplementing with garcinia cambogia. A safe and effective weight-loss ingredient, garcinia cambogia is a fruit found in many parts of the world that contains a powerful extract called hydroxycitric acid (HCA). HCA has been found in clinical studies to help double and sometimes triple weight loss results. HCA supports weight loss in two important ways: 1) It helps block body fat from accumulating by inhibiting an enzyme called citrate lyase, which the body needs in order to make fat from carbohydrates or glucose. This process also helps decrease the production of LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglycerides. istockphoto
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FIRM UP SLOPPY PECS
Diets don’t work—not in the long run. Here’s how to achieve weight loss that lasts.
Stop Eating Yourself Crazy! 1
Change Your Relationship to Food.
This is at the crux of a lot of weight-management issues. What it means is you should stop looking at food as a reward or a source of pleasure and comfort. Many do this by reminding themselves that food is fuel, meaning that the main function of food is to keep you energized and healthy. This is really one of the most difficult things to change. Whatever bad eating habits you have, they’ve been ingrained for years, sometimes decades. They may even be connected to emotional problems or trauma in your past. You can’t change these things overnight, but you can be aware of your habits, especially if you consume certain fattening foods when you become depressed or stressed out. It’s about being honest with yourself. That’s the first step. Do This: Try keeping a journal of when and what you eat as well as your mood while you’re eating. You may find some eye-opening facts about yourself that will lead to more than a change in eating habits.
2
Body Image Is Not a Numbers Game.
You’ve probably heard this before: Don’t pay attention to the scale. Unless you’re a prizefighter or a college wrestler, what you weigh isn’t important. It certainly isn’t anything to agonize over. If you’re training hard, eating well and gaining muscle in the gym, your weight may be deceptive to how you actually look. Do This: Use a mirror and the way your clothes fit as a way to gauge your progress. Nobody knows how much you weigh and nobody cares. Don’t create a problem that doesn’t exist.
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To borrow a phrase from the realm of religious philosophy: Don’t hate the dieter. Hate the diet. This isn’t to say that diets don’t work. They do—sometimes spectacularly well. But all too often, fad diets and other shortterm eating plans give way to nasty rebounds. Sometimes the yo-yo effect can be worse than the original fat gain you were trying to correct in the first place. The causes for this are many. Researchers are finding that there are a multitude of reasons why some people can’t keep weight off or achieve weight loss in the first place. Some are based in genetics, others a lack of activity. No matter what hand nature dealt you, smart eating and an effective exercise program can give you a fighting chance. Follow our guidelines to help you achieve your goals. Remember: It’s not a diet plan; it’s a way of life.
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By Amanda Zimmerman Summer 2014 physique 3d
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