Exercises for toning up my stomach and love handles?

[gunsofsteel!]

Hi Guys

I'm looking for some help with exercises to tone up my stomach and love handles. My diet is pretty good and i'm training usually 5 times a week. Mostly 20-30 mins cardio followed by weights where i do a different muscle group each night.

My diet consists of 5 pieces of fruit daily, 2 tangerines, 1 apple, 2 banannas.
Tuna and sweetcorn in pitta with some chicken bites(145 cals, 5 grams fat)
usually a isotonic energy drink with training
Evening meal either chicken breast(grilled) with veg and some sauce or jacket potato and beans or poached egg on toast.

I've seen a fair bit of weight loss but needing to trouble shoot those areas. Will be stepping up my cardio from next week, also possibly training in the mornings before work.

Any suggestions appreciated

 

[JDid23]

"toning" = a function of diet rather than routine.

 

[grubd]

Cardio and lots of it, need to burn more calories than your body needs in a day to stay status quo on weight.

 

[kx250rider]

In my experience, it takes a lot of time and discipline to keep on track. If I have ANY body fat, it's on my abs. I had to play around with calorie intake and TYPE of calories (fat, protein, etc), and time of day for meals. I accomplished what I want after about 3 years of hard dedication, but could lose it in 3 weeks I bet, if I ever get lazy. The fact is that everyone including a 300-lb couch potato has a sixpack, and it's a matter of exposing it from under the normal layer of fat that even the healthiest people may have. Same with love handles. In fact, working your obliques will actually make love handles worse until you lose all the body fat, when you will see a sharp ridge developing between your waist and obliques.

My advice, and I'm no pro keep in mind, just worry about the body fat percentage now, and working/shaping the abs and obliques later. That part is actually easy, once you can see what you're working on. If you're like I am, it's going to be VERY hard to do, and you'll think it's hopeless. But trust me, you can do it if you really want to. I did, and I turn 43 next week, and am sitting at 5% body fat.

Charles

 

[pbhardbody]

In my experience, it takes a lot of time and discipline to keep on track. If I have ANY body fat, it's on my abs. I had to play around with calorie intake and TYPE of calories (fat, protein, etc), and time of day for meals. I accomplished what I want after about 3 years of hard dedication, but could lose it in 3 weeks I bet, if I ever get lazy. The fact is that everyone including a 300-lb couch potato has a sixpack, and it's a matter of exposing it from under the normal layer of fat that even the healthiest people may have. Same with love handles. In fact, working your obliques will actually make love handles worse until you lose all the body fat, when you will see a sharp ridge developing between your waist and obliques.

My advice, and I'm no pro keep in mind, just worry about the body fat percentage now, and working/shaping the abs and obliques later. That part is actually easy, once you can see what you're working on. If you're like I am, it's going to be VERY hard to do, and you'll think it's hopeless. But trust me, you can do it if you really want to. I did, and I turn 43 next week, and am sitting at 5% body fat.

Charles

so this is the second post Ive seen you make in the last few days that references your age bro. either you are happy or feelin old. which is it?

 

[lweaver]

Toning is an odd concept, in that it doesnt exist. You can increase and decrease muscle mass, and likewise with fat if you feel the need.

From my experience when I was much leaner, cutting out some of that fruit will help...healthy benefits aside, each piece still contains simple sugars. I would try to stick to lean meats, complex carbs (except for prior to lifting) and a small amount of healthy fats for the bulk of my diet, with some fresh vegetables thrown in there to keep full and functioning top notch.