Modified 4-pack

**A1food4U** · March 24th, 2008, 04:07 PM

What am I doing wrong????

I'm 45 and fairly fit. I have a good cardio schedule and watch what I eat. Here's the problem, when I get determined to loose that last bit of lower stomach fat, I modify my diet and increase the cardio and ab sets, but inevitably I give up mass yet still have a little inner tube around the middle. Is it a diet problem? Can it be corrected with higher protien and complex carb intake??? Help Please....

**wildstang** · March 24th, 2008, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A1food4U

What am I doing wrong????

I'm 45 and fairly fit. I have a good cardio schedule and watch what I eat. Here's the problem, when I get determined to loose that last bit of lower stomach fat, I modify my diet and increase the cardio and ab sets, but inevitably I give up mass yet still have a little inner tube around the middle. Is it a diet problem? Can it be corrected with higher protien and complex carb intake??? Help Please....

provide a little more info in regards 2 your existing diet and amount and type of cardio your doing plus duration.
usually those last few lbs of body fat are the most stubborn to remove and unfortunately without the aid of cheat drugs such as an ECA stack you will always traid off more muscle 4 the fat loss in the end.
back to the diet question we really need more info as to what your diet consists of. how many calorie defecit are you using? have you used a body calculator 2 check your requirements needed and reduced from that? lots of variables need answered b4 some one can give an decent recomendation towards help.

jorcaryvan · March 24th, 2008, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A1food4U

What am I doing wrong????

I'm 45 and fairly fit. I have a good cardio schedule and watch what I eat. Here's the problem, when I get determined to loose that last bit of lower stomach fat, I modify my diet and increase the cardio and ab sets, but inevitably I give up mass yet still have a little inner tube around the middle. Is it a diet problem? Can it be corrected with higher protien and complex carb intake??? Help Please....

You´ll lose muscle mass as you try to lose the fat. It´s inevitable. Simply stick to the cardio until you burn al that residual fat and then begin to gain the muscle mass again, that's how I did it.

Also ab sets are irrelevant to your goal.

**tooncesthecat** · March 24th, 2008, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorcaryvan

Also ab sets are irrelevant to your goal.

As far as spot reduction is concerned, I would agree. However, I still would recommend good abdominal exercises to keep these muscles strong and ready to jump out once he hits the fat loss goal

**pliny_2001** · March 24th, 2008, 11:12 PM

As hormonal levels change, it may get more difficult to keep fat from depositing in places. Assuming that isn't the problem, a good eight-pack takes alot more than just being fairly fit; it's a combination of low body fat and muscle mass.

I needed to bulk up my abs (weighted hanging leg raises, etc) to get more muscle mass on them, and then cardio/diet my way back down to super-lean before I was happy -- w/ thicker abs, I can put on a pound or two of fat and still be defined, when they weren't as bulked up it seemed like a pizza could ruin for definition for a few days.

But it probably mostly is a diet problem - just don't eat anything in a box, or things with chemical names as an ingredient, maintain muscle mass, and do cardio, and you'll get there.

**wildstang** · March 24th, 2008, 11:26 PM

as my first post provide a little info in regards to you height body weight and what amount of calories your providing yourself. if not actually counting cals that more then likely is the culprit. im over 40 myself and realize i cant take in no were near the calories i could as a 20 year old and had 2 figure out what worked over time cutting a little here and there and keeping a diary untill i found what worked best 4 me.

**theatrain** · March 24th, 2008, 11:31 PM

Is it possible to that some people just don't have a six pack. I was asking my cousin in the locker room how long he thinks it would take me to get a six pack with hard work, he said if I worked hard 2 months or so would be enough time.

Then he told me it looks like I've only got 4. He showed me his and he said hes only got 4 as well. Sounded crazy to me, but even in his contest photos theres only the upper 4

**Insex** · March 25th, 2008, 01:06 AM

To the original poster, I think it's because of you're age that you're not seeing the results you want to see. As we age, bodily processes slow down and fat deposits in more areas. It's just a fact of life that we all have to live with.

Because of your age, your body is probably producing less testosterone than it used to. Some studies suggest that an increase in body fat, particularly in the abdominal region, can be attributed to declining testosterone levels. So you might want to talk to your doctor about getting blood work done to see what your testosterone levels are. If the test results show that you do have low testosterone levels, then your doctor could offer you some options, like hormone therapy.

Here are some articles you could read:

Effects of Testosterone Supplementation on Whole Body and Regional Fat Mass and Distribution in HIV-Infected Men with Abdominal Obesity -- Bhasin et al., 10.1210/jc.2006-2060 -- Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

Le Magazine, November 2000 - Healthwatch: Testosterone Update

Quote:

Originally Posted by theatrain

Is it possible to that some people just don't have a six pack. I was asking my cousin in the locker room how long he thinks it would take me to get a six pack with hard work, he said if I worked hard 2 months or so would be enough time.

Then he told me it looks like I've only got 4. He showed me his and he said hes only got 4 as well. Sounded crazy to me, but even in his contest photos theres only the upper 4

Everyone who was born healthy has the same abdominal muscles. Everyone is born different, so each person's "six-pack" looks different from the other. If you get your body fat low enough, you will definitely see a six-pack and maybe even an eight-pack depending on how well the bottom and top two come out.

**tooncesthecat** · March 25th, 2008, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theatrain

Is it possible to that some people just don't have a six pack. I was asking my cousin in the locker room how long he thinks it would take me to get a six pack with hard work, he said if I worked hard 2 months or so would be enough time.

Then he told me it looks like I've only got 4. He showed me his and he said hes only got 4 as well. Sounded crazy to me, but even in his contest photos theres only the upper 4

Agree with Insex. Everyone has 8 separations within the external abdominal wall. You can tell your friend that too!

**wildstang** · March 25th, 2008, 07:09 AM

if you do happen to be low on natural test DHEA works wonders 4 us older gents by bringing our test levels up a notch or 2.

**A1food4U** · March 25th, 2008, 11:44 AM

I'm 5-10 vary from 185 to 205, as I'm trying to loose the fat I'll do intervals on the eliptical, ramping up and down in 5 min cycles for 30 minutes. Then I'll do my usually workout. then finish with 30 min on the stairs. I eliminate all added sugars, but i have a soft spot for spuds. as close as i can figure I'm about 2800 calories a day. with the bulk of it comming from lean protiens, fish, meat, nuts. I wouldn't call myself a fanatic but as i get older I noticed that i feel better and happier when I've been true to the routine. I'm not ever going to have a contest body but would like to be that "old guy" the ladies still peek at.... Thank you all for the responses, they we're quite enlightening, loved the ab map...

**wildstang** · March 25th, 2008, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A1food4U

I'm 5-10 vary from 185 to 205, as I'm trying to loose the fat I'll do intervals on the eliptical, ramping up and down in 5 min cycles for 30 minutes. Then I'll do my usually workout. then finish with 30 min on the stairs. I eliminate all added sugars, but i have a soft spot for spuds. as close as i can figure I'm about 2800 calories a day. with the bulk of it comming from lean protiens, fish, meat, nuts. I wouldn't call myself a fanatic but as i get older I noticed that i feel better and happier when I've been true to the routine. I'm not ever going to have a contest body but would like to be that "old guy" the ladies still peek at.... Thank you all for the responses, they we're quite enlightening, loved the ab map...

the vary from 185 to 205 is kinda a marker showing me you havent toghtened down your diet yet.
but going off 185 lbm as your stats fed into an online calorie calculator it recomends 2351 calories a day to maintane weight and in order to drop weight you need to defecit yourself 500 cal extra a day in order to lose weight putting your requirements at under 2000 cals a day. this is at lightly active saying you have a desk job for instance and only excercise your getting is the gym and your cardio you mentioned.
now if you was moderately active your calorie count grows higher 2 maintane at 2712 a day with the stats you provided assuming your target goal is to be around and under 185. so in order to lose you need 2212 cals a day. this isnt written in stone so to say either this is just a rough estimate off of what info you provided and i kinda had 2 do some slight guess work to finish it.
lets give another example if your 185 right now and your complaining of bodyfat your LBM is even lower then 185 guessing maybe 175 without actually seeing you and doing a body fat index test. so the calories drop even more per day.
like i said this is just a rough guidline off of limited info you provided.

**A1food4U** · March 27th, 2008, 12:57 PM

Again, thanks for the heads up. It's clear i need to do more homework. until recently i seemed to stay in shape simply as a matter of course, aging seems to be working its evil.

I spend most of the day traveling between kitchens on three different floors of our building, I always take the stairs. I beleive i would qualify as active but since your last reply I've been triing to log all the "other " stuff i ingest for the job. after looking at it for a couple of days the tyasting of various sauces and preperations added up. It seems I left out another 500 cal. or so from proffessional grazing.

If nothing else your reply has helped me see how committed the rest of you must be to achieve your physical goals. Next time i write i hope to be better aware of my goal and plan.

Thanks again. . .

**Italianangel** · April 3rd, 2008, 08:38 PM

in the end, its always diet and cardio factors

**A1food4U** · April 30th, 2008, 10:05 AM

Thanks to you all. After reading the responses and comments, it was painfully obvious how little I had been paying attention to Diet and work out. With inspiration gained from all of you I now have a cursory plan I have been following and am seeing results. It seems a little library time is as well spent as gym time. Reps to you all (when I have some to give)

P.s. Very glad I found this site