GYM FACTS

Question
I AM TRYING TO LOSE MY MIDRIFF FAT,AND MY GYM INSTRUCTOR SAID PLENTY OF CARDIO,AND SAID 100,S OF SIT UPS WOULDNT MAKE A DIFFERENCE,IVE ALWAYS DONE 70 MINS CARDIO 5 DAYS A WEEK RUNNING 5 MILES,AND USING CROSS TRAINERS,SINCE XMAS IVE NOTICED MY LEGS LOOK UGLY AND BULKY..AND STILL HAVE BODY FAT AROUND MY MIDDLE,GYM INSTRUCTOR SAYS IT TAKES TIME. I HAVE BEEN A GYM GOER SINCE YEAR 2000.....

Answer
Your gym instructor is correct in saying that 100's of sit-ups and a load of steady-state cardio isn't going to get done what you want it to accomplish.  350 minutes a week of steady-state cardio, on a cross-trainer especially, isn't going to create an 'after-burn' effect of calorie burning for fat loss.  The "after-burn" I am talking about relates to what happens after workout to your body, the post-workout response.  What steady-state cardio has shown to do in study after study after study, is that it will not take long for your body to return to its normal 'homeostasis' state.  A shorter, briefer, higher intensity interval training program, such as 15-20 minutes of exercise that contain periods of high intensity work & recovery periods of lower intensity work, this type of training will help the body burn more calories after the workout and help enable more fat tissue deposits to be released & burned as energy.  Fat loss efforts have shown to improve greatly with high intensity interval programming versus traditional steady-state cardio methods of long durations & lower intensities.  

I have written a few articles on high intensity interval training methods, such as the Tabata protocol as well as an entire 12-18 month plan to follow for high intensity interval style workouts.  These articles & guides are:

http://asapworkouts.com/turbo.pdf - The Tabata Turbo Training article
http://asapworkouts.com/pmplan.pdf - The Peak Minutes Plan guide

If you have any other questions, feel free to send any follow-up questions, and don't forget to discuss the article & guide with your gym instructor at your gym as well.

Thank you,

Rick Karboviak
http://asapworkouts.com
http://1MileNation.com