Hey, Kelly. I have a tough one for you .
I have love handles and they drive me crazy. They are pretty much the only part of my body where I have excess fat. I’m 19 years old, 5’5″ and 108 lbs. I do cardio 6 days/week for 40 minutes, keeping my average heart rate at about 180 bpm (I also do strength training 3 days/week). But the love handles won’t go away! I try doing lower back exercises and oblique exercises but nothing works! Any suggestions? Thank you so much!

Ari

Tough one- HA! You can’t phase this….

First of all- your average heart rate is 180? How does your heart not explode? Not trying to scare you- some people’s heart rates run differently, but holy crap that’s high. I can’t even get my peak heart rate past 175 let alone sustain it.

I think this might be one of those things where if I could actually look at you, I would call you crazy. 108 pounds on a 5’5″ body leaves little room for any extra body fat, but Ill give you the benefit of the doubt.

First thing- make sure you are wearing a bra that fits. If it cuts into you, it makes fake love handles- the same way too small pants creates back fat where before there was none.

Ok- fitness advice. Obviously cardio is going to burn excess fat, but since you probably have very little, lets talk strength training.

Love handles are not in the oblique area, although a lot of people make that mistake. The muscle right underneath your arm pits and run down the side of you back, that on really buff people make that nice little V of the upper back, are your lats. Do lat pulldowns till you can’t do lat pull downs no more and barbell rows. Preferably with a weight that maxes you at about 10-12 reps (I like how I can’t make colloquial comments like that, because people take me seriously.)

Keep up with the obliques and lower back, too, because a strong core is very important to getting a sleek back. And preventing injury, and good posture and blah, blah, blah…..

Who’s Coming to Costa Rica With Me???

GIVEAWAYS!

TWILIGHT T-SHIRTS! OMG! lol, Im giving away 10 Team Jacob and Team Edward shirts, so you odds are good!
Mix My Granola Giveaway!

Follow me on Twitter to keep up with my articles on other sites!

You didnt give me the specifics of your routine, so without knowing what you are doing, I can only make general suggestions.

The first thing I would point to is that you aren’t doing enough cardio. I dont know if you are or aren’t, but you should be getting in at least 30 minutes 5 days a week (or an hour 3 days, etc- you can slice it up however you want.) Lifting weights is given too much credit in the calorie burning department, even though yes more muscle burns calories at rest, and you CAN get your heart rate up high enough during weight training that it can count as cardio, but you really have to work at it and basically never let your heart rate drop. You have to burn calories to drop weight (or prevent weight gain), and you have to do cardio in order to do that.

You also might be eating too much. If you have adjusted your intake because of your workouts, primarily to eat more calories, this can be the culprit (especially if not doing cardio.) Again, people overestimate calorie burn, and unless you are burning more than 500 calories a day, you usually don’t need to eat more (this is a general statement for the average exerciser- athletes are different.)

2 days week, 30 minutes of weights is not enough to be gaining enough muscle size. You can be gaining muscle, especially if you weren’t lifting weights prior, but you shouldnt be gaining size- you are gaining strength. If your rep range for your exercises is around 10-15, this is definately true. If you are lifting weights heavy enough that you can only do 6-8 reps, then lighten the weights. Some women are more easily able to get muscular than other women, its a hormone thing, but even for them, they have to be doing a lot more weight lifting than that- thats barely the recommended amount of strength training just to be healthy (medical and fitness professionals recommend 2-3 days of strength training per week.)

Be honest with your trainer- thats what they are there for, and that’s why you are paying them. Tell them you are uncomfortable, and you want answers. Ask why you are doing everything you are doing- and tell them the results you want. Something is missing- my guess is its cardio or food, but they may have you lifting too heavy of weights. Tell your trainer you want to switch it up, try more cardio based exercises (which you can still do while lifting weights- like doing circuits or cutting the weights down real low and doing plyometrics, or full body, fast paced movements with weights to get your heart rate up.) If you arent exercising beyond your two day a week sessions, you really need to be. Get in some cardio, try a pilates class, which developes muscles differently (longer and leaner) or find something else, but you really need to be working out 4-5 days a week.

I know thats a frustrating answer, but I dont know your workout routine- your trainer does. If you dont trust them, or if they cant answer your questions to your satisfaction, or you feel like they dont listen to you- you need to move on from them. Training isnt really a “Im the prfessional, do as I say” type relationship, its a “im here to help you, tell me what you want, Ill do my best to get you there, but we are probably going to have to make some changes along the way.” They should be responsive to that, so if not, again, move on.

As you probably know, I am the Fitness Expert (their title, not mine) for www.Twirlit.com. With that comes some perks, like getting free products to review and giveaway. I think I just got my biggest one, which hopefully leads to more.

I’m going to be doing the P90X program, and reviewing it, along with posting my progress the whole way. I’ve wanted to do it ever since I saw the informercial, but am a cheap biatch and wont shell out the dough. Its an intense 90-day series of DVDs designed to shred you. Its killer, which what drew me in, but as long as you follow it, they say you’ll get ridic results.

Im thinking we are going to do weekly updates, but we haven’t gotten it all hammered out yet. If it’s not weekly, Ill be doing my updates here, with monthly at Twirlit so either way you’ll get to see how its coming along.

Im going to do a full assessment and then another at the end of the 90 days. Probably some before and after pictures, too.

But I wanted to ask you guys:

Anyone done it before? Anything I should know before i start?

What do you guys want to see? (before and after photos, stats, videos of exercises, etc.)

I’m hoping this turns into a recurring thing, like a cloumn (which I will probably ask you to name again, lol)- instead of (or in addition to) reviewing fitness products I can review fitness programs and classes for intensity, results, versatility, safety, etc.

Ill let you guys know when it all goes down, but it should be pretty soon!

Maybe I can weasel myself some Crossfit classes next….

GIVEAWAYS!!!
Hello Kitty Limited Edition Jewelry (I want this one sooo bad, I hate not being eligible )
MD Skincare Products (worth over $300!!)
Follow me on Twitter!

Kelly,
I’m trying to gain weight after cutting down too far. I’m 5’4″ and around 110 pounds. I’m not clinically underweight, but my shoulders and back are way too bony. I’d like to gain around 5-10 pounds, but I’d want it to be muscle, not fat.
So, a few interrelated questions: How much should I eat so that I can get hypertrophy but not just be packing on weight? What is a good rate of increase (where I know that the gain is healthy)? How much does food quality count? I eat clean most of the time, but since I have a liiittle extra room right now, would eating a few extra Newman O’s derail my muscle goals? How hard do I need to be working out to grow muscle? I lift weights 3x a week, but should I leave the gym wanting to collapse, or just be fatigued? What do you recommend for cardio? I walk around my campus all day and jog to the gym and back (it’s a about a 1/4 mile each way), but other than that I’m not doing much…bad, I know. Do you find adding some cardio helps healthy gains, as long as it’s not creating a deficit?
Thank you!- Mimi

What refreshing question. Isnt it a shame that most of you probably have no idea what the answer to these questions are? Its because every fitness outlet assumes everyone wants to lose weight, which drives me nuts.

Im going to take this question by question so I dont miss anything.

How much should I eat so that I can get hypertrophy but not just be packing on weight?

First off: wow on using the word hypertrophy. You are going to need to eat a little bit more, but its just because you are going to have to work out HARD to gain muscle mass. Eat to support your activity level, which you can figure out here.

What is a good rate of increase (where I know that the gain is healthy)?

Its all going to depend on how hard you go at it. To make sure you are gaining weight, but that it is muscle, you are going to have to keep track of your weight and your body fat. Your body fat should stay the same as your weight goes up. Gaining muscle isnt dangerous to your health like losing weight can be, so there isnt a safe, or healthy time frame. You arent going to gain muscle too fast- its hard to do.

How much does food quality count? I eat clean most of the time, but since I have a liiittle extra room right now, would eating a few extra Newman O’s derail my muscle goals?

This is the fun part. The quality of the food you are consuming is important, but extras aren’t. What I mean is, you have to make sure you are eating all your needs: protein, carbs, veggies and fruits, low fat dairy and healthy fats. Since youare shredding your muscles you are going to need to factor that in when you think about protein- probably about 1 gram per kg of body weight, as opposed to the .8 the average exerciser needs. Beyond that, as long as you aren’t eating too many calories, you can indulge every once in a while. Its different from trying to lose weight, where you have to cut out all the extra crap, but if you hit all your food groups, and still need some calories, eat a cookie. Thats my philosophy on eating in general, though.

How hard do I need to be working out to grow muscle? I lift weights 3x a week, but should I leave the gym wanting to collapse, or just be fatigued?

ok here’s the nitty gritty stuff: heavy weights, lower reps. everyone gains muscle at a different rate, so I cant give you concrete numbers on weight and frequency, but when you are trying to gain muscle mass, you are going to have to lift harder. Instead of the 12-15 reps most people lift with, you are going to have to find a weight that maxes you at 6-8 reps, and actually maxes you to the point of failure (you literally cannot do another rep with good form.) Feeling like you want to collapse depends on your threshold, but in the beginning you are probably going to feel that way. You are probably going to find yourself moving through your routine a lot slower too because you are going to need time to recover between each set. I would recommend working each muscle group every other day, which means full body every other day or split workouts (upper and lower, or however you split them) every day. Thinks how hard body builders have to work out and how often: thats what you want to train like, you are just in the baby stages of it. When you lift for gains, you are going to be lifting heavy weights, so dont combine exercises (like lunges with bicep curls) because to have heavy enough weights to max your arms at 6-8 reps, you are going to need to hold a steady base (feet shoulder width apart, knees bent, or sitting on a bench) to protect yourself. I cant stress that enough- do only isolation exercises- or else you are going to injure yourself

I walk around my campus all day and jog to the gym and back (it’s a about a 1/4 mile each way), but other than that I’m not doing much…bad, I know. Do you find adding some cardio helps healthy gains, as long as it’s not creating a deficit?

Cardio is what is going to keep the fat weight off. Lifting to max yourself isn’t going to get the heart rate up (its till burns calories because the heavier you lift the harder your body works, and it needs more calories to repair itself, which is factored into the equation i linked to) or atleast, not for very long, so cardio will keep you lean, and plus, you still need all the cardio benefits. Luckily, since weight loss isnt an issue, you dont have to do very much- just the baseline for health: 30 minutes of moderate intensity most days of the week (4-6). Everyone needs to do this amount of cardio, just to keep yourself healthy. If it ends up creating a deficit, you need to eat more to counter act it.

Basically, to gain weight with muscle you have to lift heavy weights often, eat more because you are increasing the intensity of your workouts, be sure to get enough protein to repair your muscles, and keep doing cardio, but don’t create a deficit.

Im pretty sure there are going to be some follow up questions for this, so Mimi, and everyone, feel free to ask.

Well, more like Doomsweek.

My knee has been hurting, ya’ll know that. My ankle stared hurting a few days ago, too. I ignored it, because I thought I slept with it wrapped up in my blanket or something, but now its all tight like i sprained it (but I dont remember doing anything to it at all.) Now, my back is killing me.

Last night, Jerome, while expertly dodging my guilt tripping tactics to try and weasle a back rub out of him (I really did need it though) suggested I should take some time of lifting. I considered it for half a second, and then brushed it off.

Today I did upper body, and as I was driving home, my back ceased up on me. I can barely move, and Im super pissed, so it looks like no lifting for me, for 7 days. No strength training whatsoever, which is going to be really hard.

I will still cardio, but only light stuff: walking and the bike.

Bright side, I will use this as an opportunity to work on flexibility.

I give it 3 days before I start ripping people’s heads off. Place your bets, folks.

This is my own personal hell.