Whats Good For You
ARE SIT UPS THE BEST WAY TO A FLAT STOMACH ?
Shannon's take on her feature story on Channel Nines Whats Good For You, Wednesday May 27, 2009
Sorry people but it's silly to think SIT UP'S are going to burn fat off your stomach and give you a six pac.
Let me add that functional abdominal exercises (if performed correctly) may assist in PULLING your tummy (organs) in giving it the appearance of "flatter" tummy however it's more important to "strengthen" your core (front and back of body) to improve your posture. It's important to understand that sit up’s alone are for losers and won't assist in fat loss at all!
Forget doing 100 sit up’s before bed – you are better off getting into bed and “sleeping yourself slim” – SERIOUSLY!
Best Exercise: There are several however here are a few to get you started. IE: The prone plank or side plank as demonstrated on my recent appearances on Mornings with Kerri-Anne
Flat and fat: "FLATTER" does not mean FAT LESS! People can pull their tummy in "flatter" via sucking in their transverse abdominal (core) but that doesn't mean they automatically have no fat on their belly!
What to do: Sleeping really well, eating "real" food - especially animal / plant protein, being active and doing total body hard heavy weight training is the BEST way to assist your body in the fat burning process.
Fact: You can't "exercise" spot reduce but you can spot reduce fat from certain areas of your body with creating HORMONAL HARMONY!
Happy Hormones: Hormones govern everything including your body fat levels so we need to seriously look at your hormonal profile.
Want to BURN BELLY FAT? You must first measure it to see how much there is and how much you need to aim to burn off.
Remember: It's not about weight loss it's about FAT loss.
Hormonal havoc: Your hormones and food choices are the contributing factors as to why you will or won't lose FAT off your stomach! The hormone Cortisol (stress) and people being Insulin resistant (stuffing their face with sugar and beige processed carbohydrates that are high in starch and convert quickly to sugar) is the main reason why the nation is struggling to beat BELLY FAT! Leptin (controls appetite) – is also out of control from everyone not sleeping, eating DIET CRAP FOOD / SUGAR and that’s why people can’t stop eating!
Summary: Exercises on the Swiss ball or swinging around a pole is not going to give you an instant flat tummy or six pac - but it’s fun!
HORMONAL HARMONY & REAL NUTRITION IS YOUR BEST BET BEFORE YOU EVEN BOTHER WITH SWISS BALLS AND POLES!
For more information on how to achieve a flat belly or to book Shannon for group or one on one personal training, click here
Shannon Cleary on Channel Nines What's Good For You : "Weights V's Cardio", Wednesday April 15, 2009
There seems to be some controversy over whether or not muscle weighs more than fat. However, muscle does not weigh more than fat. A kilo is a kilo, no matter what it is made up of.
But can you turn fat into muscle? And what is the best exercise for burning fat and putting on muscle?
Whats Good For You and their regular Health and Fitness presenter Shannon Cleary found the perfect guinea pigs for this experiment in identical twins Karen and Kathy. Identical twins have the exact same genetic make-up, so they are ideal to road test our eight-week fat-burning exercise programs.
Karen pushed herself in pump classes. Body pump is a weight-training class done to upbeat music. It's great for people who want to lift weights but can't afford a personal trainer.
And Kathy mixed it up with intense cardio. She ran on the treadmill until she was out of breath, then continued walking — repeating this sequence for a total of 30 minutes. Cardiovascular training is beneficial for heart and lung fitness.
The twins both trained three times a week for eight weeks and ate the same diet. We tested their progress with a body-composition test in week one and week eight to determine how much fat they had lost, and how much muscle they'd put on.
What's Good For You were able to do this by scanning the twins' bodies with a dual energy X-ray machine, which measures the amount of fat, muscle and bone in a person's body.
At week one, Karen's total body fat percentage was 34.5 percent and Kathy's was 36 percent. The twins also aimed to put on muscle while losing fat because building muscle helps to increase your metabolism and therefore the more quickly you burn fat. Unfortunately, you can't simply turn fat into muscle.
So the goal wasn't weight loss, it was a change in body composition.
Official Results:
At the end of the eight weeks, Karen's total body fat percentage was 32.1 percent (a drop of 2.4 percent or 1.5kg), and Kathy's was 31.6 percent (a drop of 4.4 percent or 3.4kg).
So why was cardio more efficient in burning fat?
It comes down to the intensity of the activity you're doing — so the higher your heart rate while exercising, the more kilojoules you're likely to burn.
Potentially, Kathy was working much harder on the treadmill than Karen was during her pump classes.
High-intensity work-outs continue to burn fat even after you've finish exercising. This is due to the fact your metabolism is still raised after training while your body uses energy to try to cool itself down and recover.
SHANNON CLEARY'S TAKE ON THE RESULTS?
My over all recommendation is 3-5 HEAVY tempo /programmed FREE WEIGHTS sessions & only 2 x 15-20min interval sprints sessions. This will burn the fast FAST & forever (if you keep it up). Sleep & eating RED MEAT will also be the deciding factor of your FAT LOSS outcome! and rrmrmber.....EAT PROTEIN PLEASE!!!!
For personalised tips on health and nutrition or to have one on one training with Shannon herself, click here
To view more of Shannon's recent media appearances visit the MEDIA GALLERY section of this site
