Tuesdays with Thomas #2

Q -Thomas,
I'm at a 38 waist and would like to get back down to a 36.
What advice would you give for someone trying to drop to a lower waist size?

I've worked on changing my diet but don't always push myself to exercise each day.

A - Well, this can be answered many different ways! I guess I could say get it in gear and PUSH! lol...

The first thing I would mention is that the first place you gain your weight is going to be the last place you lose it. 

You are going to want to build muscle to help bring your fat stores down more permanently. If you are scared of bulking up, I would say to TRY to get jacked! It's much harder than you might think. 

As a physique competitor, one of my goals is to keep my waist as small as possible to give the illusion of a V Taper as much as possible. Coming from a power lifting/body building background has made this difficult for me as I have always lifted very heavy on exercises just as dead lifts and squats and even weighted ab exercises. While I do want to maintain as strong a core as possible, I have had to adjust my training to more endurance and less strength to keep my waist in control at least a little more. With that being said, generally its hard to gain muscle but easy to lose it! If you do get to the point that you think you are getting too bulky, its easy to just tone it down and adjust your training like I have.

Another tip I can offer is to do more plank type of exercises which work the transverse abdominals. These will help to hold your stomach in more and with practice keep your gut sucked in at all times without having to be as conscious about it! :)

You should look to lose 0.5 - 1% Body Fat a month to be on track. If you find that this is not occurring, then something has to give. Either crank those workouts up or get more strict on your diet. I have always found it easier to burn my calories off rather than to restrict myself too drastically. Thats just me though. You may find that if you are unable to make it into the gym a minimum of 3-4 days a week, then you may have to focus more on your diet out of necessity. I hope that helps a little. If you had a more specific question, maybe I could steer you better. I'm always ready for new questions in the comments section below :)

Thomas Murphy, CSCS