Okay Kids:
Today is the first day of Spring!
A client has asked me about the solution to getting rid of what’s commonly know as the “Muffin Top”. For those of you who don’t know what that is, see below. Also, I chose to use Wikipedia’s more than colorful definition of one’s Muffin Top in lieu of formulating my own and avoiding any potential “foot-in-mouth” syndrome.
Wikipedia states that a “Muffin-top is a generally pejorative slang term used to describe the phenomenon of overhanging flesh (fat) when it spills over the waistline of pants or skirts in a manner that resembles the top of a muffin spilling over its paper casing. This generally occurs when a person wears low-rise jeans, hip-hugger pants, and/or midriff-baring tops that are too small.”
Now, how do you get rid of it?
Well, as I hope you all know by now, YOU CAN’T SPOT REDUCE! But, if you had a choice between doing resistance training or cardiovascular training in order to burst the belly, choose the cardio. Yes, there’s that word “cardio” again. I know I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating…cardio is not walking on the treadmill. Cardiovascular training, especially done with the intent of burning fat, needs to be intense.
That means, do as much work (exercise) as you can, in the shortest amount of time. Therefore, if you normally burn 200 calories in 20 minutes, try to burn 200 calories in 10 minutes. Or you can choose to do interval training. Remember, interval training is when you exercise at a high intensity (i.e. running at 7.0 MPH) for a short amount of time (i.e. 30 seconds) and then at a low intensity (i.e. walking at 5.0 MPH) for a longer amount of time (60 seconds). You then repeat the “circuit” for a minimum of 20 minutes. Then, when that gets less challenging you can either speed up the pace on both fronts, increase the intensity time and decrease the “rest” time or you can continue the same “circuit” for longer than 20 minutes.
The choice is yours. But you have to make it. If you chose not to work that hard you can always wear looser fitting clothes.
