— Sarah, Texas Your abdominal wall is basically composed of layers of muscle covered by fat. Some people have very little fat and very defined muscles six-pack abs. Others have a very thick layer of fat, which essentially hides the muscles underneath (a beer belly). In order to “flatten” your stomach, you need to reduce the amount of fat in your abdomen area, and this is only achieved through weight loss. Doing abdominal exercises does nothing to reduce your fat layer, but it also does NOT make your belly bigger. For the average person, the fat layer is so much bigger than the muscle layer that adding a little muscle has no appreciable effect on the size of your stomach. To get the abdomen you want, lose some belly fat and add some abdominal muscle. Q2. I’m debating investing in a recumbent bike or a treadmill for my cardio. Do you consider the bike to be a good workout? Yes! Whether you’re spinning or cycling on a stationary bike, road bike, or mountain bike, cycling provides a great calorie-burning workout! A recumbent bike is especially good if you have a bad back or are overweight, because it allows you to lean back and relax your lower back as you cycle. So go for it! But keep in mind that it’s also good to mix and match your cardio exercises throughout the week. Usually, the more varied your routine, the more likely you are to stick with it! Q3. What is your favorite ab exercise — especially around the belly button? My very favorite is — there are two good ones: One of them is the bicycle on your back, twisting side to side, touching your elbow with the opposite knee. And my other favorite for the lower tummy is to get into the plank position as though for a push-up, hold in your tummy for about 10 seconds. If you want a tougher exercise, you can then lower down onto your elbows. Kiss one knee to the ground, then straighten up, and repeat with the other. Q4. I like to work out in the morning, and if I eat breakfast before I exercise, I feel way too full and tend to get stomach cramps. When is the best time to eat meals — before or after I exercise? It’s understandable that eating breakfast before working out is causing you problems. Having too much food in your stomach can make you feel uncomfortable and can lead to cramping, which will get in the way of a good workout. But it is important to eat something in the morning, especially if you are going to use so much energy right away. You probably wake up at least six to seven hours after you go to sleep, and assuming you haven’t eaten anything for a couple of hours before you go to bed, you will have been fasting for about eight to ten hours. When you wake up, your blood sugar is very low, and in order for you to get the most out of your workout, you need some energy to get you started. The key is to choose the food that will provide you with energy without causing you to feel bloated and crampy. In general, if you are exercising within an hour or two of eating, you want to avoid eating anything that is high in protein and fat, the types of foods that take longer to digest. Since blood is being redirected to your stomach to supply energy to aid in digestion, there is less blood directed to the muscles you’re working. Therefore, your muscles aren’t getting the energy supply they need to get the most out of your workout, and you will be more fatigued than if you eat a low-fat, low-protein meal or snack before exercising. Don’t forget that it’s also important to eat something after you work out, to replenish the stores of glycogen in your muscles (this is the fuel you’ve burned during your workout). By eating something that has both carbs and protein within two hours of exercising, you can refuel and help repair your muscles without the risk of gaining weight. Q5. What are your tips for staying consistent with diet and exercise? The main thing is to know how much better you’ll feel if you stay fit and eat right; you’ll be healthy and energetic! Of course, there are days when I overeat and don’t exercise. But the next day, I’m back on track. Don’t let it go too many days without getting back on track. Just go out there and work out, because it’s the workout that keeps me going! Q6. What should I wear if I want to jog outside in the winter? Is it better to layer, or should I just put on a warm pullover? — Eric, Illinois It’s always a challenge to regulate your temperature when you exercise outside in cold weather, but my advice is: layer, layer, layer. Remember that your body can produce a lot of heat once you start jogging, so you have to dress appropriately. I like to put on two or three layers of clothing, and I’ll typically strip the top layer off as I begin to warm up but before I have started to really sweat. I not only like layers, I like lots of zippers. A warm piece of clothing that has zippers is a nice strategy for controlling your temperature without have to wear and remove several different layers of clothing. Simply open up zippers as far as you need to in order to feel relief as you start to heat up. Also, avoid wearing cotton clothing. Cotton traps water close to your skin, which becomes very cold when exposed to frigid air. You need breathable fabrics that wick water away from your body and then allow the water to evaporate. Several manufacturers of athletic apparel offer clothing made of high-tech fabrics that are ideal, so check the tags when you shop for your next jogging outfit. Q7. Is it a bad idea to workout when you’re sick? Will it make me feel better or worse? — Denise, Idaho That depends on how you feel. Some people can exercise right through any illness, while for others, that approach doesn’t work so well. Also, you must take into account the severity of your cold. If you are very sick, the exercise can do more harm to your health than the cold. Because your body is under stress when you are sick, you need to let it utilize its resources for fighting the illness — not for supporting a strenuous workout. When a cold is more of an annoyance than a debilitating force, I have found that exercise can be quite helpful. A good rule I like to use is that when cold symptoms are isolated to above your shoulders (a head cold), you can go ahead and exercise. If you have symptoms below the shoulders, such as chest congestion, then it is probably best to take it easy and avoid exercise until those symptoms subside. Get more fitness tips from Denise Austin. Learn more in the Everyday Health Fitness Center.
