Hmm just checking

[kdkaos]

Hello I have been into Atkins for 8 days now (currently in induction-14 days) and I have a question (or questions).

I looked through the boards for several hours and I heard that power walking was good for exercises so I started power walking on my 4th day into induction and I have been doing it since today. I feel great and power walking doesn't really make me lose my energy and it doesn't get me tired too quick like running does. I power walk each day on a treadmill for 15 minutes and since I go to school (I'm 1 I walk around school alot going up the stairs and down and also I have to run on the tracks for fitness. So far I have lost 7 pounds and I feel great but should I keep power walking or should I start running?

Also I am trying to hide the fat around my stomach, waist, and my "but". I have been doing crunches and sit ups for my stomach, Deadlift and twists for my waist, and squats for my "but". I was told to do lunges but after asking my fitness teacher.. he said doing lunges can mess me up if I do it wrong so I kinda put that aside. Is their any other way to reduce my "but" fat other then squats and power walking? I wana feel the "soreness" and by reduce fat I mean to hide it for now and work it off while I hide it.

Thanks.. gotta study for finals.. laters!

[2big4mysize]

you can't spot reduce fat anywhere if you couls the fat in the non playing arm of a tennis player would be more then the racket arm but it isn't. you can develop the muscles and firm up that area. walking will do that for you

I powerwalked all the way to goal and still do. If you enjoy running then run if you enjoy the power walking them do it. I can walk faster then I can run!

[Tommy]

Yes, you can not spot reduce fat. By exercising those specific areas you are building muscle under the fat which may appear to make those areas larger.

Have a good balanced combination cardio / weightlifting program and be patient while the overall results start showing.

[snorkelman]

The above advice is (as the Brits say) spot on.

In general, to lose fat, keep focused on cardio.

try and do cardio 4-6 days a week. Power walking is good, but if you feel up to it, jogging would burn even more calories. But you need to work your way up to jogging so you don't injure yourself.

The key is to try and do your cardio for 30-45 minutes straight. AND do that entire time in your target heart rate. Go ahead and read my post on why doing low intensity cardio is a waste of time.

Power walking CAN put you in your target heart range, especially if you are very overweight, but eventually your body will adapt to the level of cardio and you will need to increase the duration and/or intensity of the cardio to make the same impact. Plus many people who powerwalk, are not really challenging themselves and they may only be at the bottom of their target heart range, whereas jogging will kick their heart rate up a bit higher.

As for muscle, like the others said or suggested, no matter how much weight training you do, it won't make the fat dissapear from your stomach or butt. You simply cannot spot reduce fat. you reduce the fat on your butt by reducing your overall body fat. Most people usually need to do cardio to make the fat go away, but you also should do weight training to speed up your metabolism and prevent muscle loss and perhaps even muscle gain (more muscle means more calories burned all day long).

Keep up the squats.

Hope that helps.