would like a tighter stomach.. as well

[FiLeZz]

My height is 5'11 my weight is 167lb. it swings about 4-5 pounds in a day. I have lost as much as 5-6 pound from just from doing a jog in the summer heat. My high school weight was about 145-150. I am 43 in May. I cycle anywhere from 100-170 miles per week. I also run at least 5-20 miles a week. I just completed a half marathon about a month ago. (2hrs 3 min) I mix the two together to keep injures down. My calorie burn is usually 4500-7000 per week. I have been doing this for 2 years. I lost 40 pounds from the start of all this and can't loose any more weight. (other than in stomach, but it does not want to leave) When I started doing crazy cycling I added weight, about 5 pounds. I would guess this was all muscle as my calorie burn went much higher when I started cycling, but not calorie intake. My stomach was the only part that kept the small budge, well to me at least. My waist is size 31. Do you think doing ab workouts on top of this would give me what I am looking for. I almost forgot the swimming. I added some swimming in as well. I am doing 1 mile swims once a week. I am doing an Olympic triathlon in a few weeks.


My heart rate is always 80% of max during cycling and higher when running..

Pic.

 

[norseamd]

My high school weight was about 145-150

not what you should aim for

if you were in shape at 25 that is what you should aim for. this depends on genetics so some guys might not gain that much weight after 15. not sure. there is one last growth spurt between 20 and 25.

Do you think doing ab workouts on top of this would give me what I am looking for

with how good of shape you are in i am surprised you are not already doing a lot of calisthetics

do a wide range of calisthetics and vary the specific excercises themselves. like how you place your hands when you do push ups

I almost forgot the swimming. I added some swimming in as well. I am doing 1 mile swims once a week. I am doing an Olympic triathlon in a few weeks.

good job

 

[Koing]

Track your eating better
-you need to know *exactly* how many calories you eat in a day and in a given week
-with the above information you can adjust to lose weight
You need to weight train to build muscle

Drop your cardio by 1/4 and do weights.

With the amount of your cardio you are doing, you are very fit but you don't have any muscle beyond what you've manage to build so far.

An ab routine will help a bit, but it won't off set the eating.

You are also eating too much if you don't have a flat stomach with the amount of training you are doing.

Koing

 

[SP33Demon]

Track your eating better
-you need to know *exactly* how many calories you eat in a day and in a given week
-with the above information you can adjust to lose weight
You need to weight train to build muscle

Drop your cardio by 1/4 and do weights.

With the amount of your cardio you are doing, you are very fit but you don't have any muscle beyond what you've manage to build so far.

An ab routine will help a bit, but it won't off set the eating.

You are also eating too much if you don't have a flat stomach with the amount of training you are doing.

Koing

This post is the truth^^.

Also, be sure to destroy your abs in calisthenics including the obliques. Any extra muscle you can build will give you more confidence when you look in the mirror as the fat goes away. The more results you can see, the more motivation you will have to be disciplined in your meals and workouts.

 

[Zivic]

Track your eating better
-you need to know *exactly* how many calories you eat in a day and in a given week
-with the above information you can adjust to lose weight
You need to weight train to build muscle

Drop your cardio by 1/4 and do weights.

With the amount of your cardio you are doing, you are very fit but you don't have any muscle beyond what you've manage to build so far.

An ab routine will help a bit, but it won't off set the eating.

You are also eating too much if you don't have a flat stomach with the amount of training you are doing.

Koing

this...^^^^^

from the pic, you could stand to put on some muscle. lower the cardio/running and focus on what you are eating and add in more weights.

 

[norseamd]

You are also eating too much if you don't have a flat stomach with the amount of training you are doing.

too much in general or he needs to rebalance his macronutrients?

 

[FiLeZz]

I will start tracking the intake. But I usually only eat 2 times a day. Lunch and dinner.. Often times I will eat dinner only. Currently today I had a cup of coffee and nothing else. It is 2:00pm and I am starting to look for food after my 28mile ride. When I put in my activity in map my ride it gives me a 4300 calorie allowance for the day. It says my ride burned 1700 calories. My Garmin says I burned 1000 calories. If I was to guess it is in-between those two. I usually only have water maybe a sports drink if I did a longer workout like 60-100 mile ride.

 

[purbeast0]

you could have the most rock solid abs in the world, but if you don't have your eating habits in check, you will never be able to see it.

i also would not trust any of those "calories burned" things. someone with your same exact weight and height could have a very different build than you as far as fat/muscle ratio goes (as well as other factors) and could burn a lot more or less calories than you could in the same time frame exercising, regardless of what the device says.

the best way to track that stuff is simply through keeping track of it. then after a week, if you aren't losing any weights, cut out net calories somewhere. either eat less or do more exercise to burn some kind of calories.

in general too people who tend to do more "moderate continuous" exercise (and i know 100 miles isn't really moderate, but it continuous and isn't high intensity) than high intensity stuff tend to not be as "toned/muscular" as people who do high intensity.

i actually read an article recently about how doing 30 minutes of moderate cardio can actually be detrimental to fat loss, i will see if i can find it and post it in here.

EDIT:

here it is - http://www.t-nation.com/training/regular-cardio-will-make-you-fat

 

[z1ggy]

Listen to Koing.

 

[gar655]

Just based on your half marathon time and the amount of cardio you're doing, you're just not pushing that hard and are likely burning much less calories than you think you are.

2 hour half at your age and the amount of exercise you're doing is not very good to be honest.

Shorten the workouts, up the intensity and add some strength training into the mix.

Make up some HIT routines you can do at home and do them once or twice a week.

Get a C2 and start pounding out intervals.

EAT BREAKFAST! Not eating like that can put your body into conservation mode. Skip or eat a light dinner instead of skipping breakfast.

 

[FiLeZz]

Just based on your half marathon time and the amount of cardio you're doing, you're just not pushing that hard and are likely burning much less calories than you think you are.

2 hour half at your age and the amount of exercise you're doing is not very good to be honest.

Shorten the workouts, up the intensity and add some strength training into the mix.

Make up some HIT routines you can do at home and do them once or twice a week.

Get a C2 and start pounding out intervals.

EAT BREAKFAST! Not eating like that can put your body into conservation mode. Skip or eat a light dinner instead of skipping breakfast.

My time per mile was 9:23 per mile. 9:34 is average for my age. So the way I see it my time was better then average.
http://www.pace-calculator.com/average-half-marathon-pace-by-age-sex.php

While in training on a cooler day I ran a 8:58 for 10 miles.

The heat sucks my times.
To judge me on one event in time is unfair.

shorter runs and on cooler days I can easily run 8 min miles. for 5-8 miles.


Here is some info for you.

The average race pace that we calculated for all half marathon (13.1 miles) runners in 2010 was 10:33 per mile. The fastest pace calculated out of over 24,000 runners was 4:54 per mile. The slowest runner from these results finished with a mile pace of 23:55. so again that puts me ahead of the average in all age groups.

http://www.pace-calculator.com/half-marathon-pace-comparison.php

 

[Koing]

too much in general or he needs to rebalance his macronutrients?

Probably both but we don't have enough information to say for sure. But we do know it's too much in general as the OP is doing a chunk of exercise but doesn't have flat enough stomach.

OP track your eating, track your exercise better, add in weights, monitory our weight. If by the 2nd week you haven't lost 1lb you are eating much and over estimating your exercise.

The charts for how much you should eat are a basic guide for you to adjust due to your activity levels and metabolism. Control your diet better and you should be able to drop 0.5-1lb a week.

Koing

 

[killster1]

just hit some weighted crunches and weighted situps/ leg raises.. i feel my beerbelly six pack coming in.. i keep gaining weight tho was 6'3 185 then 195 now 205 but feel like my stomach fat same the whole time.. feel my abs really good through my belly ;P belly fat is last place for it to go.. sucks they say bulk up when lifting weights so i dont try and cut to see the abs but i know can feel them and see top four some days even tho have belly fat

 

[gar655]

My time per mile was 9:23 per mile. 9:34 is average for my age. So the way I see it my time was better then average.
http://www.pace-calculator.com/average-half-marathon-pace-by-age-sex.php

While in training on a cooler day I ran a 8:58 for 10 miles.

The heat sucks my times.
To judge me on one event in time is unfair.

shorter runs and on cooler days I can easily run 8 min miles. for 5-8 miles.


Here is some info for you.

The average race pace that we calculated for all half marathon (13.1 miles) runners in 2010 was 10:33 per mile. The fastest pace calculated out of over 24,000 runners was 4:54 per mile. The slowest runner from these results finished with a mile pace of 23:55. so again that puts me ahead of the average in all age groups.

http://www.pace-calculator.com/half-marathon-pace-comparison.php

You quote average times for your age- most of those that run halfs and are in your age group don't exercise nearly as much.

The calculated average for all half marathon runners will include about 90% that "trained" for about a week before running it.

Unless it was 100 degrees with 90% humidity or the race was all uphill your time is pretty slow and this is the qualifier- for the amount of time you are putting into training.

So getting back to your issue- you are eating more than you think or are burning less calories than you think or a combination of both.

 

[FiLeZz]

You quote average times for your age- most of those that run halfs and are in your age group don't exercise nearly as much.

The calculated average for all half marathon runners will include about 90% that "trained" for about a week before running it.

Unless it was 100 degrees with 90% humidity or the race was all uphill your time is pretty slow and this is the qualifier- for the amount of time you are putting into training.

So getting back to your issue- you are eating more than you think or are burning less calories than you think or a combination of both.

I have to disagree with your comments about 90% trained for a week. That is just a dumb comment .. No 40 year old sedentary person could do one week then run a half.
Now I know your full of BS and anything else that comes out of your keyboard will just be ignored, but we have digressed from the issue that was in the OP. Due to the side rail of my half marathon time.

 

[Zivic]

I have to disagree with your comments about 90% trained for a week. That is just a dumb comment .. No 40 year old sedentary person could do one week then run a half.
Now I know your full of BS and anything else that comes out of your keyboard will just be ignored, but we have digressed from the issue that was in the OP. Due to the side rail of my half marathon time.

I would have to kind of agree with gar... and I don't even run. When people compare themselves to "average" people, who are you really comparing to?

You would have to compare yourself to people that have ran a couple or more marathons. I know plenty of people that are one and done marathon runners. I am not saying your time is bad, but more along the lines of average. A guy at my gym is 52 yrs old, 5'7" and has done ~3 hour marathons at almost 200 lbs. to be better than average I would at leas expect a sub 4 hr race... that doesn't even break into the 8 min/mile category

Regardless, your times mean nothing in terms of getting where you want to be. I haven't really seen a straight marathon runner that I had a body I aspired to have. Forget the BS distant running and focus on HIIT cardio and move some weights around.... all the while watching your food intake

 

[norseamd]

do you think if you lowered the amount of cardio you do every week you could still keep running the longer excercises. like you could lower the amount runs every day but still keep running the triathlons and marathons?

not suggesting just thinking

 

[FiLeZz]

I don't think so.. Not for me at least. Long distance is something that needs work to get up to. just because I could run 5 miles 5 times a week does not mean I could run 13 miles straight. I had to work up longer runs.. I could do 8 or 9 no problem but start hitting a wall at 10 and above. I would guess the same with tri's. Doing super long rides has to help conditioning and doing bricks. 2 events back to back has to help as well.

 

[futurefields]

I will start tracking the intake. But I usually only eat 2 times a day. Lunch and dinner.. Often times I will eat dinner only.

This is exactly why your body holds on to a little more body fat. You aren't eating frequently enough. Your body knows not to expect caloric intake until the evening so it goes into starvation mode and starts building and maintaining fat reserves.

Try eating breakfast in the morning, every day.

 

[deadken]

I am in a very similar situation as you. I will flat out admit that this being the interwebz has a huge amount of variation and personal experiences that are given as if they are fact. That being said, I still come here and read a lot in order to try and see what is working / not working for others. Please note that I say I 'try and see' because after being here long enough I notice that some people exaggerate or leave out some important information. Others just want to pound their chests and / or build post counts. As you are already seeing, it is important to listen to who you want to and disregard the rest for a little while. If nothing changes, try changing who you are listening to and again look back after a few months and adjust again as necessary.

FWIW: I'm a 47YO guy, 5'11", and a runner. I do ride and paddle on occasion. I've signed up for my first triathlon (sprint, so I get a taste of it) and so I'll be including swims after these next 2 Half Marathons I've signed up for. The reason I mention all of that is: I've recently lost a lot of weight. Honestly, about 15lbs so far this year. I'm down to around 167 lbs (I'd suggest adding 2 lbs to that because of my scale) at the moment. For me, I bumped up my Miles Per Week and I have been really watching what I'm eating. I'm not on a diet, but I certainly have been watching my diet.

The one thing I would suggest you try is to severely cut your caloric intake one day a week. I read about intermittent fasting and I realized that I most certainly have / had a 'stretched' stomach. In hindsight I think I had forgotten what it was to be hungry. Either I was eating out of habit or eating when the first pangs of hunger started. And, my portions were too large. So, I started cutting way back on the one day a week I didn't exercise. Hungry Mondays were born. I don't do a 500 calorie fast, but I likely eat between 700 - 900 calories. What I will say is that when I only eat a very restricted diet one day a week, it really makes me examine my portions for EVERY meal. As an aside, I eat vegetarian 2 days a week which makes me examine what I'm eating every meal. So, being much more focused on what and how much, perhaps with the added benefit of a slightly smaller stomach size and now realizing what hunger really feels like has all added up to me losing about 17lbs this year. Having said that, I still would like to lose some belly fat. I'm expecting that as this continues, I should get a flatter stomach. Every time I hear my stomach growling I think of it as shrinking in size. It helps to refocus my mind on meeting my goals rather than focusing on the short term hunger.

So, my questions to you are:

1) Have you read the sticky at the top of the Health and Fitness forum? If you haven't read it, read it. If you have read it, re-read it.

2) How do you estimate your calorie intake? If it isn't reading labels, measuring portions, and writing things down, then I'd start doing that.

3) How do you measure your heart rate? I have read that keeping your heart in your target zone can make a big difference in whether you are going to lose weight, gain cardiovascular fitness, build endurance, etc... I wear a BT HRM and check my rates after most every run. For me, it's a solid way to learn just how I really am doing during my runs.

4) What exactly is your goal? Your post mentions that you'd like a tighter stomach as well. So, if you want to focus on that, you certainly can but I think that some of the other things you are doing will have to take a back seat. I don't think that doing ab exclusive workouts is going to make the large difference, but they will give you something to show once your body fat percentage is reduced.

My opinion is that you have plateaued. You've been doing this regime for a while and your body has finally adapted to it. You'll need to make some changes to confuse your body again and allow you to drop the fat percentage / lose more weight. Personally, I'd pick a goal at this point. I'd likely stay focused on your hobbies and the triathlon for the Summer and then focus on the stomach for the next Winter. I'm not saying you can't do everything, but I don't think I'd have much success with all of that (and everything else I have on my plate).