Expert: David Dickeson, A.S. - 9/14/2009

Question
David
Is middle aged spread a natural genetic thing or can it be avoided.
At 45 I am looking like my Dad and uncles-big belly, broad chest, but still very firm and hard-not soft and flabby.
I actualy eat a lot less than I used to, cut out the booze, and exercise, but nothing is helping.
By the way, one thing I have just begun doing and MAY be startint to help is H.I.I.T. training. Instead of running for an hour and getting sore knees, I run like hell for five minutes on my treadmill, then do some heavy squats and deadlifts.
I do this three times. It takes only 20 minutes three times a week.
Thanks for your thoughts.

Answer
Hello Barry

Blame the "spread" on gravity, and our bodies. Our bones hold up our muscles, but our stomach has no bones holding the muscles up. Only the ribs above and all the way around to the spine in the back. Include gravity which is constantly pulling everything down, and you get the hanging stomach.

A good belly-tightening exercise is like this:

You lie on your kitchen floor.
Knees up.
Arms across your upper chest.
Feet flat on the floor, up under the bottom of your kitchen cabinet.

RAISE your back up 1/4 off the floor and hold yourself up for 20 seconds.

FEEL your abs shake.

Do not put your hands behind your head. If you do, you are pulling yourself up.
Do not go up higher than 1/4 of the way up. If you do, your sides and back muscles are holding you up. How to tell; go up higher than 1/4 of the way up, and your abs stop shaking.

Do this exercise every other day.

Now for your HIIT training. If you are able to do this fast, intense program and you are not having any pain afterwards (you mentioned sore knees), then continue to do it. The best part about this program is that the time is limited on your exercising program. When exercising, fast and with limited time works best for the body.

Those long and detailed exercise programs really damage the body.

PS If you find yourself getting more and more exhausted after each HITT program, increase the days of rest between training. 2-3-4 or more days, if necessary. Rest is when you achieve the results you want, not during the training.

And one more; deadlifts are excellent for pulling the stomach muscles together making a tighter and flatter stomach. To finish the job, get the bodyfat down. Aerobics will do this.