Optimal Life Fitness, for health, fitness and a new lifestyle outdoors.

I am a 39 year old banker who sits most of the week without too much moving. I do get to the gym 2-3 times a week where I do some weights using the machines in the gym and finish with ab work. I find that regardless of the effort and how many crunches I do I just can't move the fat around my belly and love handles. Can you suggest exercises that will help get rid of my excess fat?


Name witheld


I would need to look at your programme and evaluate your lifestyle (nutrition, sleep, stress) and postural/structural needs before making concise recommendations. But I can suggest the following in terms of exercise:


1. You need to use large compound movements to train with. These are exercises that use a lot of muscle and cross multiple joints. Exercises such as Squats, dead lifts, pushes and pulls. If standing up even better. If you normally train on machines get an exercise specialist or trainer to teach you these movements.


2. Add some form of interval training to your sessions. You may add intervals at the end of your weight sessions or on the days in between. Intervals are where you perform a short burst of exercise and then rest, then repeat. Try performing sprints where you work for a minute, rest for a minute, do five circuits of these.


The above are just two adjustments that you can make to your training. Add these and you will help melt the fat off your midsection.


BJ Rule

Many of you have now been using Kettlebells for the best part of the year. Some of you have just begun to use them. I am sure you'll agree they are a fantastic tool. We have achieved a lot of good results in the Outdoor Extreme sessions, a lot of these results can be attributable to the effectiveness of the bells. A lot of you have had questions about what they are and why they are one of our main tools of choice. The following should help to answer some of your questions.

What are they? Kettlebells are traditional Russian training tools. They were originally a tool of some sort, used as a weighted tool and are called girya in Russian. Russian Strongmen were called Gireviks or kettlebell men. Kettlebells have been used for hundreds of years to train strongman, wrestlers and athletes. Strongmen from the turn of the 20th century from all over Europe trained and used Kettlebells as part of their shows and in their training. The strongman in the current Britain Tour of the Moscow State Circus, Bikram uses them in his show and for his training.

Why we use them? They are a fantastic portable tool, that can and has been described as a complete handheld gym. The fundamental kettlebell lift - the Swing - is possibly the greatest single exercise ever. Steve Maxwell, a Brasilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion and Conditioning Specialist, claims that doing the perfect swing is alone superior to 99% of the sophisticated strength and conditioning programmes. The swing is a whole body conditioner, there is not a muscle that isn't used while you swing. Muscles that due to current lifestyle trends are neglected, primarily glutes, hamstrings, hip flexors and lower backs are used to full range range of movement in the swing. They are also strengthened like nothing else with the Swing. This can lead to prevention, as well as rehabilitation, of lower back pain. The main causes of which are proven to be weak as well as tight lower back muscles, weak glutes and hamstrings and tight but weak hip flexors. The swing alone strengthens and utilises a full range of motion (stretches) all these muscles making it a fantastic exercise in attacking lower back pain.

As well as the benefits of the kettlebells the exercises we have selected are responsible for increasing strength, giving you a better posture, stronger bones and joints, and increasing stamina by improving your heart and lung function. The kettlebells and the exercises are specifically chosen to prevent and rehabilitate injury, which can be caused from activity (tennis, skiing injuries) and from inactivity- sitting at a desk all day! Kettlebells and the exercises used by them have been found to be effective muscle builders and fat burners.

Over the last few years Ketlebells have had a resurgence and somewhat of an invasion into the west. US military and special forces have begun to use them because of the benefits due to their effectiveness and versatility. They are used by Russian weighlifters as a cross training tool as well the Russian Special Forces. The RKC course I recently attended in the US, had World Champion Powerlifters, Martial Artists and all kinds of Athletes, Trainers, Physio's, Chiropractors and Medical Practitioners in attendance.

Hopefully this has answered some of your questions about kettlebells, what they are and how they work, your results and the way you feel should be doing that anyway!

Keep Swinging!!

Before we start to diet (for fat-loss) there are a few things we need to think about....

We need to lose FAT not weight, fat-loss is a relatively slow process so losing lots of weight in one week can be sub-optimal, we need to set the body up as a fat burning machine not an advanced water pump. The mirror and your friends will tell you more than the bathroom scales ever will. Measure yourself, neck, arms, waist, thighs, honestly and at the largest circumference, take some pictures before you start and if you know a trainer have them take some skin-fold measurements so you can track progress.

Most diets work if we stick to them, just keep it realistic and try to find something you can pretty much stick with, this is where most fad/extreme diets become difficult, they simply cannot be maintained for extended periods (i.e. most of the time) leading to yo-yo weight-loss and gain.

I have found healthy fat levels are relatively easy to achieve/maintain (men 10-15% , women 16 -25 %) with a few simple rules. The extreme low fat levels (4-8% men and 10-16% women) can be achieved but careful planning and eating/training are required. Maintaining these low levels for too long can be detrimental to health, personally I stick to a couple of months in the summer at low levels, the rest of the year keeping to healthy fat levels.

As fat-loss on an individual basis can be pretty specific (taking into account goals, physiology, psychology, personal tastes, fitness levels etc.) Speak to your trainer to find your own required daily calorie intake to loose fat, if you don't have a trainer a basic starting point is 14 x LBM* in lbs but this does not factor in extra requirements for exercise and should be used as a guide only.

*LBM= lean body mass or total body-weight - fat weight

That said here are some basic fat-loss/nutrition tips.

1. Eat regular meals 6-8 times a day, two or three meals a day is not enough to maintain balanced blood sugar/insulin levels. This has the benefit of reducing cravings and more importantly fat storage. While insulin levels are elevated: - we can not burn fat - will feel more hungry - store fat once the liver and muscles glycogen levels are replenished - with prolonged high levels, reduce our cells resistance to insulin, making fat-loss more difficult and increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes Frequent meals also provide the body with a steady stream of nutrients promoting growth and recovery.

2. Eat good lean protein with each meal, chicken, fish, lean meats, cottage cheese (the low fat kind) or, this is where protein supplements come in very handy, some GOOD QUALITY whey protein.

I recommend:




Again there are many reasons for this;

protein (1) - aids recovery of muscle tissue (2)- is essential for metabolic function (3)- increases metabolism (via T.E.F) (4)- satiates, provides a feeling of "fullness" (5)- aids fat-loss to name but a few.

3. Try to get most of your Carbohydrate intake from fresh fruit/veg and whole-foods, avoiding processed carbs/foods (workout/post workout meals and drinks excepted)

4. Avoid mixing carbs/fats on their own, (see tip 1)

5. Try to avoid calories in any drinks, these often add up to huge amounts and can play havoc with your diet plans. One client of mine was getting close to 800 kcal's a day from drinking litres of smoothies, when he stopped this his diet fell into place and the fat flew off. If you must drink soft drinks, pick your poison, I find it impossible to diet without some diet cherry coke, but water is better.

6. Don't discount good fats, healthy oils are essential while dieting omega 3's (fish oils) and monounsaturated oils (olive oils, nut oils) We should Aim for about 25-30% of daily calories to come from from these healthy fats, on a strict fat-loss diet where carbs are reduced intake can go up to 50% of daily Kcals.

7. Avoid snacking, if you eat the required 6-8 times a day your energy levels should feel pretty balanced, snacking can be a habit just try to avoid it for a week or so....

Follow these tips, try to integrate them into your daily life and you should see great results without being on a "specific" fad diet.

Martin McCorry

To the Team... great to meet you all and i look forward to seeing you soon on the Extreme Kettlebell Educational Course.