Maintenance problems and how to conquer them…

 

Sup ladies and gents…. It’s Potter again.  This time, I’m gunna help you maintain the problem areas that most people see to have trouble with.  Let’s start with the…

 

Stomach:  In order to maintain a good mid section you have to eat right. This is number one, because if you don’t eat right then you’ll just lose it eventually.  I also suggest doing 2-3 days of cardio a week and 2 ab workouts a week.  The workouts don’t have to be extremely intense…as this is just maintaining the body that you worked hard to get.  All the hard work is complete… this is just the icing n the cake.

 

Food suggestions:

Breakfast – Low-fat granola, Non-fat plain yogurt, Strawberries sliced

Snack – Protein Shake

Lunch – Chili with beans, Salad Greens, a little bit of  dressing,

Snack – Fruit bar, peanuts or soy nuts (1 serving of creatine drink if you do take it)

Dinner – 6 oz Flank Steak grilled, 1tbsp. Steak Sauce, Medium Baked Potato, 1cup of sautéed Veggies, an orange or medium Nectarine.

 

Arms:  For most women, arm fat can be pretty embarrassing…especially when fitting into a wedding dress.  I suggest going with tricept pull downs , but doing about 50 at a very light weight.  This will allow you to feel the burn, and tone the area without gaining any muscle.  2 times a week is all that’s required as long as you keep a healthy diet.   Bicept curls can be done on the same do to keep the strength even on both sides of the arm.  Men can do the same, but add a bit more weight, and decrease the number of reps to abut 25… 2 sets of 25 should be sufficient, but make sure you feel that burn at the end of the workout.

 

Butt/Gluteus:  Single leg kick backs are an excellent exercise to keep that buttocks in shape (3 times a week would keep you bottom perky and round).  If this doesn’t help maintain that killer booty…I don’t know what will.  Get on the floor on all fours, and take one of your legs and push it up and back at the same time resulting in a 45degree kick back.  For advanced people, get a workout band, and do the same thing, but put your foot inside the handle of the band…this will add tension, and create some FIRE on that booty. Steps are great to maintain the buttocks as well.  Slowly climb steps in a walking fashion skipping every other step for more tension on the butt.   Squats are not needed for maintenance, but can be done if need be.

 

Chest:  This one is mostly for men.  I suggest doing chest flyes once a week.  Incorporating four different kinds of push-up’s to be done 3 times a week is also a good choice.  Wide angle push-ups: simply keep your fists or hands a little past shoulder width, and push up and back down for a complete 15 – 20 times.  Diamond push-ups:  form a diamond shape with your index fingers and thumbs touching and push up and down for a count of one. Doing 12 of these should leave you with a nice burn in the pectoral area.  One Armed Push-ups:  This is a bit more advanced, and must be done carefully.  Get into a regular push-up position, but this time spread your feet out a a bit past shoulder width.  With one hand on the ground at an angle that reaches to the opposite side of the workout arm, push up and down for one.  Switch arms every four push ups.  I think that most should be able to do 8 with each arm for a total of 16.

 

These are the most problematic area’s for us all.  I suggest that one you have done 4 weeks of these exercises to try some slightly different variations of them.  Be creative, and don’t get hurt.  A good all around cardio for this routine can take you very far as well. I suggest for a really really nice cardio workout that you do….

20 minutes run on grass preferably at a slow pace... 15 minutes elliptical (you choose you intensity)...and 10 minutes stair-master... 15 minute ab workout on the stability ball!!!  

 

Feel free to contact me for any information you might want or questions. If you feel that you are an animal, and you want more…check out my journal for my personal workouts, and you should find what you need.  

 

Ladies and gentlemen…I give you Maintenance

 

Enjoy

 

 

Potter

WTF? That doesn't look like a lot of calories.

Peanuts, granola and plain nonfat yoghurt (*barf*) BORING!

Where are the dinosaur sprinkles?!

ok

bah ha ha ha I thought it didnt look like many calories either but I added it up and I guess its about 1500 which is about what I eat.

I liked the exersizes, I am going to try and do two ab workouts a week.  I figure running for 45mins two or three times a week and walking for an hour twice a week and doing 1 and 1/2 hrs of yoga can take care of my butt.  My arms get worked out carrying my ever growing toddler around but I shall make a conceited effort at abs!

Thanks for the post though potter

ps. what are dinosaur sprinkles and where can i get me some?!

Life too long to be too serious =)~

carleyrapp:  you are too funny !  I couldn't stop chuckling.

On that note, point is, eddie is right and carley, you are right.  You are both right together.  When maintaining, need to find the right balance of healthy and indulgence calories and physical activity.  It's life we're all living afterall.


Thanks both for your posts. 

tani24, do they have to be dinosaur shaped ?  Maybe a box of oatmeal I found them some years ago.  Try regular good ole' fashioned sprinkles !  Chocolate or rainbow.

i can't read this post w/out noting that those exercises are pretty darn sad.  "tone the area w/o gaining any muscle"?  what the heck are you talking about?  you can lose fat.  you can gain muscle.  there's no in between.  if you want to lose arm fat, you need to lose fat in general and cross your fingers that some of it's lost in your arms.  and triceps work for arms?  that's just not going to get you anywhere, it's just not enough of a workout at all.

that butt work is for someone who's got poor knees, maybe.  other people would see much better butt results using some real weight, like w/deadlifts.  and pushups are "for men"?  are you on drugs?  seriously, this is insulting.

thanks for the tips, i know you're trying to help, but you should really reconsider your advice.

w/m 5'9" 190 - I have also been eating healthy, averaging 1800-2000 calories a day, exercising 6 days a week, running, biking and lifting.  I have been doing this for the past 12 months.  I sucessfullly initially lost 50 pounds.  Within the past 2 months, I have started to gain weight  ( no muscle ).  I love to run so I limit myself at the gym.  Since I started to gain weight, I decreased my caloric intake and have continued to gain weight.  What the ?? Does anyone have a idea what may be happening?

Hi, search.

Using the tools on this site, I got an estimate that you burn 2600 calories in a typical day. You could try increasing calories to about 2100 (an average 500 calorie deficit), and see if that helps.

For more precision, use the tools yourself, set your activity level to sedentary, and add your exercise to get a better count

Also, how do you know that it isn't muscle increase? To get a better sense of changes in body composition, you can measure yourself (easier) or get your body fat measured.

This is addressing the fact that some people *coughcaloriecountingmecough*&nbs p;can't STFU when someone tries to point out the obvious in a polite way and well meaning way.  While you may not agree with the method(s) it is the maddness of the matter ....

eddiepotter addressed the fact that people maintaining weight need to eat a well balanced diet and continue to exercise.  This was a pretty good post in maintaining.  Way to often people tend to slip back into old habits; this post was like a freindly reminder.

Thank you eddiepotter.

Original Post by caloriecountingme:

i can't read this post w/out noting that those exercises are pretty darn sad.  "tone the area w/o gaining any muscle"?  what the heck are you talking about?  you can lose fat.  you can gain muscle.  there's no in between.  if you want to lose arm fat, you need to lose fat in general and cross your fingers that some of it's lost in your arms.  and triceps work for arms?  that's just not going to get you anywhere, it's just not enough of a workout at all.

that butt work is for someone who's got poor knees, maybe.  other people would see much better butt results using some real weight, like w/deadlifts.  and pushups are "for men"?  are you on drugs?  seriously, this is insulting.

thanks for the tips, i know you're trying to help, but you should really reconsider your advice.

 

 

No I will not reconsider my advice...maybe you shouldn't post here that's all.  Just tired of taking **** from people like you.  This is about maintaining not building anything.  They worked for me, and maybe they will work for someone else.  As far as the pushup's...I think most women want to maintain their feminine look (obviously not you judging by your picture).  Most women don't want a muscular chest.  And I was VERY careful to put "this is MOSTLY for men"...not saying this is JUST for men.  Calm yourself

LOLOLOL!  Eddie you are crazy!!! What is wrong with her pictures? LOL!!!

nenewa baby...you know how we do...lol...I'm just upset.  she asked me if i was on drugs...I wasn't gunna  take that $ H I T.  

Man I'm over here cracking up. Some people got some nerve trying to criticize other peoples' advice and suggestions and they aint looking like nothing. Gooooodddnite!