Evolv Fitness

Unit 4 - 2C Ground Floor Rockhill, Main St., Blackrock, Co. Dublin.

t : 01 2056910
m. 086 8131380
e: info@evolvfitness.ie
w. www.evolvfitness.ie

Evolv Fitness Articles written by Padraig

MOOBS and LOVE HANDLES

Before we look at the exercises let’s look at the big picture.

Standing in a gym and looking down the line of treadmills where a bunch of guys are running. What is wrong with that picture, do I hear, those guys are too heavy for running, too much cardio is bad for you, they have the wrong footwear. NO. Most of those issues have been addressed in recent years, what has not being addressed is those guys should be wearing sports bras, the dreaded man boobs or MOOBS.

For the guy who is just overweight by about 4 stone it doesn’t really matter that he carries extra fat around his chest, as he is just too damn fat. He needs to drop pounds. But there are guys out there who seem to pack the fat around their chest no matter how much exercise they do.

How the hell do we address man boobs and yes folks it appears to be on the rise (or should we say sag). A question that I hear regularly, what exercise effects this area, it’s not just exercise; we need to understand the bigger picture. Ok you have man boobs not a pretty sight and no matter how much training you do they are not shifting. To address this we need to understand what is going on.

We need to understand there is a hormonal imbalance between testosterone and estrogens. Your testosterone is being converted to estrogens via the enzyme aromatase, and remember any impact on one hormone can sometimes create an impact on all hormones.
What can we do?

High intensity weight training has been shown to increase testosterone. Remember this type of training can deplete zinc levels.
Stop drinking the beer. The hops in beer is incredibly estrogenic and regular drinking will certainly enhance your progress to becoming a page 3 model
Eat more foodstuffs that contain zinc. Zinc along with other functions is the main mineral responsible for increased testosterone levels; it is also an efficient anti aromatase. Organic walnuts are a great snack and a good source of zinc. Beef, oysters, lentils and kidney beans are other sources. Check other sources out on the web.
Consume foodstuffs that are estrogen modulators. Broccoli, cauliflower and water cress are good modulators.
Supplement. Grape seed extract helps reduce estrogen levels by being an anti aromatase agent

The love handles as your sympathetic partner likes to call them, I just like to call them fat handles. To give this region its correct title it is the fat found around the supra iliac region or just above the hip bone. It would seem excess carbohydrates (in particular fast acting carbs, processed, white, junk food etc) and their powerful impact upon you body’s hormone insulin will give you love handles. Of course as well as a dietary concern we must also address his exercise.

As we eat the refined bad carbs the pancreas has to produce more and more insulin to metabolize these fast acting carbs. Remember when food is eaten insulin secretion increases and removes glucose from the blood into muscle, liver and fat cells. Once in those cells insulin has the following functions – stimulates the storage of glucose in the liver and muscle in the form of glycogen which can be harnessed for energy – Enhances the storage of dietary fat in adipose tissue – Accelerates transport of amino acids from dietary protein into cells. It should be slow release.

The problem with the bad diet with lack of exercise and too many refined carbs is that the cells that respond to insulin get desensitized, the pancreas has to release more than necessary amounts of insulin and this can lead to insulin resistance.

If conditioned we can harness the power of fast acting carbs intake immediately post work out, in relation to loosing the love handles it is really important to keep blood sugar levels stable and prevent fast fluctuations by eating the wrong things.

Not only will those insulin surges start packing fat around the hips it is also detrimental to your heath, we see high cholesterol, anxiety, heart disease, depression, reduced ability to burn body fat lowered metabolism and fatigue.

I had a guy in training the other day and he usually eats very well. Unfortunately he was in meetings all day and the food provided were white sandwiches (want love handles and fee tired eat this). He really noticed how he felt fatigued and tired post lunch, energies at an all time low. There are some people who can tolerate excess carbs, but they are the few, usually don’t have love handles and if they do they are just eating too much in the first place.

What we can do

Exercise with high intensity strength training (not spinning)
Eat fewer carbs overall in the day. Carb intake should consist of small portions of spelt pasta, brown rice, sweet potato, vegetable such as broccoli, onions, cucumber, lettuce and peppers
Ensure if carbs are present protein is. This goes for fruit and vg also
Supplement. Insulin sensitizers. Omega 3 fish oils, deep sea non heavy metal grade. If already training and using a protein supplement post work out but remember too much protein will lower the PH in the blood and will make us very acidic, not ideal. A very good herbal blood stabiliser is Fenugreek

Putting it Together

Now you can it is more than just exercise to correct these two problems. Now instead of thinking of chiselling specific pec exercises or rippling abdominal specific exercises let’s hit the body as a whole unit. For sure get the hell out of the cardio or spinning room. Charles Poliquin, an internationally recognised strength provided me with the education if you want to burn fat it is about high reps, low rest periods and increasing your blood lactate level. A programme specific to fat loss would be German Body Comp programme. That programme combined with sensible eating will make you lean, guaranteed results in three weeks.

It’s about strength training, hard work through progressive overload. Don’t overload so much that your technique or rep range is affected but make sure it’s a sweat session. Really focus on contracting the muscle group you are working on and don’t let the weight control you on the release keep the lengthening of the muscle group nice and slow.

When training I do like to see you move from upper body to lower body, it will make the heart work harder in pumping the blood lungs work harder in reoxyegenating the blood. It will produce more sweat and harder work. But keep it balanced, ensure for every chest exercise you work a back group (e.g. bench press – balanced with a chin up) balance your leg work also (squat with a Romanian dead lift)

Now when it comes to the specifics of Man Boob exercises. I like to see multiple joint dumbbell presses being done instead of Bench Press. Both on the flat and incline. Ensure the incline is not too high as it can aggravate the shoulders. I do like to see single joint exercises in here also such as a fly or crossover, but ensure you don’t turn this into a pressing exercise, concentrate on the pulling action.

Hitting the handles I like to see the front wall as well as the oblique’s being done. Less is more. Concentrate on technique pausing at the end of the contraction and a very slow release. Allot of people say oh this ab exercise is better than this one and so on, I feel the majority are good once you focus on technique and not momentum. I do have a preference to pulley crunches, knee lifts and that new machine the Ab Coaster.