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Training less and spot reduction (video description no link)

Bill Lets

Bill Lets

Level 6 Valued Member
So, I have been training (hard, for me) 5 days a week for some time now. I do it because I have the time and enjoy it. I try not to overtrain but I tend to overreach.

A couple of weeks ago I started eating less for general health getting older. Even though I lost weight my midsection has remained flabby. At first I blamed it on less kettlebell work. I also had thought maybe it’s high cortisol so I was going to seek ways to reduce it until I watched this video and learned that I should reduce my training to less days per week or ease up on a couple days. I am not seeking advice so much but want to share what has changed my thoughts on the possible solution.

I despise YouTube science influencers who have to have something new every day or week when the reality is there is nothing new. IMO

If you have no interest just move along and have a good day and don’t stop.

****Profanity used sorry, I don’t know why people do that****
5 Fitness HOT takes & The Science of Spot Reduction (yes it’s real)
Brendan Tietz
 
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I thought all the training thoughts were sensible. I don't know - sometimes people's "hot takes" are like, well YEAH....

The Terrance Howard business though - I can't help but be like "Why are we listening to an actor talk about advanced mathematic theory (or whatever)?". Not to say that an actor can't have opinions, but why do we care so much?
 
As with this issue in this thread, as with many other issues related to training, there are differing opinions from coaches who claim to be competent. And because of this, many people get confused. They see the clients of both trainers and all the clients look good. It is clear that in terms of strength, some clients will be stronger than others depending on how they train. Recently I was a visitor to an electronic page where a trainer with 30-40 years of experience with clients stated that the old man should forget about any exercises with KB :-) As the most dangerous exercises, he pointed out the swings and everything derived from them. Another trainer, who obviously looked extremely good, says that if we are over 40-50 years old we should forget about any exercise /especially for the large muscle groups/ where the weight is such that we cannot perform at least 10 repetitions. There are many similar trainers who say that there are indeed many older people who train with heavy weights and do complex barbell exercises, but they are the exception, as this way of training will do more harm than good for the general population. .
My opinion is that a person should find what works for them and what makes them uncomfortable, but the main thing is to try to challenge your body in some way.
 
My two takeaways that I hope to experiment with if I mentally can are - train hard only three times a week and no be so concerned about cramming protein all the time.

Thoughts
Point 1 - Don’t know but old school body builders did a lot of ab work thinking it was so. (Spot reduction) I don’t subscribe.

Point 2 - training hard three times a week seems to make sense to me. It’s been proved by history and I’m older.

Point 3 -Whoop watches and tracking HRV seem to have negative ratings on StrongFirst forum so that’s out.

Point 4 - Old school periodization training is another old school method that’s proved to be effective. Yet I doubt I’ll do it because I’m not consistently training, sometimes I’m just doing what I feel is needful that day so there’s no need.

Point 5 - Even before watching I had thoughts of how things would go if I were to consume less protein so maybe. I do know that I feel better and more energetic when I eat carbs.

*** Should have skipped the last segment where he blathers about spot reduction protocol video & science article it made my ears hurt.

.
 
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Mostly agree with this. My 2 cents:

Bill Lets said:
Point 1 - Don’t know but old school body builders did a lot of ab work thinking it was so. (Spot reduction) I don’t subscribe.
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Targeted ab training increases ab hypertrophy. I need to read the fine print on the research. I'm good with the fat mobilization part, but why the fat be re-incorporated back where it came from if you failed to burn it off with cardio?

Bill Lets said:
Point 2 - training hard three times a week seems to make sense to me. It’s been proved by history and I’m older.
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This jibes with my experience.

Bill Lets said:
Point 3 -Whoop watches and tracking HRV seem to have negative ratings on StrongFirst forum so that’s out.
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Too much trouble, but I have heard this well-recommended from plenty of folk I respect.

Bill Lets said:
Point 4 - Old school periodization training is another old school method that’s proved to be effective. Yet I doubt I’ll do it because I’m not consistently training, sometimes I’m just doing what I feel is needful that day so there’s no need.
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Sometimes you just need to take a break, no worries.
Bill Lets said:
Point 5 - Even before watching I had thoughts of how things would go if I were to consume less protein so maybe. I do know that I feel better and more energetic when I eat carbs.
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I found that as an older ^*#% I DO need extra protein compared to when I was younger. The research the video referenced didn't mention anything about older athletes, in general I'd say 120gr is fine.
 
Bill Lets said:
My two takeaways that I hope to experiment with if I mentally can are - train hard only three times a week and no be so concerned about cramming protein all the time.
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What's interesting is that he says he doesn't have to cram protein anymore and now he's only getting 100-120 grams/day.

Either I waaaay underestimate my own protein intake, or I have NEVER in my life consistently gotten 2 grams/kilogram of bodyweight... Am I the only one who thinks getting that much protein is a major struggle?? (serious question)

Another question I have is are these people using PEDs? (because if they are then I don't know how much any of this applies or doesn't apply)
 
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Love Brendan. He legit in terms of pwl information.
I haven't seen that vid yet. Plan to see that when I have time
 
Boris Bachmann said:
I have NEVER in my life consistently gotten 2 grams/kilogram of bodyweight... Am I the only one who thinks getting that much protein is a major struggle??
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It takes effort for sure, but I wouldn't call it a major struggle. If I'm not tracking I probably drop down to 120g per day.

When I do it consistently, suddenly I get tons of progress on week 2-3.

But also, I tend to heap on the chicken or beef during meals, have 1-2 cups of yogurt for a snack, and usually eat protein bars for snacks... Plus drink protein shakes post workout.

My regular lunch has something like 60-80g of protein across chicken and beans.
 
silveraw said:
It takes effort for sure, but I wouldn't call it a major struggle. If I'm not tracking I probably drop down to 120g per day.
When I do it consistently, suddenly I get tons of progress on week 2-3.
But also, I tend to heap on the chicken or beef during meals, have 1-2 cups of yogurt for a snack, and usually eat protein bars for snacks... Plus drink protein shakes post workout.
My regular lunch has something like 60-80g of protein across chicken and beans.
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If I don't do protein shakes and/or protein bars, I'm probably lucky to get 100g unless I have chili or shredded meat in the crockpot. Maybe it's just me.
 
North Coast Miller said:
Targeted ab training increases ab hypertrophy.
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True when abs get bigger you can usually see them more, for some people yes for some people no. Did he say that in the video? If not I’ll take the credit.
Boris Bachmann said:
Another question I have is are these people using PEDs?
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Gains happen like magic with PEDs you can lay in bed at night and have your body hummm with anabolism. I think he says some of his clients use em.
silveraw said:
When I do it consistently, suddenly I get tons of progress on week 2-3.
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I think it’s more difficult if you’re trying to lean out unless you’re eating low carb and drinking shakes. Having said that with all the heavy lifts you do I’m sure you’ve got strong abs but I understand “you’re still cuttin”. ;-)
 
Boris Bachmann said:
If I don't do protein shakes and/or protein bars, I'm probably lucky to get 100g unless I have chili or shredded meat in the crockpot. Maybe it's just me.
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I found that when I was tracking macros, I was on 130-150 per day (I'm 62-65kg). I stopped because unhealthy obsession, now I think I am around the 200g mark per day. You let me deal with my food, I eat more protein than I should. I think it's easy if you make sure to stock your pantry with eggs, chicken and beef!
 
Boris Bachmann said:
What's interesting is that he says he doesn't have to cram protein anymore and now he's only getting 100-120 grams/day.

Either I waaaay underestimate my own protein intake, or I have NEVER in my life consistently gotten 2 grams/kilogram of bodyweight... Am I the only one who thinks getting that much protein is a major struggle?? (serious question)

Another question I have is are these people using PEDs? (because if they are then I don't know how much any of this applies or doesn't apply)
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Tbh, getting that much protein is a pain in th @$$. I don’t even think it’s necessary, however, I do think Carbs have been more beneficial to me for gaining mass/energy than such a high protein amount.

Christian Thibaudeau says he wasn’t eating anything close to the 1 GR/BW of protein ratio but was eating higher carbs still gained mass (dunno about PEDs).

I read Kirk Karwoski said “as long as I’m getting 150 - 200 grams, I’m fine” and he weighed a massively dry and cut 225-242 and I began to feel if I’m getting at least 75-80 % bw (with additional carbs) it’s enough. I’m also at the largest muscle mass/bw I’ve ever been.

KK definitely was on smth so take it with a grain of salt but I think having to consume that much protein (1 gr/BW) is just absurd.
 
Bill Lets said:
True when abs get bigger you can usually see them more, for some people yes for some people no. Did he say that in the video? If not I’ll take the credit.
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I believe he said you have to train the region you want to spot reduce with spirited resistance work, and then consume the mobilized fat with a battery of cardio.

If I heard him wrong plz correct my impressions.
 
Dydo said:
Recently I was a visitor to an electronic page where a trainer with 30-40 years of experience with clients stated that the old man should forget about any exercises with KB :-) As the most dangerous exercises, he pointed out the swings and everything derived from them. Another trainer, who obviously looked extremely good, says that if we are over 40-50 years old we should forget about any exercise /especially for the large muscle groups/ where the weight is such that we cannot perform at least 10 repetitions. There are many similar trainers who say that there are indeed many older people who train with heavy weights and do complex barbell exercises, but they are the exception, as this way of training will do more harm than good for the general population.
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I don’t know who “the general population” refers to. If one’s idea of training is to be able to train while not paying complete attention, then you were some combination of foolish and lucky when you were younger. For that kind of trainee, sure, back off more the older you get.

None of that nonsense for me, though.

-S-
 
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