With summer fast approaching, many of us are thinking about losing that extra few pounds around our mid-section and developing a lean, flat stomach. Unfortunately, lower abdominal fat and "love handles" can be two of the most stubborn and exercise-resistant areas from which to lose fat. Here are a few tips from FitSense.com to help you get results.

There is only one way to lose fat in the so-called "stubborn areas", and that is with the correct combination of proper diet, aerobic exercise, abdominal training, and weight training. The first thing you need to realize is that it is impossible to "spot reduce"' fat from one specific part of the body. Fat loss occurs systemically, meaning that you can't control where the fat is lost. When you burn fat for energy, you will draw it from all areas of the body, and the first place you tend to put it on will be the last place it comes off...unfortunately :-(. The best way to burn the layer of flab from your midsection is not necessarily to do more abdominal exercise, but to do more cardiovascular exercise. Because you don't burn significant amounts of fat until glycogen stores are depleted (which takes 10 minutes on average), the key to maximum fat loss is to work out aerobically (this is using the treadmills, bikes, climbers, ellipticals or taking a cardio class) for 30-60 minutes continuously per session. Even if you're doing cardio every day, without a good diet, you still won't see results. Abdominal fat loss is a 50% exercise, 50% nutrition combination. A fat loss diet must be low in calories. Regardless of how much you workout, if the number of calories you take in is greater than the amount you burn, you'll still put on abdominal fat. The final component of your abdominal fat-reducing program is resistance training. It is important to train the entire body--not just your abdominal muscles. Working out with weights will increase your lean body mass, which in turn raises your resting metabolic rate. The faster your metabolism is, the more fat you will burn!

Losing abdominal fat is not easy, but it is simple if you know the formula. The formula for losing the last few pounds of abdominal fat is as follows: " Losing fat takes time, so get started now! Be patient and don't expect to get "ultra lean"' overnight. " Burn the fat off the abdominal muscles with lots of cardiovascular exercise or you won't be able to see them under the excess fat. " Choose biomechanically correct exercises to train the abdominal area, including crunching type exercises, and avoiding hip flexor exercises such as leg raises. " Eat natural, low fat, low sugar, low calorie foods in small servings throughout the day. " Work out with weights; don't just train your abdominals, train your entire body. Training your entire body uses your stabilizing muscles in your mid-section, helping you achieve that flat tummy and increases your resting metabolic rate.

Feel free to ask any member of the Club One Fitness staff for a few creative abdominal exercises to get you started!

According to a recent article in Consumer Reports, two sets of 8-12 repetitions for each muscle group are all that is necessary to see results. Of course, if you are a body builder or a serious athlete, a lot more would be required. In addition, doing strength training for each muscle group twice a week would be ideal. If you are performing your strength training on consecutive days, you will want to switch off on muscle groups, to give each muscle group a day of rest!

With the warmer weather rapidly approaching, now is the time to recommit to toning your body. As you can see, it can be done with very little time and effort, so get started with your strength training today!

On Saturday, April 5th, Club One Fitness will offer a FREE Brazilian Jiu Jitsu workshop at 12 noon. The workshop will be led by Mr. Robert Crawford, a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This class is great for men and women and all are welcome to attend! We hope to see you there!

Japan announced yesterday its plan for annual testing of the of all elementary 5th graders and 2nd-year middle schoolers. They will test over two million students in eight categories, including sit-ups, broad jump, sprints and longer distance running, and ball throwing.

Test results will be announced every December after calculating the average of each municipality. The ministry will also study correlations between daily habit and physical fitness test results. The results are going to be announced which will likely create fierce competition amongst Japanese schools.

Certainly, this would seem to be a little more than is necessary, particularly in Japan which already has an ultra intense competition among young people academically. Still, focusing on the body and not just the mind seems to be a productive thing. If you are using obesity as a gauge, the Japanese are killing us in the overall fitness of their children.