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I was looking for belly fat reduction. Will squats help in that? I am doubtful. I thought Squats is for thigh muscle and back. Please correct me if I am wrong..

I don't want a six pack or any kind of pack. Nor I would want to look like those models.

But the very purpose why I was contemplating crunches was for belly fat reduction. I don't know whether my shirts are shrinking in size or my belly is growing big day by day.

Does anyone have good suggestion for belly fat reduction. In between I walk for 45 minutes in a day. I do have a watch on my food intake. That's all I am doing currently.

Squats are what they call compound exercises. Their benefits go beyond just thigh and back muscles.

Increase vegetable, salads etc where you get the quantity but less calories. Walking whenever you can for usual chores. You need to lose fat in general. Ab exercises etc can make your abs firm but they themselves cant reduce fat.

Ok some basics. There is nothing that will target belly fat and reduce it. Fat loss doesn't work like that.

When your body gets more calories than it uses, it stores the excess as fat (usually in the belly for men and thighs/butt for women but it varies).

When your body uses more calories than it gets, it burns both fat and muscle to get energy.

The body will not burn fat in the area that you are working out. The body will burn fat all over your body. Doing crunches or squats or any workout is not intended to burn fat in that area.

Now you don't want to lose muscle. Because muscles burn calories. Think of muscles as engines idling and always using fuel. So the more muscle you have, more you are burning everyday. So you don't want to lose these fat-burning assets.

So here's what you do:
1. Make sure you are on a calorie deficit
2. Get enough protein and workout with weights to retain muscle.

To deep dive a bit on both these steps:
1. You can make sure you are on a calorie deficit by either eating less than you burn, or doing cardio. Doesn't matter. in the end it's all calories. But either way, the first step is to track how much you eat and how much you use.

2. To retain muscle, again you need to track your food and it's macros (protein, carbs and fat). And for workout, don't do your own random program. Use a good progrAm like 5x5 stronglifts or ice cream workout or allpro workout. Google these and pick one. All of these give a lot of importance to squats.

For tracking calories and macros, use a tool like myfitnesspal. But enter the goals in myfitnesspal manually, using iifym calculator (Google it). The first thing iifym calculator will ask for in order to calculate your calories and numbers, is your body fat percentage. This is an important number to know. Its more useful and relevant than bmi. To know your body fat percentage, buy a body fat calculator online.

So to recap:
1. Buy a body fat calculator
2. Enter your stats in iifym calculator and get your calories and macro numbers
3. Enter these numbers as goals in myfitnesspal and track every single thing you put in your mouth except water, stay within required numbers (except protein where excess is good)
4. Workout 3 times a week using weights, following a proven program like stronglifts or ice cream workout or allpro

Oh and stay away from alcohol and tobacco completely.

With this, you are guaranteed to see results. If you are not seeing results, you are underestimating your calories and get a food scale to weigh your food and enter it accurately.

Squat (especially done with no weights) is an exercise similar to running. Same: legs emphasis, heart and lung heavy involvement, cardio effect.

If you agree that running will help in reducing fat and becoming fitter, then you must also agree that squats will help you similarly.

Before jumping into belly reduction, running, gyming, cut down food etc have you done a due diligence about why your belly fat has increased (ever reducing physical activity, ever increasing food and beverage)?
Have you also seen an increase in fat around face, chest, upper thighs? Or has it been solely belly area? Has it been on the sides (love handles) or the front?
Have you been naturally chubby (in late childhood and teenage), or has this been a recent phenomenon only?

+1 to Alpha1. Just want to add get an idea of your metabolic rate. It is often overlooked but after 35 or so it slows down, adds adipose tissue.

Kindly explain. I am sure there is more to it. please:

You are right, with age the metabolism drops and this is mainly the work of thyroid gland - which controls the body metabolism rate via TSH, T3, T4 hormones.

Similarly, with age, growth hormone drops, which is mainly used for proliferation of cells. Since proliferation of new cells requires tremendous energy, this hormone also keeps a check on the fat storage.

To be honest, the slowdown in both are absolutely needed to contain the naturally cancerous cells. So there is nothing bad about this process. :)

Now over to the effects of this slowdown. = Gaining fat.
Testosterone converts to DHT (a very potent androgenic hormone) and Estradiol (a very potent estrogenic hormone) at various sites in the body.
Of course testosterone by itself is anabolic.
The natural conversion rates are genetically fixed, but sometimes change with lifestyle, drugs, aberrations, fat levels.

Anabolic = formation of muscles
Androgenic = formation of male characteristics (hair, baldness, organs growth, fat distribution, skin, attitude, CNS activation for strength, face etc)
Estrogenic = formation of female characteristics (organs growth, fat distribution, skin, attitude etc)

It so happens that DHT causes fat to be stored primarily viscerally and therefore will cause a "beer/pregnant gut" look, while the arms and legs remain thin.
The Estradiol causes fat to be stored mainly around chest, love handles and upper thighs.

DHT caused fat distribution has been correlated with insulin resistance and diabetes which ultimately causes high blood sugar levels and thus contribute towards heart attacks.
Estradiol by itself has been correlated with lower atherosclerotic diseases.

So to be frank, a person with beer gut fat needs to be more concerned about getting fat compared to the one who looks chubby (tending to look like a child).

Now the counterpoint is that a person with more estrogenic tendencies, unfortunately, will always find it mighty difficult to actually cut down and look shredded like a cover page model.

A person with more androgenic tendencies should find it quite easy to cut down and become lean. (perhaps not 6 pack though - that will require more anabolic hormones and less conversion of test to DHT).

A person with higher natural test will anyway continue to hold muscles, whether he lifts weights while being on food deficit or not.

A person with low natural test will anyway never hold much muscles, whether he lifts weights while being on food deficit or not. He wont hold much muscles even if he is on calorific surplus.

Therefore my recommendation during leaning phase is - don't worry much about losing muscles - it is genetically determined, and if you never lifted weights earlier - you've got nothing to worry.

Find an activity which causes increased heart rate and increased breathing BUT that you enjoy, and sustain it. And you are good to go.


If the fat increase has been solely due to overeating, cut down the food and beverages, and you will become lean even while you watch TV and laze around the entire day.

Thanks for taking out time for such a comprehensive answer. Your posts are always very informative.

What about a person who is 40+ and have them only on the front and sides with veins showing on biceps and chest and the waist line too is also decreasing (after about a month of cutting? I am talking about myself. Most of the people find my tummy area flat but I know it is not.

Perhaps you are comparing yourself with those cover page models who do vacuums while the photographer clicks. And I am not even talking about the injections and pills going in to create/maintain a chiseled sucked in torso section.

My new theory on weight loss:
Loss from 40 days of proper eating is gained in 5 days of eating at only restaurants.

Waist size got reset back to normal. Have restarted my diet check and will also get back to cycling commute shortly.

Buying proper fitting clothes is the single most important thing I have done. The warning flags tighten up and force you to take notice.

Just stumbled on this thread. Very informative. Sharing my personal experience. For years what I could not achieve I managed to achieve it last year - 2014. Have shed 20 kgs. 14.9 kgs in 5 months (Feb - Jun) and then roughly 1 to 2 kgs a month. Believe me it was a real test of will all the year but the result is worth it. Will collate all my details and post them in sometime. Would be happy if they are of help. BTW am 40+ in age.

Congratulations for the loss :)

Do share your experience and details. Have recently started with a regime and your experience would be a motivation.

Very nice boss. Do share your pictures.

I would request others on this thread to also share their pictures - that helps highlight the credentials of the gurus! I hope its taken in the right spirit!

e.g I still vividly recall Mandheer's awesome photos and Samurai's madness from the mangalore beach meet (someone walked on his abs??).

Nothing mad about it...:) just my favourite party trick. I don't even hold my breath, and can talk while doing it. I don't do ab crunches either. Still looking for a 100Kg guy.

This is from one of the moderator meets:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG22Ae5CE6o

Perhaps. And add to them lighting, make up, digital touch ups etc. etc.

Impressive. Initially I thought it was purely technique but when I read that you could talk while doing it led me to try it at home.

Asked my wife who weighs 61 to stand up on my stomach. First attempt with technique went well. Second time I was talking as well. I was surprised by myself. If I could do it then any one who is lifting heavy can do it. I hardly do any ab exercises. And I am only a couple of of years younger than you.

Next I asked my wife to let me stand on her stomach. She has had a very active lifestyle at schools, has played at national level representing Bihar state. In my first attempt she burst out laughing. Second attempt too she could not control her laughter. I discovered that my foot was tickling her. Then I used a pillow and it went well. It was purely technique as I had asked her to fill her stomach with air and hold it. I am 70 kgs.

2 kgs less than than the lifetime high weight I had attained after about 4 months of bulking that saw my weight go up from 68 to 72. Since last 1 and 1/2 month I am in cutting phase concentrating more on waist loss rather than weight loss.

Then there are other body weight exercises that I have tried. Having read that you could do 100 push ups with break in between led me to try it. I could do 60 (35-15-10) right in my first attempt after an hour of heavy weightlifting. Second day too it was same. What failed me to go further was not strength but muscular endurance which can easily come with practice.