Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Ask CNN: Personal Fitness Trainer Answers Viewer E-Mail
Aired July 03, 2001 - 07:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: In our "ASK CNN" segment today, we're taking your e-mail questions on fighting fat.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: And joining us to answer your questions is Ladell Hill. He's a personal fitness trainer at Turner Athletic Club in Atlanta, right downstairs.
LIN: Hey, thanks for joining us again, Ladell.
LADELL HILL, PERSONAL TRAINER: Hi, how are you?
LIN: I'm doing well.
First e-mail question here has to do with sit-ups. This person asks, "When one does sit-ups, do they just turn the fat in the stomach into muscles, thus making the stomach look bigger instead of smaller, and if so, what are ways to stop this effect?"
That's true, you know, a lot of times when you start doing sit- ups you notice that your stomach starts pooching out a little bit,
HILL: Correct. First of all, there's a layer of fat over the muscle. Once again, it's your diet. If you're eating clean and not consuming as much fat and burning your calories and burning the fat, then, obviously, the fat is going to start decreasing around the midsection.
LIN: All right, so diet is important, but also the type of sit- ups you do. Like you have me do sit-ups only a couple of times a week, and you warn me not to do them every day. Why is that?
HILL: Correct. I feel that -- and this is just my philosophy -- when you do abs everyday, it has a tendency to expand. It's like any other muscle: It expands your waistline.
MCEDWARDS: Wow, that's the best news I've heard all day, Ladell, that you don't have to do sit-ups every day.
We've got another one here, this one from a woman who says she is over 300 pounds. She's not as active as she used to be. She says, "If I walk briskly, at least five to six days a week, how many miles will I have to walk each day to lose at least 150 pounds as soon as possible?" -- Ladell. HILL: First of all, walking is great. That's another form of cardio. It's going to burn the calories. But in order to make changes in the body, one must do some type of weight training, because it burns calories, and it changes the body.
MCEDWARDS: Even, Ladell, for someone who is significantly overweight?
HILL: Yes -- there are many things that you can do. You can do squats. You can do any form of some type of weight training, with your own body weight. You must...
MCEDWARDS: But would walking, for her, be a good start?
HILL: Oh, yes, that's an excellent start. But each times she walks, she needs to increase the mileage, the minutes, and once again, it's right back to the diet.
LIN: And, of course, I've heard, Ladell, that a pound of fat is equal to about 2,500 calories stored. So maybe something helpful her too is she can take that number and divide it by the number of calories she is likely to burn in an hour of walking, right? And that gives her an idea of how much she needs to burn off.
Oh, you got some construction going on down there, I'm sorry.
HILL: Yes, I can't hear you now.
LIN: All right, let's take the last question here, Ladell. This person says that there is conflicting advice about the recommended maximum heart rate during exercise. And it's this person's understanding that he or she is supposed to deduct the age from the number 220 for the maximum heart rate?
HILL: Exactly.
LIN: Is that right?
HILL: Yes.
LIN: And also is there any reason to monitor the time it takes to reduce the heart rate and what level it should reach to consider yourself cooled down?
HILL: OK, standard practice, to do a cool-down, I always believe that you should walk after you do a strenuous exercise.
Yes, we have some construction going on. I can't really hear that well.
MCEDWARDS: Keep going, Ladell, we can hear you.
HILL: OK.
You should pretty much do a cool-down: 10 to 15 minutes walking, riding a bike very slowly. LIN: OK, just to get that heart rate down, so it's not so much of a jolt to your system.
HILL: Exactly, exactly.
LIN: Five minutes of a cool-down is probably enough?
HILL: I'd say 5, 10 minutes, you know.
LIN: OK.
HILL: At a very low pace.
LIN: All right.
MCEDWARDS: All right, thanks a lot for the tips, Ladell.
LIN: Thanks, Ladell, we'll see you in the next hour, where you're going to be answering some questions on how to find a good personal trainer for you.
HILL: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
