Wnnabethin, there is NO SUCH THING as spot reduction. The only thing that has EVER done anything for me has been the attempt to pack onto my body as much muscle as it will hold. This, I try to do evenly, all over my body. I have come to realize that the big parts want to be big, and the small parts can be coerced. So I urge the small parts to grow (arms, shoulders, back) and help the big parts get big and hard instead of big and squishy. I am NOT there yet with the big parts (legs, glutes) but they ARE really coming along.

WRT eating. Hmm. Well, unlike mps, I lift after work, and I try to eat roughly 6 meals a day, so by the time I'm lifting, I'm quite well nourished, and fairly recently, but I DO find it helpful to have something sweet before I lift - an orange often does the trick here, although sometimes I'm sloppy about it and have something less healthy - I try to keep it to fast carbs under 50g, but I lift REALLY hard. You might not find this helpful until you can really push yourself.


Yeah, basically situps. I do 'em in about 6 different positions, so it hits different angles, and I do 'em all at once - no rests. You WON'T be able to do this at first, but you will within a very short time. There MAY very well be better ways to work abs, but I like to do 'em first as a "warm up" and when I've got the most energy. A nice little rule of thumb is to work your worst part first, so you've got lots of juice for it. You don't need to stick to it, though, and your opinion of what is your "worst" part can indeed change over time.

Cardio in the AM, empty stomach is supposed to burn the most fat. I personally rely on diet and lifting for body composition more than cardio.

Try lifting before supper - then knock back a whey shake IMMEDIATELY (20-35g of protein, no carbs, have it ready to drink), then go home and eat real food (supper). My personal opinion on the "feeding" thing is fast carbs before, and whey after (for lifting) and NO carbs before OR after, slow protein (ie NOT a whey shake - real food) and fat after for cardio.
Cardio on alternate days or after lifting, but do more lifting than cardio. MPS, you totally know your stuff.

Oh, some folks do a bit of dextrose post-lifting. I've fiddled with this, but too much of it spills over into my fat stores when I do this. Many women have this problem, so, try it if you wish, but your mileage may vary. I suspect it's a testosterone/muscle mass thing.

I haven't experimented with whey pre-lifting, but I'm hearing more and more about this. Personally, I'd leave off the oil so it would get into me a little quicker, but MPS looks like - well, freaking amazing, actually, so maybe he could be persuaded to share how the oil can help here? Blink blink (Bambi eyes...)