Saddle bags, an oversized tummy, a bum that's a bit too soft around the edges and a pair of flabby arms. Do these sound just a little too familiar? Help is at hand.

"Regular exercise is the way to go," advises Health24's FitnessDoc on his expert forum.

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Distribution of body fat
FitnessDoc explains that, when it comes to things like saddle bags and flabby tummies, the problem is having a high body fat that's distributed in specific areas.

"The answer is that you should exercise in such a way as to reduce your body fat percentage," he says. This simply means doing cardiovascular exercise.

"Cardio would include activities such as walking, jogging, cycling, aerobics, swimming etc."

These can all be done from your home, with perhaps the exception of swimming in winter. During the winter months, you can also consider what the gym or an exercise club has on offer.

FitnessDoc emphasises that it's important to exercise between four and five times a week, for a minimum of 30 to 45 minutes at a time. It's also ideal to work at a moderate to hard intensity, but for a longer duration.

"You should aim to do these sessions at an intensity that allows you to complete the session without feeling completely exhausted, but having worked up a good sweat and feeling that your breathing and metabolic rate are elevated," he says.

Weight training considered
However, cardiovascular exercise shouldn't be your only consideration. Weight training is important because of the fact that lean muscle has a naturally higher metabolic rate than fat does.

"If you can increase your lean muscle mass (with weight training), you'll also increase the metabolic rate. This means that, even when you're resting, you'll be able to burn more energy. Hence, you'll be able to keep the weight off," FitnessDoc says.

But the most important step is still to just get started and lose weight. Here, the cardio component should be your number-one priority. The increase you get in metabolic rate during a 30-minute bout of cardio (and for the few hours thereafter) far outweighs that of weight training, experts say.

"So, if it's weight loss you're after, cardio is the way to go. Once you've achieved weight loss, or you're still busy achieving it, the weight training becomes important to sustain it," FitnessDoc says.

– (Carine van Rooyen, Health24, updated August 2008)

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