I have been an avid exerciser "forever". I am a 28 year old female and am 5'4" and about 122. My body fat is pretty low about 13% the last time (but don't know how accruate that is) I eat pretty well,except for my sweet tooth. I currently workout 5 days a week before work (5am)with a typical workout being 30min of recumbant bike warm up, then 30 min of weights- one body part, 45min of more intense cardio (running, stairmaster) then stretching,& abs. (Saturdays & Sundays are non gym days - a walk or hike or not a thing) My problem is that I'm at a plateu. I'm afraid to cut back on the amount/time b/c I don't want to gain weight. I would like to get leaner, less fat in the ab area especially. My legs are a bit stockier than I'd like - I'd like to get them a bit more sleak. I know a lot of it is genetics, but if you have any recomendations that you could give me - as to what to what workout to chose,what to change etc.. that would be great.

Based on the amount of duration and frequency of your weekly training sessions you are definitely in the “advanced” training category. This is great but it also means you must really know how to cycle your training in order to continue making progress. When an advanced person such as you says that they are at a plateau, it is usually do to overtraining. I have spent over a decade trying to find the best way to continue making gains while minimizing any negative effects of overtraining. I will try to put this in a nutshell for you.

Explaining overtraining and why it does or doesn't happen is not as simple as looking at “how hard” your workouts are or what kind of specific exercise combinations you may be doing. Rather, it is an understanding of the monthly combination of intensity, duration, and frequency of your workouts. Of equal importance is everything you do (or don't do) outside of your workout to enhance your recovery processes between training sessions. For example: if you only sleep 4 hours a night and eat pop tarts for breakfast every morning you will not be at your most efficient recovery levels :)

Fitrex programs are scientifically designed to avoid overtraining and maximize progress. Some workouts are a little harder and some are a little easier. It's the balance of the workouts and how they are put together week after week that makes them effective. This is called periodization. Here is a visual representation of a typical 12 week periodization model.

Now that you know everything about overtraining and periodization I will recommend the Get Lean workouts for you! These are perfect for giving you a more "sleek" look as you put it.

Concerning your question about your abs, here are some responses I have made to some of our members that had a question similar to yours.

Response 1:
There are three main areas of your abdominal muscles. The "center" muscles or rectus abdominus, commonly called the six pack, your lower abs section, and your obliques (the muscles on the side). Therefore there are three basic abdominal exercises that will work the three areas. The crunch (for upper abs), the reverse crunch (for lower abs), and cross crunches (for obliques). I recommend you take a look at the videos in the exercise library. Of course there are many other ab exercises but those will get you started.

For your workout if you don't want to add much muscle mass the Get Lean programs would be the best way to go. High reps and light weight, combined with a sensible diet and cardio regimen will do wonders for you! If you don't have access to a gym you will simply want to do the "No Equipment" programs. This will definitely help you get in shape!

What are reasonable expectations? When exercising regularly and eating right you should expect to lose about 1% of your body weight per week. So if you weigh 140 then 1-1.5 pounds a week is reasonable.

Let me also suggest taking a look at the nutrition section and the article archives on our site for more helpful hints on diet and other aspects of fitness.

Response 2:
This is a fairly common question that I have been getting for years and years! To answer your question I must first tell you that while you obviously need to train your abs in order to develop the abdominal muscles appropriately you also must begin a fairly strict diet to really bring out your definition. All of the Fitrex programs including the "No Equipment" programs have abdominal routines built into the exercise prescription on a daily basis. These abdominal workouts are more than enough to get your abs in shape! So, chose a program and get started training today!

Once the training component is addressed your nutritional or food intake should become a primary focus. First of all, you should check out the nutrition section on our web site. This can be found at the Fitness Info button located on the top right hand side of our web page. Or you can click on this URL to go straight to it:
http://www.fitrex.com/nutrition.shtml

You mentioned that you wanted to know of any special foods that will help to get your abs to start showing. There really aren’t any special foods that will make will make a significant difference. It is your overall nutrition plan that will make the biggest difference. Please check out our nutrition section for good, basic information.