My height is 5 feet 8 inches. Two years back I weighed about 115 kg. I did lots of exercise and now I am 85 kg (still overweight). My problems are:
1. Due to continuous workouts, esp. running, my skin has become very soft all over, especially around the stomach, where there is still a lot of fat, and I have tyres also. Even now I am working out very hard but the fat remains on the front and sides of my belly.
2. There is also fat accumulation around the nipples and the skin is very soft. My chest is totally out of shape and seems effeminate due to loose fat.

Congratulations, for knocking off 30 kgs in 2 years! That is a tremendous achievement. Keep it up! The skin may have lost its elasticity and feel lax, but that is the lesser of the two evils and to be expected when you experience massive reductions in weight. (Don’t blame “continuous running” for the loose flab.)
Do be patient and continue with your exercise programme and you will meet with more success. It is also very likely that your body has got adapted to the exercise routine, so you now need to change it in order to bring about further weightloss. There are several factors that can be altered. For instance, you can either increase the duration of your workout or the frequency. Alternatively, you can exercise at higher intensities or even change your mode of activity (add cycling, swimming, uphill walking, circuit training, etc).
Please ensure that you are changing only one factor at a time; do not mplement all of them in one go.
Secondly, you have not mentioned weight training in your exercise routine. Weight training will help increase your muscle mass and tone and tighten the body as well.
Refer to our previous issues for exercise ideas for different body parts. As you gain muscle and lose further weight, the fat around the chest and trunk will also drop. So do not be depressed… You have fat to lose… not hope!!

I have been exercising for the past two and half years. My problem: My biceps and triceps aren’t growing in size. I mean their volume is good, but the length is short — they do not reach my elbow. So if I wear a T-shirt these muscles are pretty much hidden. What can I do to increase their length?

Have you tried wearing sleeveless vests or short sleeved Tees?! Hey, they’re the trend!
Fact is, the Biceps and Triceps definitely cross the elbow as they are responsible for all the movements that occur at that joint. And hypertrophy training should increase the cross-sectional area of these muscle fibres.
To further lengthen your biceps and triceps, ensure that you indulge in adequate flexibility training of these muscles, particularly after lifting. The A.C.S.M. guidelines recommend performing each stretch for about 10 to 30 seconds and about
2 to 4 times each. Do your stretches atleast
3 times a week, but every day is even better.

Stop Time In Its Tracks
FIT AT FIFTY As you get older, you lose “exercise efficiency” — how much energy you need to expend for a given physical activity — but new research suggests it’s possible to regain some of that youthful efficiency. Scientists at the University of Washington compared sedentary adults in their 60s and 70s with counterparts in their 20s and 30s, before and after a six-month exercise regimen. Initially, older subjects had to use much more oxygen to maintain the same walking pace as younger participants. After the programme of exercising 90 minutes a day, three times a week, however, the older people closed much of that gap: They improved exercise efficiency by 30%, while younger exercisers gained only 2%. Inactivity, researchers concluded, may be largely1 responsible for the decline in exercise efficiency with age — not the inevitable accumulation of years.