I'm a 22 year old female. I weight 120lbs at 5'7" and have a body fat percentage of 22. I'd like to get that lowered to at least 15% but I don't know how. I am fairly lean already and fear that doing too much cardio will cause me to lose muscle (that happened to me before). Can anyone give me any hints? I have a flat and fairly muscular stomach, but it's not as visible as I'd like because of a thin layer of fat around it I find that's the case mostly in my stomach and a little in my thighs. Someone please help?

diet and training are key

whats your diet look like?

I don't eat junk food, eat a lot of meat and I try not to eat a lot of bread or cheese. I used to take protein shakes, but lately I haven't cuz I got sick of them.

doing HIIT (high intensity interval training) is great cardio and maximizes fat loss while not burning too much muscle. To further decrease any loss of muscle, hit the weights 2-3 times a week. The only real way to lower body fat is to do cardio ... however, doing weights will help as muscle burns fat and weight training will also increase your metabolism.

Can you give me a sample workout of HIIT? Right now I do weights 3-4 times a week. I usually do back and shoulders one day; arms and chest; and legs. On the 4th day I do a light weight overall workout. I do 20 mins of cardio except on leg days, I only do 10.

I run 45 minutes where I sprint for 15 seconds every 45 seconds ... others suggest running for 20 minutes, where you sprint for 30 seconds and jog for another 30.

thanx fella. I'll try that.

Hi...I'm back. I've been trying HIIT for the past week, but not faring too well. I've been trying to do it on the threadmill, jogging at speed 4.7 and running at 6.7 at 1 minute intervals. I find that I can only make it for 10 or 15 minutes, but the last two times I've developed this pain beside my shin bone....shin splints we refer to it as...not sure the real name for it. It hurts like mad and I have to stop running...yesterday I could only make it for 8 minutes!

Would an elliptical be just as effective? I haven't seen any results yet, but like I said, it's only been a week.

I wnated to do HIIT on the treadmill also, but haven't tried it yet. Tell mehow it works out in a week or so. If you r lossing some fat, ill try it.

Alright, I've been doing HIIT on the elliptical at the gym and I think I'm seeing results. My thighs seemed to have thinned out a little...I haven't measured yet though so I'm not 100% sure, but it looks and feels that way. My stomach looks more lean also...again, no measurements yet. But I feel good!