Do you want a flat stomach? I don't know a person who doesn't!
People spend millions, if not billions of dollars, each year
in the quest for a flat stomach. Right now there are about 200
or more ab exercise devices out there. There's the ab do-it, the
ab rock-it, the ab roller, the ab dolly, and so many more. You
would think that with all of these amazing new products that most
people would be walking around with that nice, lean mid-section
they've always wanted. Unfortunately, that's not the case...
Most, if not all of these products, will do little or nothing
to flatten your stomach. And that's because these exercise contraptions
cannot eliminate the layer of fat that lies on top of your abs.
In order to be successful at thinning your waistline you must
have a basic under standing of how the ab muscles function and
how your body burns fat. The first thing that needs to be understood
is the difference between fat and muscle. Fat is excess calories
and is primarily stored in layers on top of muscle tissue. Muscle
is made up of fibers that contract or shorten to produce movement.
Fat cannot turn into muscle and muscle cannot turn into fat! However,
you can lose muscle and you can gain fat. That's what happens
to most people.
So if your goal is to thin your waist line and have a nice flat
stomach, the first thing you need to do is decrease / eliminate
the layers of fat that are on top of your abs. We all have a flat
stomach; it's just some of oar’s are covered by excess fat.
The most effective way of flattening your stomach is a combination
of strength training (with a extra focus on mid-section), cardiovascular
exercise (short, hard workouts), and stable blood sugar (keeps
you from adding additional fat and makes it easier for the body
to use body fat for fuel).
1. You must do some form of progressive strength training
The primary function of the ab muscle is to flex your torso forward.
However, there are also muscles that flex your torso to the side
and muscles that rotate your torso. Often times you see people
on their ab roller every day doing hundreds of crunches or sit-ups.
If you want to effectively strengthen your stomach you need to
incorporate the following types of exercises:
• 1-2 forward flexion exercises (crunch, sit-up, etc.)
• 1-2 side flexion exercises (side bends, side crunches,
etc.)
• 1-2 rotational exercises (trunk rotations, standing twists,
etc.)
The abs, are muscles just like any other and should be worked
at most 3 times per week. You also want to make sure you are training
them progressively, working them harder each time.
2. Use short, hard cardio workouts to increase metabolism
Cardio workouts are important because they CAN, if done correctly,
increase your metabolism for 4-24 hours or more! This means you
are less likely to store any excess calories as body fat because
they are more likely to be used by your elevated metabolism. Plus,
you are more likely to burn off some excess body fat.
Below is a sample interval workout that can be done with just
about any activity (walking, bicycling, swimming, stair climbing,
etc.).
Warm up at easy pace 2-5 minutes à Perform 30 seconds
of hard work (almost as hard as possible) à perform 1 minute
of moderate work (recovery time-catch breath)à Repeat this
process 6-10 times à Cool down at an easy pace for 2-5
minutes
