Ab Workouts Do not Cause Stomach Fat Loss
May 15, 2010 by admin
Filed under Abs Workout
It seems that everyone is always asking me what the best ab workouts are to get a flatter stomach. The common belief that ab workouts will help you to lose belly fat is one of the biggest misconceptions I deal with daily as a fitness professional. Almost everyone has varying degrees of excess body fat in the abdominal region, and the best way to burn off that extra stomach fat continues to elude most.
The problem is that most people are searching for the wrong exercises and workout types to lose stubborn belly fat. Most people are searching for some miraculous combination of abs exercises combined into the best ab workout ever invented that will burn off their belly fat faster than you can read this article.
Unfortunately, ab-specific workouts do NOT burn fat off of your belly. They only tone and strengthen the underlying abdominal muscles. What you really need to focus on is a full body strategic workout that will cause a much greater metabolic rate increase and fat-burning hormonal response from your training program as a whole.
In addition, simply doing cardiovascular workouts will not necessarily create the greatest metabolic response or hormonal response either. What you really need is a much more rounded training program that focuses on training the entire body with resistance training and multi-joint exercises in a higher intensity fashion.
This type of high intensity full body training combined with a healthy balanced diet full of nutrient density on a regular basis, is the real key secret to losing the extra stomach fat that covers up the abs. This is a much better plan of attack than just trying to do ab workouts and hoping that just doing a bunch of ab exercises like crunches and leg raises are going to make you lose your belly fat.
The amazing thing is that the majority of the population still believes that in order to get rid of belly fat, you need to do ab workouts every day using hundreds of reps. I see people giving this type of erroneous advice every day on all of the fitness forums. Please do not waste your time with this type of advice!
Now before you say “how can an abs expert not recommend abdominal exercises”, realize that I do strongly believe that a certain amount of ab-specific exercises mixed into your routines are beneficial. Ab exercises will help you strengthen and tone the abdominal muscles and are useful for other purposes such as a healthy back and posture when done correctly. But the fact remains that ab exercises are not necessary for fat loss.
A much smarter full body resistance training routine and a clean healthy balanced diet are the most important factors. Many of the full body exercises also indirectly work the abdominals and core due to the stabilization required in some of the more difficult variations.
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Ab Workouts Do not Get Rid of Stubborn Belly Fat
December 18, 2009 by admin
Filed under Abs Workout Machines
Most people are constantly searching for the best ab workouts to lose belly fat or gain six pack abs. They believe that some miracle ab workouts can help them get a flat stomach. While everyone has varying amount of excess body fat in the abdominal region, the best way to burn off extra belly fat continues to elude most.
The truth is ab workouts do NOT get rid of belly fat. They only tone and strengthen the underlying abdominal muscles. The main focus should be on a full body resistance training workout that maximizes your fat burning and metabolism boosting effect.
Doing lots of slow cardio isn’t an effective and efficient way to lose body fat either. It does not create the greatest metabolic or hormonal response. Studies have shown that people who performed cardio-based workout routines lost significantly less body fat compared to people who did mainly resistance training based routines. Some even gained body fat on the cardio-based workouts! What you really need is a complete training program that focuses on training the entire body with resistance training and multi-joint exercises in a higher intensity fashion.
The key secret to losing excess belly fat is a combination of healthy diet and high intensity full body workout. This is much more effective than doing endless crunches, sit ups or leg raises. In fact, abdominal exercises do NOT burn stomach fat.
Don’t even waste your money on ab gadgets, machines or belts… they don’t work either. If you had been suckered into buying any of them, you were ripped off!
I see people giving incorrect advice on ab training in fitness forums. Consequently, many still believe that they have to do hundred reps of ab workouts to lose belly fat or get six-pack abs. Don’t listen to this type of advice!
Nevertheless, a certain amount of ab specific exercises is beneficial when combined with a proper full body workout. Ab exercises help to strengthen and tone abdominal muscles, support a healthy back and improve posture when done correctly. Remember, ab exercises do not reduce belly fat and should only form a very small part of your workouts.
The 2 most important aspects are full body training workouts and a healthy and balanced diet. Many of the full body exercises also indirectly work the abdominals and core due to the stabilization required in some of the more difficult variations.