Ab Exercises: Are You Wasting Your Time?

I can’t take it any longer. Listen, if you’ve been doing ab exercises in hope of shedding those unwanted pounds around the middle, I’m afraid I have some bad news…

You’ve been lied to.

That’s right. NO tummy exercise on its own can get rid of your belly fat.

Despite what you see on T.V. or read in the popular fitness magazines, you can not…you will not lose stomach fat by doing stomach exercises.

The next time you watch one of these “amazing” ab machine informercials, see if you can spot the formula:

1. Close-up shots on fitness models’ midsections.
2. Out comes the hot “host” whom you likely have never heard of.
3. She introduces the “expert” or celebrity spokesperson who’s doing this out of their genuine love of the machine…right.
4. Demonstrate the ease of the machine.
5. Roll the scientific proof that this machine really is the best.
6. Bring out the success stories.
7. Que the sales pitch.
8. Pile on the bonuses.
9. But wait…there’s more!
10. Call now.
11. Flash up the teeny-tiny print telling you that regular exercise and calorie restricted diet is necessary to see results.
12. Repeat for the remainder of the 30-minute spot.

You see, these companies prey on your fears and insecurities. They use fit, attractive people to make you believe that if you use their product or follow the routine found in their magazine, you will somehow look like a highly paid fitness model.

In the end, only your wallet looks slimmer.

Think about this for a moment. How does your body know to burn fat from just your stomach? And how funny would you look if, after doing a few hundred crunches a day, you had a “ripped” set of abs but the rest of you remained fat?

When you gain fat weight, your body stores it according to your genetics. Some people store fat around the middle, while others store it in the hip, legs and butt. Then there are the annoyingly scrawny, eat-all-I-want-and-never-gain-an-ounce people who don’t store even one molecule of fat.

Ab exercises – or any strength training exercises for that matter – have one purpose and one purpose only…to strengthen your muscles. Yes, exercise helps burn calories but nutrition plays the biggest role in your weight loss efforts.

When you lose fat, you lose it all over, with your trouble spots being the last to disappear. I have to chuckle when people get so upset because their belly is still big or they’re still sporting saddle bags, after telling me they’ve lost ten pounds.

It stands to reason that your most troublesome area will be the last to look good. If you carry most of your weight on your hips and butt, how can you think they will be the first things to disappear? In accounting speak, your body manages fat according to the first-on/last-off method. In other words, where you see it go on first, will be the last place to look good.

Imagine a huge dump truck pulls up to your driveway and unloads an enormous pile of dirt and takes off. But there’s been a mistake. You didn’t order the dirt. It belongs to your neighbor. So you pick up your shovel and start moving the dirt. Slowly, one shovel-full at a time. Let me ask you, where would any normal person start shovelling from? Would you climb to the top of the pile, scoop up some dirt, climb all the way down the pile and dump it where you want it to go? Or would you simply start at the edge of the dirt pile?

I don’t know about you, but I find it easier to start from the edge. So after a couple of hours of shovelling, you’ve managed to move a lot of dirt. BUT…There’s still a big pile in the middle. Does that make you a dirt-shovelling failure? No. Does it mean you can’t shovel dirt? No. You’ve already proven you can do it by the fact that there’s a fresh pile of dirt in your neighbor’s yard. So why would you get upset because a pile of dirt remains in the middle. Just grab your shovel and keep going.

Unfair? Maybe. Frustrating? You bet. So how do you rid yourself of that pesky pooch?

Well, it ain’t rocket science. The quickest and most reliable results come when you combine a balanced nutrition plan with regular strength training and cardiovascular exercise.

Some important guidelines for weight loss success include…

• Eat 5-6 small meals a day, never going more than 4 hours without eating something. Doing so helps keep blood sugar levels in check which in turn allows your body to burn fat more efficiently. And in the long run helps minimize your risk of developing type II diabetes.
• Eat adequate amounts of protein with each meal and snack. Unlike carbs and fat, your body can not store protein for future use. So you must provide it with a steady supply throughout the day for proper maintenance and creation of tissue.
• Eat mainly high quality, fiber-filled veggies and fruit as your carbohydrate choices. Studies show a strong link between obesity and the amount of refined carbohydrates a person eats. Limiting the amount of refined carbs you eat may be the single most effective thing you can do.
• Include healthy fat at each meal and snack. It will help keep hunger pains and cravings to a minimum. Be sure to include Omega 3 fats in your diet. Your body needs them to survive and thrive but does not produce them on its own.
• Cut out all drinks containing sugar. That includes pop, sweetened ice tea and all fruit juice. Yes, juice. You may be surprised to know that 8 oz. of orange juice has the same number of calories as 8 oz. of regular soft drink.
• Perform 2-3 strength training workouts each week that work the entire body. For many busy people, full-body workouts promote consistency and ensure that all the major muscle groups get equal amounts of attention.
• Keep reading this site of course .

In the weight loss world, knowledge really is power. The next time you hear or read of a product claiming to give you a flat, sexy stomach, remember that no machine…no ab exercises will do it on its own. You must combine a balanced nutrition plan with an effective exercise program.

Related Posts
• Full Body Workout For Busy People
• Exercise For A Pear-Shaped Body

  A Pear Shaped Body

  [/caption]How doe...
• 50 Bodyweight Exercises You Can Do With The TRX

  TRX Suspension Trainer

  [/capt...
• Ab Exercises: The Plank
• Bicep Exercises – The Dumbbell Bicep Curl