When I tell people that I work as a personal trainer, or that I write about fitness, one of the first things they do is point to their midsection and strongly ask “Hoe do I get rid of this?” They usually say “I do thousands of crunches but nothing happens” or “I have all the gizmos and machines from the infomercials and I still don’t have a six pack.”
Let me tell you something. You’re not going to like it, but you don’t get great abs from doing crunches or from machines.
It’s true.
Getting great abs comes from nutrition and cardio, mixed with a bit of effective core training. But the bulk of it comes from what you eat and how you burn fat.
When you just do crunches, you’re simply strengthening your ab muscles. This is why people who only do crunches or variations of crunches can feel their abs but not see them. That’s where nutrition and cardio comes in. You have to burn the fat in your midsection to reveal your abs. If you’re eating poorly, you’re accumulating fat, probably in your belly (the term “beer gut” comes to mind). If you’re not working out effectively, you’re not burning enough calories to get rid of the fat that’s hiding your gorgeous abs.
They’re under there, you just have to find out how to reveal them.
So quit doing crunches. You don’t get great abs that way and you risk injuring your lower back from the repetitive stress crunches can put on your back.
So what can you do to get great abs? I’ll go into more detail about what you can specifically do in my next post.
edz
very nice and informative site.. keep it up…
December 19, 2008 at 1:17 am
AM
Now you know you are wrong for that cliff-hanger at the end of your article. LOL. Seriously.. great information. Can't wait for the next post. I struggled with my midsection and as you stated, diet and lack of regular cardio was the culprit. I started doing just 30 minutes of cardio and core training a day since Thankgiving, and have a noticeable decrease in fat in some areas of my body. Another great side effect I noticed is my appetite. Ive become selective about consuming unncessary calories from certain foods and some junk food Ive lost the taste for altogether.
December 19, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Jessica
Don't worry, I won't make you wait for long! Thanks for the comment. It's amazing how working out regularly changes your appetite. Sugar is an addiction and your body starts to crave it if it's used to junk food and the like. Once people get rid of their sugar addition, they're surprised at how much weight they lose. And that's great that you already have a decrease in body fat, and it hasn't even been a month yet! Great work!
December 19, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Ab Training Exercise
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