From The Inside Out Mag.
For Personal Healing, Spiritual Growth & Development

No!!!!! Treat your abdominal muscles like you would any other muscle. I often get asked “How Do I Lose My Stomach?” First of all, you can’t spot train and you shouldn’t want to. Sure you can target one area, but you won’t be helping the other areas and you’ll be putting too much wear and tear on that one muscle. And without proper nutrition you still won’t have great abs. Below I have written about a few misconceptions in regards to training your abs. If you are doing any of these three things, hopefully after you read this you’ll change your ab routine!

Ab Myth No.1: Doing Ab exercises everyday will get rid of belly fat. 

Unfortunately, spot reduction doesn't work, either for the abs or for any other body part. The fallacy of spot reduction assumes that, if you have fat over your abs then exercising the abdominal muscles will make that fat go away. While exercising the muscle may increase endurance or strength, it still won't burn off the fat in that area. The only way to burn fat from your belly is to reduce overall body fat by creating a caloric deficit. The healthiest and most balanced way to do that is with consistent exercise (cardio, strength and flexibility workouts) and a healthy, low-calorie diet.

Ab Myth No. 2: Ab Muscles are Different From Other Muscles of the Body 

Not true!! A muscle is a muscle and you should respect your abdominal muscles like you would every other muscle. If you work your abs differently from other muscles in your body you're not alone. Too often people work their abs every day without rest, hoping to burn the fat off with more exercise. But, your abdominal muscles are just like every other muscle in your body, so you should train them the same way you would train, say, your legs or your triceps. That means strength training 2-3 times a week, with rest in between and a variety of exercises to target different areas of the abs, just like you would your other body parts.

Ab Myth No. 3: You have to do high repetitions of ab exercises to see results.

Again, not true!! Do you ever do zillions of reps to work your abs? As you've read in the previous paragraphs, your abs are just like every other muscle in your body. That means, you should train your abs the same way as the rest of your muscle groups. Ask yourself this question: would you do 100 bicep curls? Of course not, right? That makes no sense! Same thing applies to your abdominals. To make strength gains with your abs, you have to follow the same principles that apply everywhere else. That means you have to overload your muscles. The reason we feel the need to do so many reps is that we're not working them hard enough, usually because of improper form. If you have to do 50 or more crunches before you feel fatigued, slow down and concentrate on technique and good form.

 Remember, a good balanced diet, cardio and weight training = a loss of fat. Not just around your abs but your whole body. You want to be healthy as a whole NOT just a portion of your body!

* This website and its content are: NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR YOUR PHYSICIAN OR THE ADVICE OF YOUR PHYSICIAN. PLEASE CONSULT YOUR OWN DOCTOR BEFORE STARTING ANY LIFESTYLE CHANGE, EXERCISE OR DIET PROGRAM.

By Debra Flowers

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