Sunday 13 January 2013

Why Ab Exercises Are Making You Look Fat



Why Ab Exercises Are Making You Look Fat

ABDOMINAL EXERCISES - HOLY GRAIL, SINISTER OR JUST PLAIN MISUNDERSTOOD?


Many of us exercise because we want to look good. No harm there, who doesn't? A six pack or a flat stomach are common goals for many of us. If you've been exercising consistently, watching your portion sizes and you're still having problems getting your stomach flat, abdominal exercises may be holding you back.


Problem:


Ab exercises are probably one of the most popular exercises people do in an attempt to lose belly fat to get a six pack or a flat stomach. We explain why ab exercises may not be working for you.


Targeted Fat Loss Doesn't Work - Working your abs doesn't mean you'll lose fat there. Fat loss is systemic not localised, which means you'll lose fat from all over your body rather than from the specific area that you're exercising. 


Muscle Building - Working a muscle provides stimulus to the muscle, stimulus causes growth. Doing lots of crunches or leg raises are going to provide stimulus and cause your abdominal muscles to grow making your stomach look bigger and stopping your goal of a flat stomach in it's tracks. If working your bicep is going to make it bigger, why would the abdominal muscles be any different?


Getting A Six Pack - A six pack is a combination of low body fat and sufficient abdominal muscle growth. Too little focus on working your abs may make your six pack look unpolished, yet too much will make your stomach look big. It may seem difficult getting to that sweet spot between unpolished and big but we'll show you how!



Solution:


Give Your Workout Sessions Variety - If you do a range of exercises during your exercise sessions, your abs will generally be worked enough for you to skip specific abdominal workouts.


Compound Movements - Exercises like pushups and pullups if done properly should be engaging your abdominal muscles and providing sufficient growth stimulus without making your stomach look big.



"Have ab exercises been stalling your goal of a flat stomach? We'd love to hear your experiences!" ~ Nick

No comments:

Post a Comment