Would you like to lose stomach fat?
Have you ever wondered how to get toned abs?
Are you looking to tone up your tummy and do you want to get rid of tummy fat?
If the answer is yes, and you’ve been using crunches, ab-cradles and the like to sculpt your tummy, you’ve probably not had much success so far.
In fact I’d take a guess that your ab-cradle is in storage and your crunches routine has been forgotten about – because it isn’t working.
Welcome to part 4 of 6: The worst things to do if you want to improve your health, performance and body composition.
Mistake Number 4: Using the Ab-cradle And Crunches To Target Stomach Fat And Toned Abs
Abdominal muscles are present in all of us. Yes, we all have a six pack. Yes, really, we do. However, most of us have a layer of tummy fat that covers the abdominal muscles like a blanket.
Too much abdominal fat is extremely bad for your health, and the great news is, that if you reduce your stomach fat your abs will soon be on show.
How best to get rid of tummy fat, and show off your six pack?
Forget about the crunches and perform HIIT exercises, full body ‘compound’ exercises using free weights and big-bang body weight exercises.
You’ll find that this results in improved body composition, and once you get to levels around 20% body fat (women) or 12% body fat (men) you will begin to notice your abdominal muscles when you look in the mirror.
For improved body composition and therefore the best way to reveal your abdominal muscles by removing tummy fat, you have to try to stimulate as many muscle fibres as you can in one go in order to create the following:
- Muscle growth (don’t worry about getting bulky)
- The correct hormones – HGH
- Burning lots of calories during exercise
- Maximum EPOC and fat burning after your workout
By performing compound exercises as part of a full body workout routine at high intensity you will be able to burn your stomach fat at rest after your workout because of the phenomena known as EPOC.
So What Exercises Would Be Best?
The best exercises for weight loss are compound lifts such as deadlifts and squats.
Yes, all on face value leg exercises, but I guarantee you that if you perform a deadlift correctly you will recruit your abdominal muscles effectively bracing and keeping your spine safe, as well as creating the above four responses. They will help you with your overall toning goals with more muscle fibres recruited, plus improvements in bone health and positive impacts on body image and body dysmorphia.
Far more effective than ab-cradle, which does little for your functional core stability of protecting your spine and keeping it in neutral position.
In addition to your exercise choice, your nutrition and lifestyle choices will help get rid of stomach fat.
It has been shown that the body stores fat in the abdominal area when it is stressed. A hormone called cortisol produced in response to stress can result in tummy fat storage. This can be extremely dangerous if too much visceral (abdominal) fat is stored.
So What Next?
Consider your goal.
Stick to the abdominal exercises if you want to build your core stability with exercises such as the plank. These exercises have their place, but don’t expect them to help you lose body fat and expose your abdominals.
If you really want to get weight loss results, perform high intensity short sessions of full body compound exercises, combined with interval training like running and rowing.
Consider stress in your lifestyle to and ensure you eat correctly with a high nutrient dense intake of food and lots of water.
I’d really like to know how you get on,
Happy training,
Nico.
Discover The Rest Of This 6 Part Series
Jump To Part 1
Jump To Part 2
Jump To Part 3
Jump To Part 4
Jump To Part 5
Jump To Part 6
Further Resources
You might also like to read this ultimate weight loss guide. This is an in depth guide on what makes great nutrition and the elements that we need to focus on in our lives that will result in better health, performance and body composition. The guide includes actionable steps that you can implement into your life easily. As a supplement to the guide comes the weight loss cheat sheet which is a great start to improved eating habits. You can access it below this article.
In addition to these free resources I offer online personal training services. If you feel ready to take the next step towards consistently exercising well, and would like the confidence to know that you’re following a professionally designed and well considered training plan then online personal training is a great next step.
If your’re struggling with consistently eating well and you feel that this is really holding back your progress, then online nutrition coaching may be your next step. You can learn more about online weight loss coaching and how it can help you to build a better relationship with food and achieve better health, lose weight and perform at your best.