Ab-Specific Workouts Will Not Cause The Loss Of Belly Fat

When someone with a big gut approaches me, I know he's going to ask me for a good ab workout to get rid of his belly fat. I deal with a lot of fitness misconceptions as a professional in the field, and one of the most common is this idea that ab workouts will cause the loss of belly fat. The frustrating thing is that even though most people have excess belly fat, most people who want to lose it have no idea how to do it.

It's a simple problem, actually: people want workout routines and exercises that will dissolve their belly fat. They seem to think that there's some secret set of exercises out that that not only will condition the abs into a perfect six-pack, they'll also burn off the belly fat that's hiding those muscles - and all of this pretty much overnight!

The brutal truth is this: excess belly fat will not be eliminated by ab-specific exercises. All they do is strengthen and tone the abdominal muscles living under the belly fat. Weight loss is caused by increasing your metabolism and enhancing your body's fat-burning hormonal response to working out, and that's best achieved by a full-body strategic workout.

Now, simple cardiovascular exercises on their own aren't going to produce the greatest fat-burning response. Your needs will much more efficiently be met by a rounded program that targets the entire body. High intensity resistance training is a critical component of such a program, as are multi-joint exercises.

The other component of this program is a healthy, nutrient-dense diet, which, when combined with the full-body workout, will produce the desired results. In the long run, this approach will consistently produce better results, every single time, than a desperation-induced plan of crunches, leg raises and other ab-specific exercises.

A disappointing truth, though, is that a majority of the population that wants to get rid of excess belly fat stubbornly clings to the fallacy that ab-specific exercises are the best way to get it done. You can imagine how frustrating it is for me to see this bad advice routinely given on the on-line fitness forums and fitness-oriented television programs. Do yourself a favor and avoid that bad advice!

It probably seems strange that an abs expert like me would be recommending against ab exercises, but understand that what I'm recommending against is the reliance on ab-specific exercises as a prime cause of belly fat loss. It goes without saying that any muscle group like the abdominals is going to be strengthened and toned by exercises designed for that purpose. Ab-specific exercises condition the abs, but they won't melt away the fat covering them up.

What are the most important factors? First, your workout routine should concentrate on resistance training, and should be a full-body routine. Second, your diet is absolutely crucial - you should have a balanced diet composed of healthy ingredients. And don't forget - even while you're concentrating on a full-body routine, your abs are getting a good workout because many of the full-body routines, especially the more difficult variations, require a high degree of stabilization.

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