Flat stomach in three easy minutes! Most people trying to get a flat stomach spend hour after hour doing sit-ups or try one of the many gadgets that promise to get you a six pack.
Unfortunately, these gadgets are ineffective and sometimes even unsafe. So if they claim that three minutes of use, four times a day you will get a six pack, they are simply telling fibs.
The truth is that no exercise equipment will trim or reduce your waist. Ab exercises will train your abdominal muscles but you will still have the same layer of fat sitting on top of these muscles unless you create a calorie deficit by burning more calories than you consume. The most effective combination is aerobic exercise, strength training and healthy eating habits. Over-training your stomach can lead to back pain and if this does not put you off doing 400 crunches in the morning, it can also lead to your stomach looking even bigger, so unless you start reducing the fat around your stomach, you're going to gain very little for your efforts.
As mentioned earlier, ab exercises won't reduce fat from your waistline. Genetics, age and gender determine the shape of your abdomen. However, with good exercises, you can improve the abdominal muscles. Remember that your abs are muscles and should be exercised just like any other muscle group. Performing 100 biceps curls is not the proper way to overload the biceps. Neither is doing 100 crunches to work the abdominals. Effective ab exercises will fatigue muscles in less than 20 repetitions and will produce much better results.
These simple exercises are ideal to start with. Next week I will give you some advanced exercises on the gym ball.
Basic crunch: Lie on back with knees bent. Lift your shoulders off the floor, concentrating on moving your ribs towards your hips. Pretend an orange is under your chin so you don't move your head. Easier: Hands on chest. Harder: Hands on sides of head, but don't pull on head. Hardest: Hands straight out above head.
Reverse curl: This targets the lower section of the front abdominal muscle and also the sides. Lie on your back and bend your knees toward your chest as far as is comfortable, keeping hips on the floor. Contract your abdominal muscles to lift hips off the floor and bring knees toward chest. Don't swing your legs. Concentrate on using your abs to lift your pelvis toward your lower rib cage. Easier: Hands on floor. Harder: Elbows on floor, hands in air.
The truth is that no exercise equipment will trim or reduce your waist. Ab exercises will train your abdominal muscles, but you will still have the same layer of fat sitting on top of these muscles
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