Many exercisers go into the gym with the sole intention of 'trashing' their abs. By 'trashing' I mean overworking them, in the belief that they can burn that excess layer of fat from around their middle.
More work is not good work. While training the other day, I watched a girl exercising with her friend, and in the time it took me to do my full body workout, they spent the whole time working their abdominals.
Now, considering it takes me 30 minutes to complete a workout, that is a ridiculous amount of time to focus on such a small muscle group. They did floor crunches, leg raises, ball crunches, and some machine crunches for good measure.
Herein lies the problem …
Granted, these girls had flat stomachs, but everything around their abdomen was out of line.
Their posture was stooped, their shoulders were rounded and their upper backs were weak. They had obviously decided that their goal was a flat, toned stomach, at the expense of all else.
How many more people do I have to watch working their abdominals to obliteration, in the belief that they're about to carve themselves a superior six pack, and therefore a more desirable body?
Listen. Use the body as it was designed. Work it as a unit, not a series of isolated muscles. Stick to squats, lunges, push ups, and weight training sitting or lying on the swiss ball.
Supplement these effective exercises with clean eating, less sugar and less alcohol.
THESE are the right ways to build yourself a healthy 'six pack' or a toned flat stomach – one that will actually work. If you have excess bodyfat in this area you will NEVER see your abdominal muscles, unless you get your cardio and your eating right first.
Doing endless abdominal exercise is NOT the path to a smoother, flatter stomach. I never isolate just my abdominals, yet I have a visibly toned stomach, thanks to weight training that challenges every muscle in my body, moving it as it was designed, and clean healthy eating that keeps my bodyfat low enough to see them.
I can guarantee that I burned more fat and worked more of my body in the time it took these girls to 'hit' their abs. What's more, I guarantee that my abs got more of a workout in the process.
Yours will too if you simply focus on good quality total-body exercises. Stick to the best; Squats, lunges, step ups, push ups, chest press, deadlifts and Plank exercises.
Your abs will take care of themselves in the process. I PROMISE!