Love handles? Belly fat? Muffin top? Beer gut? Whatever you want to call it, it’s the most stubborn and ugly fat bulging from your tummy and rolling from your sides. Nobody likes it. Everyone has trouble losing it.
Who doesn’t have want a set of sexy six pack abs? Or at least flat tummy and tight abs for most people.
How many abs machine are there on TV infomercials over the years that never work? How many sit-ups do you have to do to get your six pack abs? How long do you have to hold at the plank position to tighten your abs during yoga or pilates? It’s getting frustrating and ridiculous.
Most people have the misconceptions about abs and core exercises and they’re doing them all wrong” says Carey Yang, a certified personal trainer and owner of Beyond Fitness Solutions in Morris County, NJ.
Yang adds, having a flat tummy and tight abs has more to do with diet and lifestyle for overweight and obese people. All abdominal exercises are good. You can do hundreds of exercises all day long to strengthen and tighten your abs. However, as long as you still have excess fat around covering the lean abs muscles under it, your mid section will not be visibly flat or toned.
The shortcut to a flat tummy and tight abs is to reduce overall body fat (as a general guideline, below 10 to 12 percent for men and below 16 to 18 percent for women) with proper diet and nutrition, overall strength training, direct and effective abdominal and core exercises, and interval cardio workout.
Regional fat storage is related to nutrition, lifestyle and hormones. Your diet and calorie intake have to support your fitness and workout program for your goals. Estrogen, insulin and cortisol are the three major hormones controlling fat storage and release that need to keep in balance. Having small and frequent meals keep your insulin level more constant and sensitive. Always have some protein in each meal and snack.
Cortisol is a stress hormone that promotes fat storage. Practice stress management techniques with a life coach or perform relaxation and meditation. Getting a good quality sleep (6 to 8 hours) every night also helps. Long hours of cardio or extended weightlifting should be avoided as they put more stress on your body and central nervous system and promote cortisol stress hormones.
While we cannot spot reduce fat storage in the mid section, we can certainly target training the muscles around including abs, obliques, lower back, and hips,” Yang says. “Abdominal curls usually emphasize the visible front-side abs. Lean and sculpted inner and exterior oblique muscles make you look ripped from the diagonal and side ways.”
There seems to be a lot of people doing weighted side-bend exercises, as also promoted in many fitness magazines. “I caution people not to overdo it as it will thickness your sides and make you look “wider,” Yang says.
There is a long list of abs and core exercises you can do in sitted, lying, or standing positions in different angles and directions. Abs probably have the most variety of exercises in the world yet few percent of population has them sculpted.
There are a few unique and effective exercises you can do to target your abdominal and oblique muscles if your fitness level is good.
Hanging Leg Raise: Hold on to a pullup bar or a pair of arm straps. Keep your legs straight, knees slight bent. Raise your legs toward your chest. Breathe out, suck it in and squeeze your abs hard. Then lower your legs slowly with control. The key is not to use the momentum from your hip flexors swinging up and down. If you’re up for challenge, grab a dumbbell with your feet when doing the exercise.
Hanging Oblique Twist: This is a “twist” from the hanging leg raise exercise. As you raise your legs toward your chest half way through, immediately twist and turn your legs to one side to work your oblique muscles. Alternate to left and right sides.
You can accelerate fat burning by doing high intensity interval training (H.I.I.T.) for your cardio exercise. You can do 15 minutes of intense interval cardio at the end of your strength training session or do 30 to 45 minutes on non-strength training days. Keep it short but intense. It will save your muscles and reduce unnecessary stress hormone cortisol that promote fat storage.
Have a periodized training program. Take scheduled breaks and off-training days. The last thing you want is overtraining that increases stress hormone cortisol causing more fat storage than fat burning. You may be more prone to injury and fatigue that keep you off from training.
