Five Ab Workout Myths

"5 Six Pack Ab Workout Myths: Why Hundreds of Crunches and Situps Are the WORST Fat Burning Program to Lose Stomach Fat, Flatten Your Abs, and Give You Six Pack Abs…."

Well, you may not aspire to "6 Pack Abs", but you just may well be on the quest for a flatter belly, leaner middle, and all-around trimmer feel through the waist.

Yes?

For a long time I've ranted about the promise, rampant in the fitness industry, of abdominal exercises to "blast away belly fat".

I've scorned the use of (and accompanying pressure to purchase) pricey toys that parade as "specialized abdominal training equipment".

Because I know that what it takes is negative energy balance (see "It's The Calories, Honey!) and well-designed intense exercise (see "EPOC Training Parts 1 and 2") to recomposition the body and reshape the middle.

Which is why I read with pleasure the intro to Craig Ballantyne's special offer on his Abs workout system.

Now, Craig's materials can be a little hard sell. But don't let that get in the way of relishing these nuggets as written in his promo materials that I thought you'd enjoy.

I've also added my own commentary to Craig's text in blue.

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"5 Six Pack Ab Workout Myths: Why Hundreds of Crunches and Situps Are the WORST Fat Burning Program to Lose Stomach Fat, Flatten Your Abs, and Give You Six Pack Abs…."

By Craig Ballantyne, Men's Health Magazine Home Fitness Expert, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, and Author of Turbulence Training for Six Pack Abs:

Even my dog has six pack abs, according to my vet!

Myth #1 – You Have to Do Hundreds of Crunches and Sit ups To Lose Belly Fat and Get Flat Abs

If you rely on boring, back-breaking abdominal crunches and sit-ups to burn belly fat, you'll never lose the ugly belly fat covering your abs. To get more fat burning results in less workout time, use fat burning interval training and total-body abdominal exercises instead.

Me: It's true my friends. You can crunch forever and have a nice strong set of abdominal muscles hidden beneath everything else.  You can REDUCE and MAKE MORE EFFECTIVE your workout time by utilizing shorter, comprehensive workout routines that by their very nature utilize core and abdominal muscles.  The EPOC effect plus a negative energy balance does the trick.

Myth #2 – In Just Four Easy Payments of $29.99, You Can Buy a Miracle-Working Six Pack Ab Machine From a Late-Night informercial

Ha! I wish one of those abdominal exercise contraptions worked half as good as the so-called "experts" say, but infomercial gadgets don't burn belly fat or flatten your abs (they only burn your money and flatten your wallet!).

Me: There ARE some penny-wise toys that you can utilize to challenge your abdominal area as part of a more comprehensive, total body exercise.  For example, the Swiss exercise ball can be incorporated in many other compound exercise moves so that you don't have just one "ab roller" for just one exercise!

Myth #3 – You Have to do Ab Workouts Everyday to Get Six Pack Abs

Not true! In fact, one of the secrets of top fat loss trainers is to drop boring, repetitive ab exercises and replace them with total-body abdominal exercises you only need to do for a few minutes three times per week.

Me: Fewer, higher intensity workouts deliver more in terms of protecting and building muscle as part of your body shaping routine.  Who wouldn't like to drop oodles of reps for smarter, fewer ones?

Myth #4 – You Have to Do Cardio in the Fat Burning Zone Everyday to Burn Belly Fat

Long, slow boring cardio in the fat burning "Zone" is not the best way to lose ugly belly fat. In fact, in a recent study, subjects did 40 minutes of slow cardio three times per week for 15 weeks but didn't lose a single inch of stomach fat. However, only 20 minutes of interval training helped subjects spot reduce their belly fat.

Me: OK, this is the topic of an upcoming article I'm writing about "Fat Burning Zone" hype.  The  term "fat burning zone" is misleading and I'll tell you why right here on my blog in an upcoming article.

Myth #5 – You Can't Get Six Pack Abs at Home. You Have to Use Expensive, Fancy Ab Machines at a Gym

Research shows that most abdominal machines in gyms are extremely DANGEROUS for your low back! But you can do simple, safe, and effective abdominal bodyweight exercises and interval training at home to flatten your stomach.

Me: Personally? I rely on planks and pushups, T-Tapp Organs-in-Place/Half Frogs, shoulder alignment, interval training, another signature move (7 Seconds To A Flat Belly )and my dietary plan to stay trimmer in the middle. Simple and effective?  Yes!

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Doing All Of This Already?

Then fantastic, you are saving yourself all kinds of grief, let alone time!  Hopefully this will reassure you to do more of same.

And if you have been looking for something simpler and far less time consuming than you've been doing, and thought there must be a simple, more effective way to a trimmer middle, then here is your inspiration to try just that.

Here are my 3 simple steps to success at trimming time from your workout and excess from your waist:

1)  Focus on compound muscle movement and exercises. Many workout systems will do this for you, such as compound body weight exercises, free weight training, T-Tapp, Pilates…

2)  Pay attention to your dietary plan. This is #1 when it comes to weight loss (fat loss).  If you have excess avoir dupois through the middle, you need energy balance that results in a slow reduction of bodyfat stores.  That means moderate calorie deficit, over time.

3)   Invest in stress management that will help circumvent the stress response of excess abdominal stores.

P.S. If you are looking for some new variety and balance, you could check out Craig's ab workout system, 21 days trial for something like 5 bucks, and if you no likey, you no pay the balance, how's that for a guarantee?  I haven't seen the program myself though I am quite familiar with Craig's other workouts. Here's the link to his special offer.

© Lani Muelrath All Rights Reserved

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