How often do you see a catchy heading like this and then followed with some ridiculous abdominal exercise routine claiming that it will melt away your stubborn belly fat and give you a toned six pack.
Where do I start?
Let's first of all start with confirming that these claims are complete b#ll#cks! Fat and muscle are two different types of tissue, therefore you can not convert one into the other. So you can do sit ups until the cows come home but this just isn't going to turn your belly fat into muscle.
Fun Fact: Did you know that we all actually have a six pack it is just some of us like to give it some extra protection. The body fat percentage for women to begin to show a six pack is normally around 14-20% and men 6-13%. The optimal body fat percentage level for each individual can vary due to each persons anatomy.
Let's say that you want to get a six pack or just reduce your belly fat how can this be done?
That magic exercise that will melt your stomach fat away just doesn't exist. The only way you can reduce your waistline is with a calorie deficit. In simple terms, consume less calories then your body requires to maintain your current weight. All you are gaining from doing a 100 sit ups every day is burning a few calories. To be honest you would be better off investing your energy into an exercise that requires more muscles at once because this will actually burn more calories.
Why bother with core exercises?
Training your rectus abdominals (the six pack show muscles) will help improve definition but I like to think of this as putting the icing on the cake, rather then the main sponge itself. As the name suggests your core is the foundation of your body. A strong core helps with posture, balance and stability.
Why bother with exercise?
Exercise can be used as away of increasing the amount of calories your burn a day. Smart devices like phones and watches are often very unreliable for predicting your energy expenditure. For these reasons it is best to use exercise as an addition to create your calorie deficit and not as extra food tokens.
The body we are looking for is normally the more toned look and again this will come from exercising and in particular resistance training. Relying on your diet alone to produce the body you wont is unlikely to deliver the results you pictured.
Exercise also offers so many more benefits beyond aesthetics, from reducing the risk of chronic illness to improving your mood and self-esteem.
Conclusion
Exercise should not be your main tool for weight loss but it should be part of your tool kit. Sadly there is no short cut when it comes to weight loss. However it doesn't need to be as complicated as people like to make it out to be. Focus on making small changes to your diet that you can remain consistent with and feel that you are still able to enjoy your life. Over time this will produce the results you are looking for and you don't need to waste your money on the latest abdominal blaster exercise machine you have seen advertised on the tele!
If you would like more information about this particular topic or have any other questions, please just drop me an email and I will be happy to help.
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