We all want nice abs.
But let me tell you, if your belly sticks out farther than your chest, then you are wasting your time with abs exercises.
As a guy, if you are 15% bodyfat or more, you aren’t going to see your abs even if you spend 1 hour a day on crunches, planks, leg raises, swiss-ball what’s-it-called, or blow-torch-ab-belly-scissor sprints. (Ok, I made that last one up, but you’ve probably seen some over-hyped exercises by some fitness model promising that you’ll have a beautiful stomach if you just do 8 minutes a day of this special exercise – it’s a lie!)
Seriously, and honestly, stand up next to a mirror. Without sucking in your gut, does your bellow stick out farther than your chest? No cheating now!
(Of course, this test only applies to guys. For women, well, I guess your belly shouldn’t be sticking out farther than your chest unless you are pregnant, but you can still read on…)
Does Your Stomach Stick Out More Than Your Pecs?
If not (meaning, your stomach is not too flabby now), then adding abdominal exercises could be worthwhile. Because you are likely lean enough that you can start to see your abs.
But if you’ve got a big belly, all that time doing abs work is a waste because your fat is covering it up!
And no, doing abs exercises (no matter which ones) isn’t going to help you lose fat.
For fat loss, you need a good diet, a good muscle-building program so you burn more fat even while resting, and a decent cardio program.
I’d like to think that continuing to read WorldFitnessNetwork.com will help you make consistent progress. But let’s face it – this is a free blog and people aren’t as motivated by things they get for free (unless you are part of the LeanLifters premier membership). You might benefit more, and faster, from something like Tom Venuto’s Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle.
I mentioned yesterday that he’s having a special deal that includes lots of additional free reports but that expires today – July 17 – so if you learn best from a 300+ page ebook by a true expert that I am humbled to be associated with, do it quickly. You can learn more here: http://worldfitnessnetwork.com/burn-the-fat-feed-the-muscle/
But this post isn’t about Tom.
This is about you.
And your time.
Just like I tell guys “Don’t Do Biceps Curls Until You Can Do 15 Consecutive Chin-Ups“, I’m saying to you now…
“Don’t Do Abs Exercises If Your Belly Sticks Out Farther Than Your Chest!”
Said differently, if you have belly fat, your time is better spent on learning how to eat right to lose fat, lifting weights to build muscle in the rest of your body (especially legs), and increasing the intensity of your cardio.
Ok, you probably understand that you can’t see your abs underneath fat.
But I bet you are clinging onto some hope that doing 100 (more…)
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Continue reading about Belly Protrude Farther Than Chest? Don’t Do Abs Exercises!
A recent study by the National Center on Educational Statistics found that 1 in 5 four-year olds in America are obese.
I’ll say that again: 1 in 5 four-year olds are fat.
As a parent, I have two very strong emotions when I hear this.
Meet Sympathetic Darrin and Harsh Darrin
The first is sincere sadness and empathy for what those children are headed for – a series of “fat kid” jokes and likely health challenges for the rest of their lives. Let’s call this voice the “Sympathetic Darrin”.
The second is utter disgust that these parents have allowed this to happen. Let’s call this voice the “Harsh Darrin”.
Sympathic Darrin wants to offer all those parents free advice, clinics, counseling, etc. Given America’s overall obesity problem, it’s probably a likely conclusion that the parents (more…)
A British family of 4, who get the equivalent of a £30,000 salary in benefits from the UK government, says
- “we’re too fat to work”
- “it’s not our fault, it’s in our genes”
- “we need more money – it’s not enough”
- “I don’t have time to exercise”
I’m not making this up – check for yourself: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5004431/Family-who-are-too-fat-to-work-say-22000-worth-of-benefits-is-not-enough.html . (more…)
Continue reading about Too Fat To Work? Really??? Really!!!!???
Image Credit: itsnickssister
WFN reader Richard asked the following question in the comments to a previous article:
Usually when I do situps/crunches, I would do like 3 sets and with each set I would do a different variation, like either crunches or legs in the air crunches etc etc. But which ab exercises do help burn that unwanted stomach fat?
This is a great question, because men tend to accumulate fat in the stomach area, whereas women get it more in the hips and thighs. Doing situps and crunches to work your abs seems like the logical choice to get rid of that gut.
Trying to take fat off of one part of your body only is called spot reduction of fat, and unfortunately, it doesn’t really work. You can decrease your overall body fat percentage, but there is no exercise that can help you take the fat just off your stomach.
But you know you want it
I understand the desire. The abdomen is the visual center of the body. Since the eye naturally draws first to the middle of the body, a big gut is like a bull’s-eye right on the center of you, while a tight stomach or six pack immediately shows an outstanding physique.
I get the feeling that if all of our fat cells were hanging out around our toes, we wouldn’t be too concerned… or maybe I’m just not realizing how nasty it would look…
But I know what the real question is: how do I really get that six pack?
Here’s the deal:
The rectus abdominus is a layer of muscle that is draped over your mid-section between the pelvis and the rib cage. Getting a six pack requires you to build up those muscles and strengthen them (I know you already know this part, but just in case). Your abs are worked especially in the stomach crunching movements and when they act as stabilizers for exercises like deadlifts.
The next step is to remove the fat that’s covering your six pack. Can you do this with ab-exercises? Well, kinda.
I won’t say that abdominal exercises don’t do anything to lower your body fat percentages. Each crunch you do does (more…)
I’ve been preparing an e-book over the last 5-6 weeks to help the readers of World Fitness Network achieve their goals. The e-book is entitled “3 Months to New You”. It’s a 90 day program to help you change your body type. It will help you do the following:
Change the way you look and feel - Become stronger/ build muscle
- Lose fat
- Strengthen your bones and joints
- Get you eating back on track
- Find new energy in your life through lifting weights and eating right
In addition, 3 Months to a New You provides you with a workout plan and schedule that you can fit into your normal life without having to spend your whole life (more…)
Continue reading about Free E-book About Changing Your Body Type: 3 Months to a New You
Just when you thought we couldn’t climb any higher…
Let’s be honest with ourselves, we’re getting fatter year after year. With every sugar drink and super-sized soda consumed, we hobble yet another step higher up the fat chain. Staying lean and toned from our workouts becomes more and more of a distant dream.
But climbing up the fat chain represents more than the expanding state we are in. The fat chain not only shows us that we occupy the very top of this top-heavy hierarchy, but it also tells us how we arrived there. The fat chain is also a chain of events that leads us to arrive at the state we are in. It’s a repeating cycle, or a chain reaction that only becomes harder to stop with time.
This is because getting fat isn’t something that “happens” to anybody. Nobody rolls out of bed in the morning to suddenly find themselves overweight. Instead, we slowly climb the chain link by link. Whenever it seems that the top of the chain is reached, we add another link and climb a bit higher.
These tiny links accumulate slowly, day by day, over time. We can add these links in so many ways, but we are hardly conscious of the links we add through what we drink. And most people aren’t aware of the triple hit that our system takes when we drink soft drinks. (more…)
Continue reading about Drinking Your Way to the Top of the Fat Chain
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