Flat Stomach Tips??

[sausagefinga 10]

If you do the right kinds of excercises you don't have to end up with skinny arms and flabby tummy.

 

If your doing the right sort of workout, you should end up with your bod nicely toned up

 

Every reliable resource I have ever come across says that you can not spot reduce fat.

Are you saying that is not the case?

 

You can build and firm up specific muscles but you lose fat from your whole body.

E.g sit ups will not reduce fat on your stomach any more than your arms.

[Tipex 10]

Every reliable resource I have ever come across says that you can not spot reduce fat.

Are you saying that is not the case?

 

You can build and firm up specific muscles but you lose fat from your whole body.

E.g sit ups will not reduce fat on your stomach any more than your arms.

 

Yup that is true. My m8 who is 10st and goes kickboxing, gym ect still has a gut. We have to stop trying to be front cover models and realise most people do have flabby bellys.

 

There is nothing to be ashamed of, its the way we are made.

[Karis 11]

You need to do lots of different kinds of stomach excersises, simply doing (as an example) 200 sit ups per day won't be much use as you are only targetting one area of the tummy.

 

Your best doing around 10 - 15 different types of stomach excersises, and do no more than 20 or 30 reps of each.

 

Shuttle running is good too (different kinds), having said that, many gym members are not too keen on this particular activity, despite it being a very effective excercise.

 

 

This workout needs more clarification as right now, it's a bit misleading to people who don't understand the science behind exercise, and it's certainly not advice I would give to someone who is trying to tone up their body.

 

Simple anaerobic stomach exercises (such as crunches) will NOT burn fat (to any great extent). Fat cells need a steady supply of oxygen to successfully 'burn' fat. A person needs a combined aerbobic (cardio) workout to increase the heart rate to get the blood pumping and to burn fat.

 

Simple stomach exercises will do very little other than tone up muscles hidden under a layer of fat. If you already have an 'tummy' toning up those muscles will have very little visible effect.

 

I can't stress this enough. All exercise is good, but if you're doing exercise with a certain goal in mind, then simple crunches (or any stomach exercises) just aren't enough on their own. You need to get that heart rate pumping and to cut down on the bad calories you consume. Running, swimming, long walks, biking, skating - they're all great forms of aerobic exercise and will help to burn off the flab!

[TJC1 10]

Its not good news for couch potatoes but Karis is spot on, cardio is the most effective way of getting a flat stomach. HIIT is best, theres plenty of stuff on the net about it.

[LucysMum 10]

You need to do lots of different kinds of stomach excersises, simply doing (as an example) 200 sit ups per day won't be much use as you are only targetting one area of the tummy.

 

Your best doing around 10 - 15 different types of stomach excersises, and do no more than 20 or 30 reps of each.

 

Shuttle running is good too (different kinds), having said that, many gym members are not too keen on this particular activity, despite it being a very effective excercise.

 

In the classes i run, we do loads of stomach excersises, which many have found to be very effective (based on feedback). If you want to come along, there are 2 classes

 

Monday @ 7pm

Butterfly Fitness Studio

49 Valley Road

Meersbrook

 

 

Tuesday @ 7.30pm

St Williams Church

Ecclesall Road (next to somerfield supermarket)

Hunters Bar

Sheffield 11

 

Both classes, pay as you train £4 for one session (if you do 5 in a row, the 6the is free)

 

 

 

 

I have attended the class on Tuesday, and to be fair it is really good and I noticed a change

[onewheeldave 22]

You can isolate certain areas of the body when doing a workout, for example when doing the stomach/abs section in the class, the class members will do around 12 different stomach excersises during the "abs section". We aim for low reps (ie no more that 25) of each, and change the area of the tummy to be hit depending on the position of the legs, and where you move the arms whilst laying on the back.

 

When doing your workout, you definatly need to get the heart pumping and you also would be doing different excersises, and different types of training to achieve an all over workout.

 

Based on feedback that I have recieved, this type of training has been very effective for toning up.

 

You can isolate which muscles you're working and, crunches, done properly, will work the abdominal muscles, but you can't isolate which areas of fat an exercise effects.

 

So crunches will develop (make bigger) the abdominal muscles, but will do very little to shift belly fat.

 

Effective cardio and an effective diet regime are what's needed to tackle belly fat.

 

A good general body-building routine is also useful as a body with increased muscle burns more calories on an everyday basis than one that is relatively unmuscled.

 

Diet, cardio and weights are way better than loads of crunches and sit-ups (sit-ups don't even target the abdominal muscles that well).

 

Kettlebells are pretty much an ideal combination of weights and cardio.

 

(In my opinion)

[epiphany 10]

So crunches will develop (make bigger) the abdominal muscles, but will do very little to shift belly fat.

 

In fact, wouldn't developing your stomach muscles make the beer belly look even more prominent since you're effectively pushing the flab further outwards as the muscles grow?

[onewheeldave 22]

In fact, wouldn't developing your stomach muscles make the beer belly look even more prominent since you're effectively pushing the flab further outwards as the muscles grow?

 

Theoretically yes, but the amount of muscle size increase in comparison to the amount of fat in a beer belly, is likely to be not visible.

 

It's only likely to be a factor for competing bodybuilders with extremely low amounts of bodyfat- I've seen a couple of articles where bodybuilders talked about the possibility of overdeveloped abs.

 

The main point, for people who don't want to go to such extremes and just wish to be slimmer, is that abdominal exercises are a very low priority when it comes to shifting abdominal fat.

 

Far more important is sorting out the diet and doing exercises that burn calories and/or build muscle all over the body.

 

Multiple sets of abdominal exercises are not only not much use in shifting abdominal fat, they're also (for most people), deadly dull, after the initial inspiration has worn off.

 

IMO, the most important factor in any exercise regime, is that you continue to do it long term, which, for those of us who don't have iron-will discipline, means that it must be enjoyable, varied, interesting etc.

 

The other issue is sifting through the amount of sheer BS that's endemic in the field of exercise literature and opinion- I mean, how many decades has it now been scientifically proven that multiple sets of sit-ups/crunches are of minimal value in shifting abdominal fat? yet still we get these threads where people are advocating it.

[_Chris_ 10]

This workout needs more clarification as right now, it's a bit misleading to people who don't understand the science behind exercise, and it's certainly not advice I would give to someone who is trying to tone up their body.

 

Simple anaerobic stomach exercises (such as crunches) will NOT burn fat (to any great extent). Fat cells need a steady supply of oxygen to successfully 'burn' fat. A person needs a combined aerbobic (cardio) workout to increase the heart rate to get the blood pumping and to burn fat.

 

Simple stomach exercises will do very little other than tone up muscles hidden under a layer of fat. If you already have an 'tummy' toning up those muscles will have very little visible effect.

 

I can't stress this enough. All exercise is good, but if you're doing exercise with a certain goal in mind, then simple crunches (or any stomach exercises) just aren't enough on their own. You need to get that heart rate pumping and to cut down on the bad calories you consume. Running, swimming, long walks, biking, skating - they're all great forms of aerobic exercise and will help to burn off the flab!

Am finding this thread interesting, with some good tips coming from it. On a related note, if you were of the build, where you're not overweight and not underweight, what would be the best way to get a '6 pack' ?

[Randy 10]

Just make sure all your friends are fatter than you and you'll always look thin!

[*Ryan* 11]

Simple anaerobic stomach exercises (such as crunches) will NOT burn fat (to any great extent). Fat cells need a steady supply of oxygen to successfully 'burn' fat. A person needs a combined aerbobic (cardio) workout to increase the heart rate to get the blood pumping and to burn fat.

 

Simple stomach exercises will do very little other than tone up muscles hidden under a layer of fat. If you already have an 'tummy' toning up those muscles will have very little visible effect.

 

I can't stress this enough. All exercise is good, but if you're doing exercise with a certain goal in mind, then simple crunches (or any stomach exercises) just aren't enough on their own. You need to get that heart rate pumping and to cut down on the bad calories you consume. Running, swimming, long walks, biking, skating - they're all great forms of aerobic exercise and will help to burn off the flab!

 

I have to agree with you on this, a flat stomach comes down to what you eat. No good if you always gymming it yet eating junk etc. If you get bored with the gym, try running or badminton.. Something different.

[mk500 10]

Am finding this thread interesting, with some good tips coming from it. On a related note, if you were of the build, where you're not overweight and not underweight, what would be the best way to get a '6 pack' ?

 

I have just come across this forum and it's awesome!

 

Great question. As we are discussing belly fat I would like to give some simple based on my experience as a Presenter and Strength & Conditioning Coach:

 

Exercise: Research suggests deadlifts and squats recruit more muscle fibres in the stomach than a crunch, a plank or any other form of traditional 'ab' exercise. A well balanced (tested and progressive) weight training routine is far superior to steady state cardio or traditional 'ab' exercises!

 

Nutrition: everyone talks about a balanced diet but what does that actually mean? As a rule most people will see significant gains if they cut out processed sugars (cakes, chocolate etc), processed carbohydrates (pasta, bread, crisps etc) and ate more meat, fish, poultry, fruit, veg, rice (wholegrain/red), nuts and seeds! Try and eat protein at every meal if you want to lean up. Even breakfast but that does not mean fried bacon and eggs go for lean meats and fish.

 

Other: As a Strength and Conditioning coach we have been looking at the impact stress and sugar overload has on the fat around the belly button and love handles respectively. We now know that there is a direct relationship between stress and belly fat and sugar and love handles. Typically marathon runners can't see there abdominals but sprinters typically can. You could argue that this is due to the massive amounts of stress endurance athletes are under as a result of stready state cardio.

 

In my 8 years as a S&C coach to athletes and Personal Trainer to regular clients I get by far the best results in my clients when they undertake a balanced and progressive weight training routine 4 times per week, abide to the basic nutrition principles outlined above, cope with stress well (yoga, meditation, walks around the block after work etc - what ever works for you), sleep between 11pm-6:30am, hydrate consistently every day, are free from parasites and heavy metals, and have healthy digestion. Well, they are the main ones!

 

In fact just last week a corporate client of mine stripped 10mil's (33%) from his belly and dropped a total of 5% body fat in just 6 weeks of dedicated effort! Prior to that he had been a serious runner (5+ hours per wk) for 5 years, ate loads of pasta and white potato, very little lean protein or green leafy veg and failed to drop body fat below 20% (and never saw his ab's).

 

Sorry.... That went on a bit. I could talk about this topic all day so if you need any more info, tips, advice then feel free to ask and I will do my best to always back my answers up with research and results, which is what it is all about! Results that is...!

 

Good luck with the 6 pack!

 

Anyone that want's to be tested by one of our Trainers to true find out the answers to stripping body fat from the tummy (specifically to them) contact born2move to book a free consultation [email protected] or visit http://www.born2move.co.uk to find out more. If you don't get results you don't pay us!

Edited November 21, 2009 by mk500
to refine the info!