Abdominals Top Tips
Do you want to lose some body fat and develop some core strength definition? It takes time, discipline, hard work, and most importantly, an entirely new approach to abdominal training. There is no such thing as spot reducing. No known diet will blast fat off a particular body part. A million sit ups are not going to give you great abs if the rest of your body is not looked after.
Even when you are working your abdominals in a comprehensive weight training program, overemphasizing your abdominals while under working other body parts will only hinder your success. Muscle is a high maintenance tissue. The more you have the more calories your body will burn just trying to feed and repair it. Good abdominals are usually the result of good total body training.
Many of us take in a substantial number of useless calories so one obvious and immediate solution to middle body spread is to eliminate as many of these flab generators as possible.
One strategy that is doomed to failure is drastically reducing the number of calories in your diet. The quickest way to sabotage your waistline is to try and starve it into submission.
Do not think that if cutting a little fat out of your diet is a good idea, then cutting all of the fat out is an even better one. It is not. Fat plays an important role in your overall health, it helps in your recovery from exhausting workouts and ensures that fat soluble vitamins like A, D and E are properly transported and utilized. But not all fats are created equal, for example, Olive oil and coconut oil is better for you than palm and vegetable oils, butter is better for you than margarine. Margarine is not a natural food; fake foods such as this are not a healthier choice. Yes they come from vegetable sources but their seeds are extracted through petroleum based solvents then their oils go through hydrogenation, emulsification, degumming and a load of other processes.
How do you get fat? The simple answer is that by eating more calories than you burn off, and genetics do play a part. Some people are predisposed to put on weight more easily than others – the so-called ‘fat gene’ – because you inherit a body type, a fixed number of fat cells and a metabolic rate just as you inherit other characteristics. But that does not mean you will inevitably become overweight. If you eat a healthy diet and take regular exercise, your body fat should stay in a healthy range. You just may have to work a little harder than others.
So, if your goal is to lose weight, a little movement is better that none, but a lot of movement is better than a little. A good target is one to three hours a week. Note the choice of words: This is something to shoot for, not something you should be able to do over-night. If the most you can handle is 10 to 20 minutes on a stationary bike, well that is great. What you must remember is that the best abdominal workout in the world will not give you well defined midsection if there is a layer of fat between the muscle and your mirror.
Why not take an hour out of the gym or from pounding the sea front and try one of our classes on a Tuesday or Friday morning with Jenny and myself at 11am. These classes are designed to help you develop a strong well aligned body while engaging several muscle groups at the same time. It will build muscular strength in your upper and lower body and we’ve incorporated some exercises to help flatten your abdominals to.
See you soon.
Toby your friendly Gym manager!
Deep Tissue Massage works on releasing tension to specific areas of the body and very beneficial for injuries, stiffness and back problems. Deep tissue massage also improves circulation by eliminating toxins whilst at the same time toning and relaxing the muscles and promoting a general sense of well being.
Therapists News | Alive | 
August 29, 2011 12:14 pm | 
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