Why ab exercises alone are often not enough to get you that flat stomach!
By Ron Simeon
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One of the most common questions I get as a trainer is “how do I get a flat stomach?” or “what are some exercises that burn stomach fat?”.
While I understand that this is most likely the most troubled part of most people’s bodies, you often have to do way more work than ab exercises alone in order to get a flat stomach.
First off, let’s get one thing out of the way – fat reduction by doing a certain exercise does not burn fat at the targeted area. For example, when doing a plank, fat is not being burned at the stomach area. What’s happening is that you are challenging your core muscles, which in return, help you to get stronger.
In fact, one of the best ways to burn fat (even your stomach), is to build more strength.
To help you understand this better, I’m going to give you a practical example. If two cars went on cruise control on the highway at the same speed of 100km/h for a 10km stretch, and one car is a Honda Civic and the other car is a Lamborghini, which one would have burned more gas? If gas for cars is like stored fat for our bodies, that would mean that the Lamborghini would’ve burned more gas.
In fact, one of the best ways to burn fat (even your stomach), is to build more strength.
Ron Simeon
What is the best way? Try doing some exercises that challenge multiple muscles at once (compound movements).
For example squats, dead-lifts, rows, push-ups. Aim to build a good foundation from these movements and eventually increase weights.
These exercises are great because not only do they burn more calories than most ab exercises, they help you build more strength which in return can help reduce body fat (yes even You can add ab exercises after these movements as an accessory to your workouts. Here’s a basic workout example:
– Squats 3 x 10
– Kettlebell Dead-lift 3 x 10
– Push-Ups 3 x 10
– Low Row 3 x 10.
Work up to harder exercises of similar movements for a progression.
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