Define Your Abs
An all too common misconception of working out, is that you can do specific exercises that will “flatten” your abs and target and work different abdominal muscles like upper or lower muscles. So many people think that just by straining themselves do crunches upon crunches will leave them with rock hard perfect abs. NEWS FLASH! Lying on your back and contracting your abdominal muscles burns very few calories.. It burns just about as many as if you were lying around on the floor playing a board game or watching TV, no joke, it burns that little! The truth is, to perfect your abdominals, you have to reduce your body fat by burning lots and lots of calories. The easiest way to accomplish this is by changing your eating habits and consuming fewer calories while burning them off doing more strenuous routines in the gym. Cardio is an amazing calorie burning workout that you can have fun with. You can walk; jog, cycle, dance, swim and much more, and you do not even need a gym membership! Another great way to burn off calories is with intense fast-paced weight lifting and circuit routines.
Unfortunately, most people who over-exert themselves doing Ab workouts think they are feeling something happen. It is all your bodies’ deception and game playing because when you lie on your back and pound away at those muscles, the bigger they burn. Sorry to break the news, but that burn is not fat melting away, it is just the result of blood flow and muscle fatigue from repetitive muscle contraction! Do no think you can ever feel fat burning away when exercising. You burn extra fat when walking for an hour at a steady pace, or when eating less.
To really reduce your mid-section, do more cardio. You can improve the strength and endurance of your core muscles by making sure that you have good posture. Stand up straight, extend and lengthen your back while engaging your abs. When lying on your back pummeling away at your abs the only beneficial thing that may come from it is that you may be strengthening your muscles or developing an increased muscle endurance. I wouldn’t chance it though, that kind of training can be very stressful to anyone’s back and leave it vulnerable to future injury.
There are many different routines for strengthing your core and lower back because these muscle groups work synergistically. When you work on, you work them all. There are no separate upper and lower muscles. The six-pack muscle, rectus abdominis, expands from your ribs to your pubis. When doing a reverse curl that targets the lower area, the upper area of you abs still contracts, and vice versa for a regular curl. Those moves may not be all to comfortable or be the best way to help your spine. Concentrate on exercises that stabilize, rather than mobilize. Pushups and planks work best. Have fun with your routines and remember that perfect abs do not come from just straining yourself with repetitive exercises, but with specific changes in your diets and precise workouts.
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