Ab Workouts To Lose Belly Fat
If you’ve got a spare tire hanging off the front of your body (of maybe even several spare tires), you may be tempted to try for a marathon of crunches and ab exercises to get rid of it. Unfortunately, doing ab exercises will not help you lose belly fat faster.
Belly fat – like all body fat – does not respond to spot exercise. Instead, as you burn more calories than you take in, you will lose fat all around your body. If you truly want to lose that spare tire around the middle, concentrate on full body fitness, including a good mixture of aerobic and strength training workouts.
With that in mind, you should still work out your abdominal region. While a 1,000 crunches a day won’t magically zap your stomach fat, it will build your ab muscles. As soon as you slim down, those muscles will start peeking through.
When putting together an ab workout, it’s important to know that you don’t need to spend an hour every day working out your abs. You don’t even need to spend a half hour a day. In fact, working out your abs 15 – 20 minutes, 3 – 4 days a week is plenty as long as you do the correct motions. Below is a rundown on three great ab exercises.
Crunches
Crunches are one of the most popular ab exercises. They can be a great entry level exercise, but don’t become too dependent on them. Crunches only work the upper abs, so you may not be getting as comprehensive a workout as you wish. When crunching, go slowly through the motion. Make sure your shoulders come off the ground, and try to hold at the top for a second before coming down. Try for three sets of 20 quality crunches.
Planks
Planks fully engage your core and are a great exercise for the inner ab muscles. To start a plank, lay on your stomach on the floor. Lift yourself up onto your elbows and make sure your legs are fully extended and straight behind you. The term “plank” refers to how your body should look when you are doing the move correctly. Make sure that you are not holding yourself on your arms. It should be your abs doing the work. If you’re doing this move right, you’ll feel it right away. Try to start off with three planks for 20 seconds each and gradually increase the time for each bridge as your abs get stronger.
Bicycle
A bicycle motion is a great way to work your upper and lower abdominals as well as your obliques. To perform the bicycle motion, crunch up and twist while bringing the opposite knee up. At the top of the motion, your opposite elbow and knee should almost touch while the other leg remains straight. Lower yourself back down and then crunch up again, this time twisting in the other direction and bringing the previously straight leg up. Once you get the hang of the motion, you’ll understand why it’s called the bicycle. Concentrate on the movement. Really try to twist at the top to engage your obliques. Go slow. When people do this move quickly, they sacrifice form. Try to hold for one second at the top of each rep. You’ll really feel your abs burning soon into the exercise. To start, try three sets of 30 (knee –to-elbow touch equals one rep).
These are just three exercises that will help you strengthen your abdominal muscles. There are many other great ab exercises and ab workouts available. If you are new to a gym, you may be able to get a free session with a trainer. Ask them to show you more ab exercises. When you work out your abs, you should always give some attention to your back as well to make sure your musculature stays aligned.
Engaging in a comprehensive exercise program will help you lose belly fat and show off your new six pack.
|
