How to Get Flat Abs and Lose Belly Fat
I thought I’d change it up today and give some exercise tips to go along with the veggie nutrition tips.
At this time of year, my new clients are always asking me, “I want to get flat abs, what ab exercises do I need to do?” or “I’ve been doing lots of crunches but I can’t get a flat stomach.”
I hear this so many times that I want to share some tips I have learned from my years of training hundreds of people.
Tip #1: Get flat abs throughout the day.
As funny as it sounds, what you do all day will directly impact your belly. You can activate your abs throughout the day to create a flatter stomach.
Many times when you sit at a desk while on the computer, you may be slouching and relaxing your belly. Doing 10 minutes of abs in the gym won’t reverse 8 hours of slouching throughout the day.
By sitting straight up in your chair and not using the back rest, you are engaging your abdominals muscles (keeping them pulled in) and training them to stay flat and not relaxed, pushing outward.
Tip #2: Doing endless amounts of crunches and sit-ups are not going to give you a flat belly.
Getting a flat belly is about a healthy diet and excellent fat burning exercises. Most people have decent abs, they are just hiding under a layer of fat!
Tip #3: You can overwork your abs.
Doing crunches everyday will not ensure flat abs. You do need to build your abdominal muscles so that when you decrease your body fat, you have that defined, ripped look.
Your abs need to rest and recover just like your body does after a workout. Working your abs everyday will not give them enough recovery time and time to rebuild.
Tip #4: Perform ab exercises with passion and intensity.
Flopping up and down like a fish will not cut the mustard. I am not impressed when someone tells me they can do 1,000 sit ups.
This does not demonstrate proper form to me and they are probably using momentum to perform the exercise and not engaging the muscle fibers making the exercise useless.
Here’s the SECRET: Squeeze your abs in every exercise. I guarantee by intensifying each repetition, you will get faster, and better results.
More veggie meal plans and a “veggie detox plan” coming soon!
Your friend,
Kardena
Great post, the message really needs to get out there that to achieve
a flat stomach it cannot be done by exercise alone!
You got it Steph! Diet is a major part of achieving flat abs and we have to debunk these crazy infomercial ab products. Go girl! Kar
Very informative post, it answered some of my questions about burning fat.