BUILDING YOUR ABS; TRUTHS AND FALSEHOODS!

On social media there is nothing that goes viral faster than the image of an athlete or celebrity with a flat and chiseled mid-section, male or female! Let’s admit it, we are totally obsessed with chiseled abs and we all want that 6 pack, and who wouldn’t?  Abs are a sign of health, fitness, virility etc. you name it and the 6 pack represents it. They are also very rare and elusive, just like Bigfoot!

Like all things elusive, a lot of myths are misconceptions get woven into the development of your average 6 pack, today at corefitness we are going to look at building your abs, we will be analyzing the most common assumptions we have about how to develop your abs and whether they are true or false. At the end of this post we will know whether your current activities are helping or hindering your efforts at abdominal development. It doesn’t matter if you are a guy or a lady, young or old, seasoned workout pro or a beginner with “No Pack” this article is for you!

So if you are ready let’s build some Abs!

Thanks and do have a wonderful weekend!

1.       YOU MUST TRAIN YOUR ABS EVERY DAY: (FALSE)

This is the first misconception that has to go, and here’s why; when you exercise your other muscle groups, your midsection gets worked indirectly, so you don’t need to train your abs that often. Exercises such as the squat, bench press, deadlift, presses etc. all rely on your core muscles for stability so with every rep of these exercises, you are also getting a core workout. Note, like all other muscle groups your abs need time to rest and recover, if you exercise them every day, there is no time for rest and recovery and you will be disappointed by the results. In my opinion, its best exercise your Abs directly not more than twice a week, these exercises should be varied and should target your upper and lower abs, your sides (obliques).

2.       TRAINING YOUR ABS WILL HELP REDUCE FAT AROUND YOU ABDOMEN: (FALSE)

I know a lot of people will be disappointed by this but unfortunately it is a false notion and we just have to dispel it here and now. Every day around the world, people do millions of crunches, sit ups, leg raises etc.  All in a bid to burn fat of their mid sections, if you are one of these people, I got news for you, it aint working. A lot of people try to reduce belly fat by targeting the particular area for spot fat reduction, this is a myth and will never work, at best you can strengthen the underlying muscle but the fat will never budge. To lose fat around your mid-section, you have to lose fat all over your body i.e. to get a 6 pack you must lose total body fat first. Core training is important to give you overall strength and lack of it can cause you problems like poor posture, but it cannot shrink your waist.

3.       YOUR BODYFAT HAS TO BE AT LEAST TEN PERCENT TO SEE YOUR ABS:(TRUE)

Like I said earlier, no matter how many stomach exercises you do, you will never see the results you desire as long as the abs are covered in a layer of visceral body fat. Visceral fat is that layer of gel like fat underneath your belly, surrounding your internal organs. How lean you have to be for your abs to show depends on your physiology and your genetics. Body fat is distributed differently from person to person and some are lucky that their body fat is barely distributed around their mid-section. In general whatever your physiology or genetics, a safe rule of thumb is that you have to lower your total body fats levels to around ten percent for your abs to be revealed in all their glory.

4.       HAVING VISIBLE ABS MEANS YOU ARE HEALTHY: ( TRUE AND FALSE)

Whenever you see a person with tight, lean and defined abs, it tells you immediately all you need to know about the person’s dedication to the gym and a healthy diet. However there are some out there who got their abs by starving themselves of calories and doing way too much cardio, which cannot be considered healthy. A six pack indicates a combination of two things; strong abdominal muscles and low body fat. The trick is to find a healthy balance between the two. Your goal should be functional fitness not a six pack. If you reach the first goal, you might reach the second, but you don’t need a six pack to be healthy.

5.       ANYONE CAN DEVELOP A SIX PACK: (TRUE)

 

It’s very true, it doesn’t matter your sex or age even, anybody can get a six pack at any life stage, and all it takes is time and effort. In the process of training and working out with friends and clients I usually hear the same thing, “I can’t get a six pack, I wasn’t born with a flat stomach, some people have the gene” it goes on and on. If you think like this, you have to stop it now, you are only setting yourself up for failure. Ok it’s true you don’t have flat abs now, but it doesn’t mean you can develop the discipline that builds them. All you need to do is work hard in the gym and eat clean, how your abs will turn out vary from person to person, some have a 6 pack, some 4, some 8 and some freaks even develop 10!

6.       TRAINING YOUR ABS WILL MAKE YOUR WAIST SMALLER: (TRUE AND FALSE)

If you eat right, you can definitely get a smaller midsection, and less fat around your middle means a slimmer waist. However, if you already have low body fat, working out, especially with weights can actually make your waist bigger. Your midsection has muscles like any other part of your body and if you focus on them and train your core hard, especially your oblique (side) muscles, they can get bigger and thicker, just like any other muscle.

7.       WEARING A WAIST TRAINER WILL MAKE YOUR MIDSECTION SMALLER: (FALSE)

Despite their recent upsurge in popularity, waist trainers are one training aid you need to dismiss outright. Even if you see someone in the gym with a small waist wearing one, I assure you his slim waist and six pack is the result of training and long term dedication and not some magical gym accessory. The waist trainer gives your waist the illusion of being slimmer, but that’s where its magic ends. Waist trimmer belts can increase and maintain midsection body temperature during workouts, which may help you drop some water weight from that specific region but only for a very short time, and the amount you drop is really insignificant. If you rely on waist trainers instead of actual abdominal exercises to slim down, you will just end up with weaker core muscles.

Thank, and do have a wonderful weekend!