Home
Free Abs Course
Best Flat Belly Book
Belly Fat Blog
Belly Fat
Abs Routine
Exercises For Abs
Core Exercises
Core Training
Best Ab Exercises
Ab Crunches
Lower Belly Exercises
Oblique Exercises
6 pack abs
Love Handles
Ab Exercises Tips
Fast Abs
Alternative Abs
Best Cardio Workout
Interval Training
HIIT
Eating For Abs
losing belly fat
Causes Of Fat
Abs Diet Tips
Diet Myths
Male Abs
Women Abs
Woman Abs Workout
Female Abs
Posture Exercises
Isometric Exercises
Boost Metabolism
Health Benefits
About Me
Contact Me

[?] Subscribe To This Site

XML RSS
Add to Google
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My MSN
Subscribe with Bloglines

  

Losing belly Fat - The Basics Of Good Ab Training

Well you might say, "Losing belly fat? I don't want 6 pack abs, I just want to lose my belly flab. Oh, 100 situps a day for a month ought to get me on my way to get a flat stomach". Sorry to disappoint you, but it doesn't work that way. Performing 100 ab crunches a day may build part of your abdominal muscle and tone that area, but it won't burn off the fat or reduce the size of your belly much, if any at all.

As you may know by now, working stomach out alone will not dissipate much belly flab. The real truth is that you cannot build good abs by abdominal workouts alone. It's a combination of three ingredients - abdominal exercises, along with proper diet and aerobics - that will enable you to create that 6 pack abs muscular waistline of your dreams.

You may be skeptical about this but it is true and here is some proof. Remember that guy Allen Jones who did more than 27,000 situps in 24 hours, setting a new world record at that time. Now you'd think any person who could do more than 27,000 situps would have ab development to put any bodybuilder to shame, but because he was carrying a bit of belly flab, Mr.Jones didn't have any visible stomach development at all. That's right, not a ridge in sight. It sounds unbelievable but it's true.

Obviously, to have done more than 27,000 sit ups non stop, Mr.Jones must have had great abdominal strength and endurance, and probably, underneath all that belly flab, good ab development, but until he diets and burns off the fat, his abs won't show. The old adage still holds true: you train for muscle, you diet for muscularity. So don't think 100 situps a day for 30 days will give you the 6 pack abs you want. It won't. If you want to lose belly fat, you must first lose fat from all over your body. That's where aerobics comes in, because aerobics helps to speed up your metabolism and burn fat.

The Importance Of Aerobics In Losing Belly Fat

Once you realize that abdominal exercises alone won't give you the 6 pack abs of your dreams, you're much further ahead than the people who mindlessly train their abs while ignoring their diets and aerobics. Now don't flail your arms in despair and scream that you can't do aerobics because running hurts your knees. Aerobics does not mean you have to run or ride the stationary bike. Many people automatically equate jogging, running and stationary cycle with aerobics, but aerobics can be any activity that raises your heart rate to 70 percent of your maximum for at least 15 minutes. This includes running, jogging, speed walking, rowing machine, ski machine, roller blading, ice skating, the step up machine and the stair master as well as swimming and aerobics classes.

You can even do aerobics with weights, by doing giant sets without any rest. Pick 5 or 6 exercises, one for each muscle group and do them consecutively, without any rest between sets. Do 3 to 5 cycles or giant sets without any rest either. Just go non stop until all your sets are done. Adjust your poundage to allow for this kind of non stop training.

The point is, nearly everyone can find at least one aerobic activity they enjoy. and why not combine several activities to form one session? For instance, if you plan to do 30 minutes of aerobics, you could ride the bike for 10 min., do the Stair Master for 10 min. and then walk the treadmill for 10 min. The next session you could run for 10 min., get on the ski machine for 10 min. and then use the rowing machine for the final 10 min. You might go roller blading for 30 minutes. You could cycle across town or ride your bike to and from work. This way your aerobics sessions should never get boring.

How Much Aerobics For Losing Belly Fat?

Okay now that you know aerobics is important for losing belly fat and overall bodyfat, the next question is...how much aerobics and how often? This will depend on:

1. Your condition and how high your fat levels are ( obviously, a person 10 pounds overweight is not going to need to do as much for losing belly fat as someone who is 100 pounds overweight.)

2. Your body type and metabolism - Ectomorphs (those naturally skinny), will not need as much as endomorphs (those naturally thick and heavy.)

3. Your goals - Someone who has quite a lot of belly flab to lose might do an hour of aerobics daily, broken down into two 30 minute sessions. someone naturally leaner and with less belly fat to lose might need only 30 minutes two to three times a week. In general, I would suggest that anyone who has more than 15 pounds of bodyfat to lose should spend 30 minutes a day on aerobics, a minimum of five times a week. If you have under 15 pounds to lose, and you are naturally muscular, then 30 minutes two to four times a week should be plenty. Every other day is good for most people, especially if they weight train every other day too.

When To Do Aerobics For Losing Belly Fat?

The best time to do aerobics is first thing in the morning, as soon as you wake up. You haven't eaten all night, so your glycogen stores are low. If you do your aerobics before you eat breakfast, your body will need to burn bodyfat as an energy source because there isn't any food in your system yet. The second best time is three hours after your last meal at night, when energy levels are low. If you do exercise twice a day, ideally try for before breakfast and three hours after your last meal. These are the best times for losing belly fat.

How Hard Or Intense For Losing Belly Fat?

Doing exercise does not mean exhausting yourself. It doesn't mean going at it so hard that you're gasping for air and ready to drop. Actually, if you exercise too vigorously you end up using glycogen as an energy source instead of fat. And you may burn up muscle tissue instead of burning fat. The rule of thumb is this: You should be able to carry on a conversation without difficulty as you do your aerobic activity. For example, while you're riding the stationary bike, you should be able to easily carry a conversation with the person riding next to you. If you are huffing and puffing and gasping for air, you're riding too fast and too hard. Back off and pedal slower.

Speed walking burns about as many calories as running. It is also easier on the joints and is just as effective for losing belly fat. If you have bad knees or ankles you should not jog or run, but stick to speed walking, the treadmill and other aerobic activities. It's not important what you do as it is that you do something.

Lets get back to that earlier scenario of the person who says 100 situps a day for a month will flatten his stomach. Make it 100 ab crunches a day, plus 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day and it becomes much easier of losing belly fat. But if your goal of a hard, 6 pack abs, trim muscular waistline, we still need the final ingredients-- DIET

Go to my Abs Diet page from Losing Belly Fat.


footer for losing belly fat page