The most important exercises for a flat tummy

Many people fall into the trap of performing stomach crunch after stomach crunch, sit-up after sit-up without any or little result. These ancient techniques of exercising the abdominal region are actually damaging for the spinal cord.  In addition to this there are many machines available on TV at the moment claiming to reduce your waistline significantly in a matter of weeks. Most of these gimmicks are actually doing you more harm than good and are usually only suggested quick fix alternatives.

The problem is if you have fat on your stomach area, performing toning exercises only firms and thickens the region rather than slimming it down. In physiological terms this is called building hypertrophy which means muscle mass.

When we conduct any form of strength training we are building muscle mass regardless of whether we are completing a high repetition range for muscle tone or low repetition range for muscle bulk. Concentrating on training a particular area of the body will inevitably make it larger and I’m sure most of us do not aim to increase the size of our stomach regions!

My recommendation for a flat stomach is to conduct cardio vascular exercise at the fat burning heart rate range for your age to work away any excess fat in this area.  Remember to burn fat, my proven methodology is to maintain this fat burning heart rate consistently for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Following your cardio vascular workout always conduct some strength and conditioning exercise, ideally for another 30 minutes.  Using the correct technique whilst lifting weights forces you to tighten your abdominal area, increasing your bodies core stability. Every repetition you complete contracts your abdominal muscles therefore isolating this muscle group to be exercised.

To really maximize the benefits, in between your weight repetition do some shadow boxing or run on the spot – anything to try to keep you heart rate in the fat burning heart rate zone is key to evaporating excess weight . As you progress and start to trim down, muscle definition will become apparent….trust me!

Stay healthy!

Aaron Shedlock
Limitless Health