FAB ABS – PART 4

The Myths of the Abdominal Crunch

It is time to educate folk that no amount of crunches alone will give you a six pack. Why? Because no matter how much you work your abdominals to death, you will never reduce the fat by relentless sit-ups. It is that clear-cut. You cannot spot reduce. You are more likely to give yourself poor posture, bad back or muscular imbalances. And any of these exercises or so called ‘ab’ machines and gizmos will not eliminate the layer of fat that lies on top of your abs without you first addressing more important factors first like nutrition and digestion and working the abdominals as a whole, not just through constant flexion of the spine (i.e. Crunches).

Check out some of the Abdominal training myths and why they may fail to work

Relentless Sit Ups / Crunches

A very overused exercise but excessive floor crunching can lead to shortening your abdominal wall, pull your head forward and encourage poor posture. Think Neanderthal!! It can also lead to stress on the lower back and neck and easily through poor technique work the hip flexor muscles and not the abdominals, which completely defeats the purpose. Now there is a place for crunches, for example, with proper use of a Swiss ball and only incorporated into an integrated abdominal workout. Always seek help with a qualified trainer beforehand and if you suffer from a bad back, then eliminate altogether.

Abdominal Machines

No ‘ab’ machine works your muscles in a functional manner (there is nothing functional to movement sitting on a machine and crunching forward). This will do very little to remove fat from your midriff.

Ab Rollers.

A gizmo and little else. Instead of protecting the neck, as to what it is suppose to advocate, will in fact do the reverse and lead to a poor weak neck through lack of use in an integrated fashion, leading to debilitating cervical injuries.

Diets, slimming aids and fat burning pills

How many are there on the market? And how many actually work? Forget them. They are a waste of time and money. Divert your energies into quality nutrition and exercise as part of your lifestyle and reap the rewards long term.

So stayed tuned for Part 5 and see what exercise can help make a difference on ridding that lower belly pooch.