So what is the low down on getting the tight midsection that stomach that looks great in a bikini and even better in those tight, tight jeans. There are two components to this question, first is fat, second is muscle tone.
Spot Reduction
First things first, you cannot spot reduce it. Now I know that this goes against every late-nite TV ad for the latest fat burning, ab tightening gizmo or pill that marketing minds have conjured up. However, the truth is that it is fat that is covering your abs. This means that you must make an all out battle against fat. Not just stubborn belly fat but fat in general.
You see your body stores fat in a very particular way. It first starts storing fat viscerally. Visceral fat is the fat that is found around your internal organs, and marbled in your muscle (like that steak in the butchers case).
Then after you body has stored fat internally it moves on to storing the fat you can see. The fat you see is called subcutaneous fat. This is the fat that you most want to disappear because it hangs over your panties and stuffs its way past your bra.
The only problem is that your body will give up this fat last. It does this in order to keep some reserves around just in case there's a famine and you cannot find a quickie mart.
This is sad, but sadder still is the propensity for our bodies to hold on to the fat around the mid section till last. This means that we will lose visceral fat first, then fat at our extremities - arms, legs, chest... Then, as if saving the best for last, your body will finally give up the belly.
This is the first part of the problem, the second is the tone of muscles. If you have lose stomach muscles - perhaps from childbearing - then the only solution is to tighten them up.
Tummy Toning
The solution to both of these issues is the dreaded diet and exercise. For belly tightening there are scores of exercises that you can do and I believe that this is an oft overlooked reality. Most ladies think that the only exercise in existence are crunches. Not so. There is not enough time to go into tons of detail here so ask around your gym for some guidance. While your at it get to know some other exercises like these:
Lying Bicycles
Atomic Crunches
Rocky Balboa Situps
Hanging leg raises
Lying Medicine Ball Vertical Thrusts
Flutter Kicks
Lying Leg Lifts
Jack Knifes (aka V ups)
Static Extensions (on a hyper bench)
Lying Leg Thrusts
Chair Leg Lift
Pelvic Thrusts
Reverse Crunch
Lying Scissors
The Plank
That should be enough to start and help you realize that there are other types of ab exercises besides the old school crunch. And even the old school crunch can be changed up for fun. For instance try adding an exercise ball, or chair, medicine ball.
You want to make reaching your goals as easy and fun as possible and variety will help achieve that goal. This pertains to dieting as well.
Diet is a dreaded word, however just like there are a variety of ab exercise options there some great modern diets out there that are both effective and fun. They allow for tons of variety, and the better ones even allow you to still enjoy your favorite fast foods in the process to getting the body you want.
Spot Reduction
First things first, you cannot spot reduce it. Now I know that this goes against every late-nite TV ad for the latest fat burning, ab tightening gizmo or pill that marketing minds have conjured up. However, the truth is that it is fat that is covering your abs. This means that you must make an all out battle against fat. Not just stubborn belly fat but fat in general.
You see your body stores fat in a very particular way. It first starts storing fat viscerally. Visceral fat is the fat that is found around your internal organs, and marbled in your muscle (like that steak in the butchers case).
Then after you body has stored fat internally it moves on to storing the fat you can see. The fat you see is called subcutaneous fat. This is the fat that you most want to disappear because it hangs over your panties and stuffs its way past your bra.
The only problem is that your body will give up this fat last. It does this in order to keep some reserves around just in case there's a famine and you cannot find a quickie mart.
This is sad, but sadder still is the propensity for our bodies to hold on to the fat around the mid section till last. This means that we will lose visceral fat first, then fat at our extremities - arms, legs, chest... Then, as if saving the best for last, your body will finally give up the belly.
This is the first part of the problem, the second is the tone of muscles. If you have lose stomach muscles - perhaps from childbearing - then the only solution is to tighten them up.
Tummy Toning
The solution to both of these issues is the dreaded diet and exercise. For belly tightening there are scores of exercises that you can do and I believe that this is an oft overlooked reality. Most ladies think that the only exercise in existence are crunches. Not so. There is not enough time to go into tons of detail here so ask around your gym for some guidance. While your at it get to know some other exercises like these:
Lying Bicycles
Atomic Crunches
Rocky Balboa Situps
Hanging leg raises
Lying Medicine Ball Vertical Thrusts
Flutter Kicks
Lying Leg Lifts
Jack Knifes (aka V ups)
Static Extensions (on a hyper bench)
Lying Leg Thrusts
Chair Leg Lift
Pelvic Thrusts
Reverse Crunch
Lying Scissors
The Plank
That should be enough to start and help you realize that there are other types of ab exercises besides the old school crunch. And even the old school crunch can be changed up for fun. For instance try adding an exercise ball, or chair, medicine ball.
You want to make reaching your goals as easy and fun as possible and variety will help achieve that goal. This pertains to dieting as well.
Diet is a dreaded word, however just like there are a variety of ab exercise options there some great modern diets out there that are both effective and fun. They allow for tons of variety, and the better ones even allow you to still enjoy your favorite fast foods in the process to getting the body you want.
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