Crunches should be eliminated from our exercise program if your goal is to have ripped six pack abs. In order to have visible, tone and lean abs, we must focus on diet, increasing our metabolism and stress reduction.
Crunches are good at developing different areas of the back, hips and abs. Some crunches hardly train the abs at all, but rather they train the hip flexors. If we keep focusing on these exercises, we can create imbalances in our back and cause back pain.
If we want to achieve defined abs, we need to eat a balanced diet of protein, fat, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. By increasing the frequency of our meals to 5-6 times a day, we can maintain our energy levels and avoid spiking up our blood sugar levels.
Increasing our metabolism can be done through resistance training. By increasing our muscle mass, we can affect our metabolism by increasing our muscle's metabolic activity. In doing so, our body will be better able to utilize the excess body fat and convert that into fuel.
Interval training has also been shown to increase the body's metabolism. The body reacts to the increased demands of interval training, which causes an increase in lean body mass. The lean body mass then increases its overall fat burning capacity in order to fuel the increased activity level.
Stress has a way of increasing the amount of fat that is stored in our stomach area. In a stressful situation, our body releases Cortisol, which then stores fat in our abdomen. The stored fat is then kept there as a fuel source for the body during an emergency situation.
There are many ways that we can reduce stress. Activities such as deep breathing, relaxation techniques, yoga and tai chi have shown to be effective at reducing stress in our body.
We should eliminate crunches from our exercise program if we want to have tone, lean abdominal muscles. Our exercise program should be focused on overall dietary changes, increasing our metabolism and reducing our stress. - 16004
Crunches are good at developing different areas of the back, hips and abs. Some crunches hardly train the abs at all, but rather they train the hip flexors. If we keep focusing on these exercises, we can create imbalances in our back and cause back pain.
If we want to achieve defined abs, we need to eat a balanced diet of protein, fat, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. By increasing the frequency of our meals to 5-6 times a day, we can maintain our energy levels and avoid spiking up our blood sugar levels.
Increasing our metabolism can be done through resistance training. By increasing our muscle mass, we can affect our metabolism by increasing our muscle's metabolic activity. In doing so, our body will be better able to utilize the excess body fat and convert that into fuel.
Interval training has also been shown to increase the body's metabolism. The body reacts to the increased demands of interval training, which causes an increase in lean body mass. The lean body mass then increases its overall fat burning capacity in order to fuel the increased activity level.
Stress has a way of increasing the amount of fat that is stored in our stomach area. In a stressful situation, our body releases Cortisol, which then stores fat in our abdomen. The stored fat is then kept there as a fuel source for the body during an emergency situation.
There are many ways that we can reduce stress. Activities such as deep breathing, relaxation techniques, yoga and tai chi have shown to be effective at reducing stress in our body.
We should eliminate crunches from our exercise program if we want to have tone, lean abdominal muscles. Our exercise program should be focused on overall dietary changes, increasing our metabolism and reducing our stress. - 16004
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