Thursday, January 8, 2009

Crunches May Be Stopping You From Getting Six Pack Abs

By Jose Loni

The truth about crunches! We all seek answers to achieving ripped abs. The truth about crunches is that they are good for our abdominal muscles, but they will not give you the ripped abs that you want. To get ripped abs, you need to work on fat burning exercises that will burn overall fat, watching what we eat and eliminating stress from our lives.

Crunches do not target what needs to be trained. Crunches are good for stabilizing, strengthening and developing the muscles of the abdomen. But to achieve defined ripped abs, overall fat-burning activities must be done.

Overall fat burning exercises are activities that allow us to train our whole body to increase our metabolism. By increasing our metabolism, we are better able to burn fat and utilize the excess belly fat, which results in more visibility of the abdominal muscles.

Metabolic activity has been shown to increase through resistance training exercises. Increased metabolic activity allows the body to utilize the fat as a fuel source and reduce overall body fat. The muscles that we develop from resistance training makes our body become better able to use our body fat to fuel our activities.

Watching what we eat is also an important aspect of achieving six pack abs. By increasing the frequency of our meals to 5-6 per day and reducing the portions of each meal, we allow our body to maintain our energy levels throughout the day and maintain our blood sugar. Being aware of eating foods, which consist of carbohydrates, fat, minerals, vitamins and proteins will help us get our six-pack abs.

Stress affects our bodies in a way that makes our bodies react in an emergency mode. When our bodies are in a stressful situation, Cortisol is released and causes fat to be stored in the abdominal area.

There are activities that are effective in reducing our stress. Activities like yoga, tai chi and deep breathing have all been shown to decrease stress in people.

Are crunches bad for six-pack abs? No, crunches are not the answer to achieve defined six pack abs. We need to focus on activities that allow for overall fat burning, through resistance training, monitoring our diet and reducing the overall amount of stress in our lives. Having the discipline and understanding to change our daily habits, we will be able to achieve six pack abs. - 16004

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