Friday, February 6, 2009

Best Ab Workout Is Whole Body

By Robert Casewood

Fat around the midsection has long troubled gym-goers with less than stellar physiques. This can be attributed to our bodies' tendency to pack most of our body fat around our bellies, buttocks and thighs. As such, this area can be the most stubborn to trim down when we're working-out.

Fitness companies have recognized this and have been quick to cash in on countless people's war against belly fat. "Fat-burning" creams which allegedly melt away belly fat, ab workouts touted to give you a six-pack "in weeks" and countless exercise gadgets that isolate the abdominal muscles have been unleashed on the desperate masses eager to get rid of their soft paunches.

Unfortunately for people who plunked down a significant amount of cash for these "breakthrough" products, there is no real way to spot-reduce belly fat. Fat reducing creams won't do it and neither can gadgets that isolate the ab muscles. Ab machines and ab workouts only serve to develop and strengthen muscle tissue, but they don't really do much to eliminate the layer of belly fat covering the abdomen.

So body fat burn is the answer. So how do we go about doing that effectively? Legions of leotard-clad women in aerobic classes have long known the answer- cardio exercises. Experts say incorporating total body cardio exercise in our workouts tends to burn the most calories from body fat.

Exercises that isolate abdominal muscles aren't useless of course- they're a great way to strengthen and develop muscle tissue paving the way for that sexy six pack once the fat around the belly is eliminated.

Having healthy eating habits can also help shorten the time it takes to get washboard abs. Avoiding foods with excess fat and eating the right kinds of food at the right time can help our body absorb the necessary nutrients properly without storing more body fat.

Most people think that skipping breakfast is good for fat-loss but on the contrary, it may even prevent it. Our body tries to conserve energy by slowing down our metabolism when we're starving, so it's not really a good idea to skip meals.

Weight-training to build muscles can also help fight-off excess fat as well as improve our physique. The more muscle tissue we have, the more our metabolic rate goes up. Muscle actually expends calories even while immobile so having more of it will let us fight fat even in our sleep! - 15438

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