When it comes to fat loss, especially belly fat, there are so many things to consider such as diet, workout routine, and daily habits. And I’m pretty sure that most of us here tried to do as many sit-ups or crunches as possible to lose the belly fat. Tell me, did it work? Honestly, we’re not stupid, we just have no idea how fat loss works.
Now, let’s get this straight, losing fat is not that simple and there is no such as burning fat in a specific body part as you may think. In fact, no matter which part of your body you’re working, you can lose fat throughout the whole body. So doing hundred sit-ups and crunches only may help you lose fat to some extent but in the long term, training like that is not recommended at all.
Here are some reasons why ab exercises won’t help you burn belly fat:
1. You only focus on ab exercises
I’m not saying that doing ab exercises is not good for losing belly fat, but when it comes to reducing belly fat, they should not be the only exercises you do in the gym. Instead, you need to do other strength/weight training exercises as well as cardio.
Needless to say, for fat loss or calorie burn, cardio is one of our first choices, right? So what about strength training? Does it help us burn belly fat?
In general, strength training exercises, not only helps you build better strength and muscles better but also burn a lot more calories while engaging more muscle fibers. Simply put, the more calories you burn, the more fat you lose. Also, remember that you can’t lose fat from a specific body part without losing fat from others. That’s the reason why doing heavy compound movements like deadlifts, squats or bench press can burn calories, fat more effectively than just doing ab exercises.
So don’t be surprised when someone has 6-pack abs even though you do ab exercises more often than him, okay?
2. Your diet sucks
Don’t you tell me that you just need to do some ab exercises in the gym and you can eat anything you want? Remember that just because you because you work out doesn’t mean you don’t have to control your eating. Have you ever heard that fitness is 70% diet and 30% exercise? Well, that means even if you’re on a bad diet, you’ll never get the results you’re looking for even if you work out every single day.
Hence, make sure you control what you eat. In details, just choose healthy foods such as lean meat, low-sugar fruits, vegetables, nuts and so on. Try to stay away from high-sodium and canned foods, sweet drinks, alcohol and anything containing stimulants. In my experience, it’s very important to create your personalized diet plan so that you can stick to it forever, not in the short term.
3. You have bad daily habits
Sitting in one place for hours watching TV or staring at a computer screen are all bad habits you need to quit right now if you want to trim down your body. Specifically, sitting around too much will make your body store fat and therefore, it can cause obesity, not mention to cancer risk, heart disease or diabetes risk.
In short, it’s essential to stay active as much as possible to have a healthy body and more importantly, lose belly fat. For example, if you have to work in an office, just stand up every 30 minutes or 1 hour to walk around or do shoulder and back stretches. You can take the stairs instead of the elevator or when you’re at home, spend some time doing housework. If you can do all of those things, I believe that you will definitely see a significant change in your body sooner or later.
4. You don’t get enough sleep
You know what? More than half of women in America feel like they don’t get enough sleep. And this lack of sleep can have a bad impact on your waistline. For example, when a woman gets 4 hours of sleep instead of 8 hours, she is likely to consume more than 300 extra calories and ironically, most of the calories come from fatty foods.
So, just try to get the expert-recommended 7-8 hours of sleep a night. And in order to do that, you have to remove all the distracting electronics in your bedroom including TV, smartphone, and iPad, keep your bedroom cool and avoid stimulant caffeine after you have lunch. Remember to maintain a regular sleeping routine, even if you have to get up at the same time on weekends.
- Why Doing Ab Exercises Can’t Help You Burn Belly Fat - September 28, 2017
