Abdominal Exercise
When most people start on
a weight-loss regime the first
thing they wish to attack
is their waistline. They start
off with visions of turning
a beer gut into an abdominal
six-pack. After a few weeks
of strenuous exercise nothing
appears to happen and soon
they lose confidence and give
up.
This article is designed to
explain, in laymen's terms,
why this happens and why you
may be using the wrong exercises,
or possibly the right exercises
at the wrong time. Either
way you are doing yourself
no favors.
Never give up because only
losers quit. We've all heard
the old saying: "The height
of stupidity is to repeat
the same thing and expect
a different result." If it
isn't working you try a different
routine and you keep doing
that until you find the routine
that does work, that is the
way of winners.
Why These Exercises do not
Reduce Waist
The first thing you must accept
is that all abdominal exercises
only strengthen abdominal
muscles, if those muscles
are covered by a layer of
fat when you start they will
still be covered by the same
layer of fat when you finish.
You will have stronger abdominal
muscles but you will not look
any different. Therefore your
attempt to create figure from
fat will have failed. The
secret to making these abdominal
exercises work is to lose
fat first. You lose fat by
diet and aerobic exercise,
by burning more calories than
you take in with food. When
you have reduced your waistline
to a more natural size you
can then take up abdominal
exercises and start working
on that perfect six-pack.
Weight Loss
In a nutshell you need to
reduce your calorie intake
and burn some calories off
by using light exercise. Losing
weight can only be achieved
by eating less and moving
more. Forget the complicated
scientific formulae, it all
boils down to eating less
and moving more.
Exercise Wisdom
Conventional wisdom claims
that you need to exercise
for 30-minutes each day and
that this demand can be broken
down to six five minute sessions
or three ten minute sessions,
whichever suits you best.
You can carry out aerobic
exercise using simple methods
like parking your car as far
from the store as possible
and forcing yourself to walk
further. Maybe walking up
the stairs instead of using
the escalator, any small act
of this nature that adds to
your normal exercise output
is aerobic exercise and burns
calories.
Eating habits
Furthermore it makes sense
to eat five or six meals each
day rather than two or three.
Why? Because you will eat
smaller meals and it is better
for your metabolism to deal
with smaller meals rather
than large meals. You can
also eat between these meals
providing you restrict it
to a piece of fruit or a raw
carrot. Dieting doesn't have
to be hard it has to be sensible.
Your brain doesn't get the
message that your stomach
is full for at least twenty
minutes after it is full.
How often have you eaten way
beyond the capacity that is
required simply because the
message hasn't got through?
Conclusion
There is no point in attempting
abdominal exercises while
you still have a layer of
fat and expecting a figure
improvement. Muscle building
and weight loss are separate
subjects that should be approached
individually if you are to
get the best results.
This article is (c) Copyright
David McCarthy 2005 and may
be reproduced in its entirety
with no additions.
About the author:
David McCarthy is webmaster
of http://www.recipesmania.com
a website devoted to freely
sharing knowledge on all facets
of food, cooking, weight loss,
food related health subjects
and a free weight loss program.
It contains recipes for all
occasions from health to partying.
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