Thursday, January 15, 2009

Ab Exercises - The Long Road

By Jose Loni

Ab exercises, the long road to achieving ripped abs, actually cause imbalances in the muscles and potential injury. A better, more effective way to getting visible, toned abs is by increasing our metabolism and practicing diet discipline.

Ab exercises have always been promoted as the best way to achieve ripped abs. Many different types of crunches, sit-ups and core exercises, mostly utilize and recruit the hip flexor muscles rather than the abdominal muscle group, which can cause muscle imbalances. Some ab exercises position the back in an awkward position, which can cause injury.

A more effective way of getting ripped abs is to increase our metabolism through resistance and interval training as these have proven to yield relatively quick and successful results.

When we train with resistance or intervals, we place demands on our body, which causes our muscles to react by increasing its metabolic activity. When our muscles require energy, our body will seek any excess fat and utilize it as fuel resulting in fat burning and utilizing the excess fat in our belly.

A beneficial side effect of interval and resistance training is an increase in metabolism, which allows for extended fat burning even several hours after the training session.

When we practice diet discipline by consuming complex carbohydrates and lean proteins, we are allowing our bodies to, not only lessen caloric intake, but to also keep it energized throughout the day. On the other hand, sweets, sodas and fatty fast foods cause excess calories to be stored as fat in our stomach area.

Consuming small, frequent meals around 5-6 times throughout the day prevents our blood sugar levels from going up and down too much. As a result, we remain energetic and manage to maximize excess body fat burning.

Ab exercises are, indeed, the longer, possibly more harmful, road to six-pack abs. Care must be taken to avoid injuries and muscle imbalances. Get six pack abs by increasing metabolism and having diet discipline.

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