Before you start your abdominal workout and exercises you need to set goals and mentally prepare to ensure that you achieve your aims and objectives. If you dive into an abdominal training regime without thinking about what you want to achieve and how you want to or are going to achieve it, then it is more than likely that you will fail before you've even started. As the old saying goes, "Fail to plan, then plan to fail".
There are a few questions you need to ask yourself before beginning your abdominal training regime to rid your abs of that excess abdominal fat.
Do I really want flat abs?
Am I willing to work as hard as I need to to achieve flat abs?
If I did get flat and firm abs, what will that change in my life? What will flat abs actually do for me?
What would happen if I let go of this ideal and focused on other goals?
Get a piece of paper and a pen and write down your answers to the above questions. After looking at your answers and thinking about your targets and objectives, do you still want to proceed with the abdominal workout to achieve flat and firm abs or do you want to give up now?
If you're still with me then your next challenge is to write down your goals. Write down your short term goals such as:
"I want to lose one inch around my abs within one week"
Or they can be long term goals such as:
"I want to lose six inches around my abs within twelve weeks and I want to continue my training programme after this time to maintain the firmness in my abs"
Your goals don't have to be about losing a certain amount around your abs; they could also be something like:
"I want to firm up my abs and have the confidence to wear a bikini at the beach".
Write three or four goals down and stick them on your bedroom wall or in a place where you will see them everyday. This will keep you focused on the task and motivate you to do that one last sit up or one last crunch.
Do not underestimate the importance of this step. This part of the process is essential not just for abdominal training but also for any fitness programme or regime you embark upon. Don't ever dive into a fitness programme without the required planning stages.
The single most important fact that you should know about losing abdominal fat is that there is no magical formula that can make your abdominal fat vanish in a jiffy. Losing abdominal fat permanently requires patience and commitment to some basic tips. But do notlose heart. It is a feat anyone can accomplish the easy way if one understands the reasons why abdominal fat develops and why it seems so frustratingly resistant to all those exercise or diet plans you have tried out but given up too soon to see results.
The first thing you must understand is that there is no physical exercise that can reduce fat from a specific part of the body. When you burn fat for energy, as during an aerobic activity, fat loss will occur systemically, i.e., from all over the body. But since fat distribution naturally varies from person to person, depending on inherited genetic factors, some people will tend to lose abdominal fat faster while others may lose fat at say hips or thighs faster. So do not compare your abdominal fat loss graph with others.
Another thing, doing countless sit-ups and leg-raises or slogging out day in and day out on the latest abs equipment without paying heed to your diet and an aerobic activity is not going to make your abdominal fat go away. What these exercises do is to shape up and tone your abdominal muscles, but do nothing to metabolize away the layers of fat covering them. That is why the shaped and toned muscles remain elusive to the eye.
There is one and only one way of losing abdominal fat the easy way, and that is with the combination of a balanced and nutritive diet, aerobic activity, and strengthening exercises for abdominal and other muscles. The best kind of workout to burn the layers of abdominal fat along with overall fat comprises a cardiovascular or aerobic exercise like brisk walking, jogging, cycling, dancing, swimming or stair climbing, combined with abdominal exercises like crunches and hip lifts, and also weight training for other muscle groups. Weight training increases your lean muscle mass and hence your metabolic rate, implying that you burn more fat even while resting.
Glycogen (stored carbohydrates) is the primary fuel source during the first 10 minutes of an aerobic exercise. Substantial fat burning starts only after stored glycogen is depleted. Hence, the key to fat loss is working out at moderate intensity continuously for about 45 to 60 minutes. However, this comprises only 50% of the abdominal fat loss plan. The remaining 50% contribution comes from diet control. Abdominal exercises will help strengthen the muscles and give definition to the reducing midsection.
However, if your calorie intake is higher than your calorie expenditure, you are bound to put on abdominal fat as well as general body fat regardless of how diligently you work out and how many abdominal crunches you do a day- it is simple mathematics in action. Ideally, spread your calorie intake into five small meals a day instead of 2 or 3 big ones. Include a variety of foods that are rich in fiber and low in fat and sugar, with about 55% of the calories coming from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 15% from fat. Avoid carbohydrates late in the evening.
Remember, when it comes to losing abdominal fat, you have to adopt a holistic, whole-body approach as there are absolutely no shortcuts. A surgical shortcut like liposuction also becomes meaningless if you are not going to control to your diet, because removing fat cells from the abdomen by liposuction will lead to excess fat storage elsewhere and perhaps under the chin or on knees or shoulders- where it may look even worse than at the abdomen.
Lastly, here is a fact that is not exactly what you would want to hear: even if you are on a holistic exercise-cum-diet fat loss plan, abdominal fat is most likely going to be the last fat to leave your body.
Both James Penn & Kelvin Ho are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
James Penn has sinced written about articles on various topics from Abdominal, Destinations and Holidays. James Penn is an expert at planning fitness training programs and especially abdominal routines. You can learn exactly what he teaches for free including