Belly Fat, Abs and Six Packs Most of us want to lose belly fat or love handles - understanding how the body loses fat can make it a lot easier to tackle a fat loss program that actually works. Hundreds or even thousands of situps and crunches are not going to help you get a flat, toned stomach unless your body fat is already relatively low. You cant spot reduce fat from one specific trouble zone, you have to lose it all over. To reduce overall body fat, you need a combination of cardio, total body strength training, and a clean diet (lots of fruits, veggies, lean protein, whole grains & healthy fats). You dont need specialty shakes, powders, pills, etc, just hard work and the discipline to eat healthily. In general, an effective belly fat loss workout program might look something like this; - HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) 2-3 x per week (no more than 4 times a week, as the body needs to heal from this kind of intense training) - Lower intensity, steady state cardio on remaining days of the week, aside from 1-2 rest days - Strength training for the upper and lower body 2x a week each, or 2-3 total body strength sessions Theres a trending mindset that unless youve got a super low body fat percentage and/or a six pack, youre not fit. A concept that you shouldnt have an inch to pinch, anywhere. In reality, some body fat - and yes even belly fat - is normal and healthy. A six pack takes a very low body fat percentage - for many people, a low enough percentage that the body would be put under unnecessary stress and strain. For some people this comes very easily and even naturally, and theres nothing wrong with that. There is something less than ideal, however, with looking at the photo-shopped images on the covers of magazines and deciding that your one goal in life is attaining this hard to attain appearance that really is not even associated with a healthy or strong body. Many of the people you see in those photo shoots havent had a bite of real, healthy food in weeks or months, and couldnt run a half mile or lift a 10kg weight to save themselves. Some people even go through (potentially harmful) dehydration routines in order to look leaner before a shoot or competition. Realizing that a lot of the physiques that are pushed as the epitome of fitness are incredibly difficult to attain - and unhealthy to maintain - can help you keep your focus on goals that are smarter & healthier. What it comes down to is that you should strive to be fit and healthy in order to look and feel your best, but not necessarily set your sights on a goal that is purely aesthetics based. Its not about what you look like, its about what your body can do.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 13:13:17 +0000
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