Friday, February 27, 2009

The Best Ab Workout Works Many Segments At Once

By Jose Loni

The best ab workout is a full body workout. We are always exposed to media ads of ab exercises and machines that promise great looking abs by training the abs directly. The fact of the matter is, the best ab workout is a full body workout that emphasizes increasing the body's metabolism, by training with weights, interval training, monitoring what we eat, and managing our stress.

Training the abs is good to help increase the strength and stability of the abdominal and lumbar area. However, spot reduction is not effective to achieve six pack abs. By training many segments at once, we force the body to burn fat, which will help expose the underlying abs in the stomach area.

Doing multi-joint exercises with resistance helps to increase the body's metabolism. Not only does our body become more defined and toned, but the increased muscle mass increases the metabolic activity of the body and helps burn excess body fat, which is stored in the belly.

Training with intervals also helps the body increase its metabolism. By adapting to the high intensity sets of the activity, the body must increase its metabolic activity. The increased metabolic activity causes the body to seek out and convert excess fat from the body into a consumable fuel. The increased metabolic activity has been shown to continue its fat burning well after the exercise session has ended.

Watching our diet is another effective way to help our metabolism. By eating quality food made of lean protein and complex carbohydrates, we can effectively provide our body with the calories to fuel our physical activity. Avoiding sugar, sodas and fatty foods will help us control our caloric intake and keep from taking in too many calories. When we take in too many calories, our body will convert the excess calories into fat.

Instead of eating 3 large meals per day, we should eat 5-6 smaller portioned meals throughout the day to help us maintain our energy level for our daily activities and to keep our blood sugar levels from fluctuating up or down.

Decreasing the stress in our lives is an effective way to prevent further fat storage in our belly area. When we experience stress, our body releases Cortisol, a hormone that causes fat to be stored in the abdominal area. This fat is stored there to be used during a time of emergency.

By training several body parts at once, we are better able to achieve results in our abs. Making changes in how we train using resistance and interval training exercises, controlling what we eat and decreasing our stress levels will get us the fastest and best results for a flat toned stomach. - 15683

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