Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN, a registered holistic nutritionist, fitness expert and highly sought-after high-performance health coach, explains why.
Targeted fat loss – also known as spot reduction – is not possible, no matter how many crunches you do or products you buy. The only way you can lose fat from your belly is to lose fat from your entire body. Sit-ups and crunches simply won’t do this for you, even though I’m sure you’ve heard otherwise. What is important to understand is that there’s a big difference between strengthening your ab muscles and losing the layer of fat on top of them.
You can think of doing sit-ups and crunches kind of like doing a bicep curl. Each type of exercise strengthens a specific group of muscles. And because both muscle groups are small, working them will not cause you to burn fat.
In order to lose fat, your body temperature must increase enough to trigger the metabolic effects necessary to burn fat. Using one small muscle group, such as the abdominals or the biceps, is not significant enough to create the amount of heat necessary for fat burning to begin. The bottom line is that spot reduction is a myth, so you can save your money on all those gadgets, gizmos and workout plans being advertised.
They don’t work. In order to have a flat belly, you have to reduce your total body fat percentage – and sit-ups simply can’t do this.
High Intensity = High Heat
Running hills is a great example of an exercise that uses both the upper and lower body. This high-intensity exercise generates a tremendous amount of heat in the body, which you now know is essential for fat loss. If you can, think back and compare the amount of heat you would feel doing sit-ups, and then compare it to the amount of heat you would feel after running up and down hills. The difference is extraordinary.
Any exercise that gets multiple muscle groups involved is high intensity, and it will increase your body temperature and get your fat burning. You’ll not only create a ton of heat in the body – you’ll also be building muscle mass. The more muscle mass you have, the hotter your fat-burning engine will burn during your exercise sessions. And that is exactly what you want if having a flat belly is your goal.
By Yuri Elkaim, USNews.com
Targeted fat loss – also known as spot reduction – is not possible, no matter how many crunches you do or products you buy. The only way you can lose fat from your belly is to lose fat from your entire body. Sit-ups and crunches simply won’t do this for you, even though I’m sure you’ve heard otherwise. What is important to understand is that there’s a big difference between strengthening your ab muscles and losing the layer of fat on top of them.
You can think of doing sit-ups and crunches kind of like doing a bicep curl. Each type of exercise strengthens a specific group of muscles. And because both muscle groups are small, working them will not cause you to burn fat.
In order to lose fat, your body temperature must increase enough to trigger the metabolic effects necessary to burn fat. Using one small muscle group, such as the abdominals or the biceps, is not significant enough to create the amount of heat necessary for fat burning to begin. The bottom line is that spot reduction is a myth, so you can save your money on all those gadgets, gizmos and workout plans being advertised.
They don’t work. In order to have a flat belly, you have to reduce your total body fat percentage – and sit-ups simply can’t do this.
High Intensity = High Heat
Running hills is a great example of an exercise that uses both the upper and lower body. This high-intensity exercise generates a tremendous amount of heat in the body, which you now know is essential for fat loss. If you can, think back and compare the amount of heat you would feel doing sit-ups, and then compare it to the amount of heat you would feel after running up and down hills. The difference is extraordinary.
Any exercise that gets multiple muscle groups involved is high intensity, and it will increase your body temperature and get your fat burning. You’ll not only create a ton of heat in the body – you’ll also be building muscle mass. The more muscle mass you have, the hotter your fat-burning engine will burn during your exercise sessions. And that is exactly what you want if having a flat belly is your goal.
By Yuri Elkaim, USNews.com
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