Best Ab Workout Is Whole Body

by Robert Casewood

Fat around the midsection has long troubled gym-goers with less than stellar physiques. This can be attributed to our bodies' tendency to pack most of our body fat around our bellies, buttocks and thighs. As such, this area can be the most stubborn to trim down when we're working-out.

Fitness companies have recognized this and have been quick to cash in on countless people's war against belly fat. "Fat-burning" creams which allegedly melt away belly fat, ab workouts touted to give you a six-pack "in weeks" and countless exercise gadgets that isolate the abdominal muscles have been unleashed on the desperate masses eager to get rid of their soft paunches.

Sad thing is, most of these pricey ab products promoted on those ubiquitous fitness infomercials don't do anything to burn belly fat hiding your rippling ab muscles. In worst cases they only serve to burn a hole in your budget. The truth is, there is no real way to spot-reduce belly fat. We have to work on total body fat first before we can expect a reduction of fat in our midsection.

So body fat burn is the answer. So how do we go about doing that effectively? Legions of leotard-clad women in aerobic classes have long known the answer- cardio exercises. Experts say incorporating total body cardio exercise in our workouts tends to burn the most calories from body fat.

Exercises that isolate abdominal muscles aren't useless of course- they're a great way to strengthen and develop muscle tissue paving the way for that sexy six pack once the fat around the belly is eliminated.

Eating the right foods during the proper times can also help us get that elusive six pack in a shorter amount of time. The consumption of food high in carbohydrates early in the day can give us the necessary energy for a good workout and eating protein-rich food after exercising can help repair and develop our tired muscles.

Misinformed dieters try to slim down by cutting-back on food intake. Doing so can actually have adverse effects because our metabolism slows down when we go hungry to try to conserve calories. Worse, it may even use muscles as a source of energy thereby reducing muscle tissue and who wants that?

Doing muscle-building workouts aside from giving us a good physique can also help us fight body fat by increasing our metabolism. Surprisingly, our muscles expend calories even while at rest, so the more muscle tissue we have, the more calories we can burn while sleeping or lounging on the couch.

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