The Truth about ab exercises
(what really works):
By: Alli Kerr
www.thepinkphysique.com
478-254-3220
Copyright 2014
What lady doesn’t want a TIGHT TUMMY?
The belly is the #1 area of the body that most women want to change. As women, our bellies go through many
stages: from puberty, to childbearing, to after babies, to menopause and beyond. Women’s bellies go through
a lot of changes through the years. This can lead to extra fat, stretched skin, and loss of muscle tone.
Regardless of where your belly is now, the GOOD NEWS is that you can decrease fat and increase tone in the
tummy.
1)
Check Your TOTAL Body Fat
Your Body Fat percentage is very important when assessing the state of your belly. The amount of body fat that
you have on your ENTIRE body is directly related to how your belly looks and feels. The higher your TOTAL
body fat percentage the more fat you will have stored in your belly. This is important to understand because
most women just want to “target” and work the fat in the belly. If we don’t burn fat everywhere, we won’t burn
it in the belly. At what TOTAL body fat percentage do we get a tight belly? Typically, a lady that has 6 pack abs
has a body fat percentage in the teens. Having a body fat in the teens is very low and this may not be a
reasonable year around goal for most ladies. But if 6 pack abs is the look you are going for, you will have to
MAINTAIN a total body fat percentage in the teens. This does not mean that you should have a body fat in the
teens unless, of course, you want a 6 pack. If you do, know that it is VERY challenging for most ladies to
achieve and maintain a body fat percentage in the teens.
If you don’t necessarily want six pack abs but you do want a flat tummy you will need to get your total body fat
in the mid to low 20’s (20 – 25%).
2)
Understand your Body Type?
Depending on your body type/shape and where you store fat, you may need to be at an even lower total body
fat in order to get a flat tummy. For example, if you naturally store more fat in your belly and breasts (apple),
you will have to have a body fat of 4-5 % lower than a woman that stores more fat in the hips and thighs (pear
or triangle) in order to get the same leanness in your tummy. That is a big difference that just our body shape
makes. That same lady that stores more in her hips and thighs (pear or triangle) would have to get her total
body fat 4-5 % lower to get the same leanness in the hips and thighs as the lady with more fat storage in the
breast and belly (apple). Understanding your body fat and body type are both important to understanding your
belly. I am a triangle/pear. I cannot change that basic shape and body fat storage ratio. However, I can get
my body fat and muscle tone to the place that helps balances me out and makes me the best looking
triangle/pear possible.
“Be the Best YOU That You Can Be”
Copyright 2014.
www.thepinkphysique.com
478-254-3220
3)
How much does your food really affect your belly?
For ladies, food makes ALL the difference. Most ladies eat a higher ratio of carbs and fat. Then add alcohol into
the mix and we really pack on the belly fat. We metabolize food at a slower rate than men. Therefore, in order
to have a tight tummy we have to eat for our metabolism. When we have extra fat stored in our bellies we
know that we are not eating in the right balance for our metabolism. And the more fat we store, the better at
storing fat our bodies become. It is a domino effect. The more out of balance our food, the more out of
balanced food we crave. Because our carbs tend to be higher than our male counterparts, we can easily
become addicted to sugar. It doesn’t have to be in the form of “sweets”. We can become addicted to salty,
munchy carbs. Protein is the food that women do not typically eat enough of, especially to support an active
lifestyle. Protein supports muscle tissue (that is the tight and toned tissue). When our ratio becomes too high
in carbs, fat, and alcohol we gain fat, and often times in our bellies. To lose the belly we have to lose some of
the carbs/sugars & alcohol. We also must get lean protein in throughout the day to help keep our bodies in
balance. I personally strive to eat a lean protein every time I eat. Now my body knows if I have too much
sugar without that protein to balance it out.
Here are 2 things that you can do RIGHT NOW to cut Belly fat: 1) Eat a lean protein every time you eat or
drink calories. 2) Avoid drinking calories from flavored coffee, sodas, fruit juice, alcohol, etc. Just these 2
changes will have you losing TOTAL body fat and have that tummy shrinking in just the first few days you make
the change.
“EAT A COMBINATION OF COMPLEX CARBS & LEAN PROTEIN AT EVERY MEAL”
4)
Finally – Let’s Talk about AB EXERCISE – THE TRUTH!!!
As ladies, we are obsessed with our bellies. Because of this focus on this one body part, many ladies have
concluded that if we just do enough “ab” specific exercises we would get the belly fat to melt away and get the
abs of our dreams. In theory this makes sense. In science, it does NOT work. Exercise burns fat. Note that I
did not say it burns belly fat. Nor did I say that belly exercise burns belly fat. No – I said EXERCISE burns fat.
Remember how we talked about your TOTAL body fat? I said to get your belly tight you had to get your TOTAL
body fat percentage to a level in the low to mid 20’s. Exercise is the best weapon outside of food that we have
to change our TOTAL body fat. Some exercises burn more fat than others. And would you believe that many
“ab” only exercises actually burn very few calories and fat? Yet, I see too many women WASTING time and
energy doing these low fat burning belly exercises. Our intent is very good. Our understanding of science is
very bad. Hence, we get frustrated with little to no results. So what exercises burn the most fat?
A. Exercises that build muscle burn the most fat. By adding muscle tissue (the tight and toned tissue)
to our body we increase the amount of fat we are burning every second of the day. No one can
perform exercises every second of the day. BUT we can exercise to build muscle which will BURN
TOTAL fat every second of the day. Now that is a pretty good deal if you ask me! And don’t worry
about muscle making you big or bulky. As you can see from the picture below it is fat that makes
us big and bulky and squishy and jiggly – well you get the idea. Look at the size of 5 lbs of fat vs. 5
lbs of muscle!!! Use as many muscles as possible to burn the most fat. Instead of just working the
abs, work EVERY part of the body. You will lose more fat and inches in your BELLY!!! Do a variety
of strength training exercises 3-4 days per week working the entire body for maximum fat burn and
maximum BELLY BURN!!!
Examples of Strength Training Exercises:
B. Cardiovascular Exercise after Resistance Training Kicks up the Fat Burning and on non-resistance
days. Cardiovascular Exercises such as stair stepper, treadmill, bike, and fitness classes increase
our lung capacity. That means that our lungs get stronger and more efficient. Our heart also gets
stronger and more efficient with cardiovascular exercise. As our heart and lungs get stronger we
have more energy. The more energy we have the more active we are. The more active we are the
more calories we burn all day long. The more calories we burn the more fat that we burn. I prefer
HIIT cardio most days especially on non-resistance days instead of steady state cardio. HIIT means
that you go from moderate intensity to very high intensity for short bursts of 15-30 seconds. If fat
loss is the goal you will need to do more days of HIIT cardio exercise to burn more fat. If
maintenance is the goal you will only need 3 days of HITT or Steady State cardiovascular exercise.
Steady State cardio is an exercise performed at a moderate pace that can be maintained for 30
minutes. I like to mix in at least one day of steady state cardio each week that is a longer slower
paced workout session. This is a great workout to do the day after a hard workout that has your
muscles sore. You loosen up your muscles and burn extra fat.
Here is a sample HIIT Treadmill Running/Walk 20 minute workout:
C. Consistent Exercise! Last but not least - The best exercise to burn BELLY FAT is CONSISTENT
exercise. I see too many ladies that start and stop workout and eating programs. I meet with too
many ladies that are afraid to commit to an ongoing fitness and healthy eating program. Yet these
same ladies have committed years to ongoing weight and fat gain. Fit is a LIFESTYLE. It is not
something to try on or test out. When we exercise regularly OVERTIME and eat in balance
everything else in life feels better. We sleep better, have more energy, are in better moods, have
more confidence, better body image, and we look better. And YES – our bellies are tighter, smaller,
and flatter. Consistent exercisers have less TOTAL BODY FAT than the inconsistent start and
stoppers. Give yourself a BIG PAT ON THE BACK FOR ADOPTING A FIT & FABULOUS LIFESTYLE!!!
Here is what else you get with it:
LET’S BEGIN YOUR JOURNEY
TO A Flatter & Firmer Belly!!!
Copyright 2014.
www.thepinkphysique.com
478-254-3220