How To Get A Flat Stomach
All of us are safe during the cold winter months when we can easily hide that bit of fat we have hanging over the waistband of our jeans with a simple oversize sweater or jacket. But when the seasons change and summer is once again here, it is time to get in shape and get trim if you are even remotely interested in hitting the beach again.
Unfortunately, the frustrating truth to the matter is that our stomachs are one of the hardest if not the trickiest areas to tone up compared to the rest of our body. Luckily this superb workout has been designed by experts to make you getting a flat stomach that bit easier. It is extremely effective and is much easier compared to the traditional agonizing stomach crunches we used to have to torture ourselves with just to achieve get a flat stomach.
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How To Get A Flat Stomach: RULE #1
Crunches are great, but they are not good enough to attack the hidden core muscles of your stomach. If you want the truth, in order to just burn one pound of fat around your midsection, you are going to need to perform about 250,000 crunches! This adds up to about 100 crunches every single day for seven years! Talk about hard work. This is according to research that has been conducted by the University of Virginia.
Rather than putting yourself through all of that agony, what you can do instead is aim to target your transverse abdominals, multifidis and internal oblique muscles, which are the muscles hidden beneath the superficial ones. By strengthening them, you can keep that area looking flat and toned much more easily. Unfortunately most people do not know how to go about doing this, according to celebrity trainer Valerie Waters, who has had clients like Jennifer Garner and Elizabeth Berkley under her belt.
So here is how you can train yourself to start engaging these core muscles. First, lie down on your back and as you do so, place your hands below your navel and exhale slowly. When you exhale, let your tummy expand as far as it can go. Then inhale and while doing so, pull your belly toward your spine and tightly draw in the abdomen. Imagine you are pulling it towards the floor. Hold this move and repeat it about 8 to 10 times, holding the move for 5 seconds each time you do it.
How To Get A Flat Stomach: RULE #2
Believe it or not, your butt and your belly work hand in hand together. If you spend large amounts of time sitting down, over time, your glute muscles practically become useless and the hip flexors can become stiff also. This weakness in turn will cause your pelvis to tilt forward whilst sitting, placing too much strain on your back resulting in back pains. So, In order to tone up your stomach, you are going to have to work out your butt muscles too otherwise things will become too unbalanced and long term injury can follow.
The most effective exercises for working the butt would be the glute bridge march and the hip-thigh raise, both of which will help you build stronger butt muscles. To do this, get into the lunge position and lower yourself until your back knee is touching the floor. Then push you’re hips forward so that you will feel a stretch in your front hip. Remember to keep your abs tight while you do this. Hold this move for about 10 seconds, relax, and repeat on the opposite leg. For an increased stretch, try stretching your arm over head as you perform the move. This will add intensity.
How To Get A Flat Stomach: RULE #3
You are what you eat, and if you want to get a flat stomach, you are going to have to up the protein intake by increasing your dose of meat, fish, nuts, carbs and dairy to help reduce the fat around your stomach. Research done by the McMaster University in Canada showed that those who did this saw a decrease in overall abdominal fat.
You would also need to cut out sugar, especially sugar that comes from processed foods such as breakfast cereals, fruit drinks, flavored yoghurt and so on. This is because too much sugar can actually slow down your metabolism, which is not what we want in burning fat. What you should do is instead eat foods that are rich in monounsaturated fats, which includes foods such as nuts, avocados and even olives.
This is because research has shown that a certain amount of fat in your diet is good compared to no fat at all or even a low fat diet. This can also help you better stick to your diet too, according to a Los Angeles nutritionist Alan Aragon. Also, avoid foods such as beans and broccoli because that can in fact cause you to feel bloated and make your stomach swell. Watch your sodium intake as well if you don’t want to retain excess water weight as to much salt will cause you to hold onto water.
How To Get A Flat Stomach: RULE #4
Try not to stress out too much either. Yes you read right. Stop stressing out because stress can result in your body producing extra cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that encourages the body to store fat, which is exactly what we don’t want in this instance. Researchers at Yale University say that compared to the rest of your body, your stomach is four times more likely to store fat tissue, which is why we tend to gain weight more easily in that section.
Stress is also not good for you because a lot of us tend to eat when we are stressed as a form of comfort. To avoid this, keep food as far away from yourself as possible, and especially not near your work space.
How To Get A Flat Stomach: RULE #5
You don’t need to work your abs everyday, and three sessions a week will do it for you. Bill Hartman, C.S.C.S., co-owner of Indianapolis Sports and Fitness says that doing crunch after crunch every single day won’t make you lose your belly fat any faster because your muscles need time to recover too and stressing them out too much breaks down the tissues. Your stomach needs rest in order to recuperate and become stronger.
Rachel Cosgrove, C.S.C.S., owner of Results Fitness in Newhall, California also says that just 15 to 20 repetitions is all you need and once you can do those easily, you can move on to harder moves. She also says that if you are serious about getting flat abs, then instead of doing the sit-ups right at the end when you are tired out from your other workouts, trying doing them first and make them a priority. In the long run, it will pay off much better when you look in the mirror and see that flat stomach.