Abdominal Exercises Will not Burn Belly Fat, but They Will Bring the Sexy

Not to beat a dead horse, but I can’t help reiterating the fact that abdominal exercises will not burn belly fat. Despite the fact that the rationale behind this is relatively straight forward, I still find people that believe in isolation exercises for getting rid of belly fat. But they don’t. They waste time and on occasion make you feel a bit sore. But the lactic acid buildup that causes soreness is no indication of muscle stimulation or of the calorie expenditure that causes fat loss.

I suppose this concept is somewhat difficult to embrace because it isn’t a big leap to say, “Well, if I want to reduce belly fat, than I ought to do belly fat exercises, namely abdominal exercises and crunches which make me feel sore in the same area.” I still find clients that come to me for weight loss and question why I have them do relatively little abdominal work in our workouts. I just try to reinforce the fact that abdominal workouts don’t reduce belly fat. Burning calories and building muscle does.

But we have dedicated several posts to this already on the best ways to lose belly fat with resistance training and interval training. In this post I’d like to breach the topic of abs workouts for those that are relatively close to their belly fat goals. Unless you are within 10 to 15 pounds of your lean and sexy frame, abdominal exercises will not improve definition. They will only improve core strength. Core strength is very important for all around strength, but the core is indirectly worked from virtually every full body compound movement, whether you are lifting weights (squat, shoulder press, etc.) or jogging.

So until you’ve made great gains in belly fat reduction, I highly recommend not wasting your gym time with abdominal exercises. 10 minutes a week is more than sufficient to strengthen the abs through 2 to 4 sets of static contraction training via a plank, or sets of crunches to failure. You should reduce rest times between sets to 30 seconds to 1:30 at most. This allows you to finish one session in 5 minutes or less. 1 to 2 sessions a week will strengthen your core sufficiently to carry you through your primary exercises to lose belly fat mentioned in the posts linked to from above.

Let’s look more closely at abdominal exercises for those who are near their goals and are ready to build the abs for greater tone and definition. Abdominal training should keep to the same principles we applied to our resistance training. Sessions should be short, intense, and focus on the abs as a unit, rather than messing around with lower, middle, and upper abs exercises. Your abs workout should consist of only one or two exercises per session, and they should provide maximum resistance in the shortest amount of time. Naturally, this will be contingent on your level of abdominal strength. And just as importantly the abs need days of rest to recover and grow stronger.

Let’s look at a few of the best abdominal exercises for people at various levels of strength. You can use these exercises and principles to construct your own abs workout in conjunction with your resistance and interval training. Just keep in mind these exercises do not burn belly fat, they build the abs so you’ve got something to show off after your belly fat reduction phase. My favorite exercise for those with weak abdominals is the plank. A plank, as the name suggests, is holding the body straight like a plank, while the forearms are on the ground supporting you and your body is help up in a pushup type position. That’s all you do. You don’t crunch or move, you just hold yourself up. This mimics the natural function of the abs as stabilizing muscles. You should aim for 3 sets of one minute. If you can do this, you’re ready for intermediate exercises.

The next level can either include v-sits, where the body is out stretched on the floor, and keeping your arms and legs straight, curl your body into a V and touch your feet with your hands, or it can include mountain climbers, which begin with a pushup position with arms extended, and brings in one knee to your elbow at a time. Don’t put weight down on the ground with your foot as you draw in your knee. Perform these slowly, with a straight plank like body, and controlled. If you can do three sets of 15 v-sits, or three to four sets of 20 to 30 mountain climbers, you’ve developed a great deal of abdominal strength and control. Moving on is only for the hardcore at this point, as you’ve done more than enough work for a nice six pack. You just need to focus on your belly fat diet for the definition.

The next level of resistance comes in the form of knee or leg raises. These can be done more easily by holding yourself up with your forearms supported. The hardest version is performing these from a hanging position on a pull-up bar. From here you slowly bring your knees to your chest or more advanced, straight legs up past a 90 degree point. Control the downward movement as well. If you can perform three to four sets of 10 to 15 repetitions of this your abs are rock hard. If you can do this and still lack definition and tone, diet is the only factor responsible.

I personally prefer not to work my abdominals into my full body resistance or circuit training sessions because I believe they waste time and lack the intensity of other full body compound movements. If I do them on the same day, I do them at the end of the workout. I prefer to do my abs training on my interval training and cardio days. I either perform them quickly before I do interval training, or I incorporate them into the interval session itself. So I’ll run hard for a few minutes, stop and do a set of abs, and repeat. This works the abs immensely and pulls the whole midsection in. It’s a great way to burn belly fat while strengthening the core.

And even though abdominal exercises will not burn belly fat, once you’ve made great gains in belly fat reduction, they will indeed bring the sexy.