Optimizing Your Ab Workout: Finally Burn Belly Fat and Get your 6 Pack Abs

As a personal trainer, one of the top questions I am often asked by both my own clients as well as people I run into in the gym is usually something like, "What workout will give me 6 pack abs", or " What kind of abdominal muscle exercises are best burning belly fat?" or "what is the most effective abdominal exercises?"

These questions are usually followed by the person explaining to me how they do 200 crunches/day followed by 100 leg lifts. They say they are using good abdominal exercises in their routine. They seem perplexed and can't seem to figure out why their abs don't look like washboards. If I've heard it once, I've heard it a million times. So why the misunderstandings about abdominal exercises? Out of all the different exercises out there, myths about abdominal muscle exercise seem to be the most persistant.  I want to dispel some of those myths once and for all.

The first thing you have to realize about having ripped abdominal muscles is that it is all about the fat baby. It doesn't really matter how good of shape your abs are in, if there is an inch of fat over the top of them, no one will ever know it. There are actually two pockets of fat you are trying to get rid of to have really defined, flat abs. The first is a very superficial subcutaneous fat deposit directly under the skin and over the abdominal muscles themselves. This fat layer covers the muscle and hides them from site. Reducing this fat layer will make it so that you can see the individual abdominal muscles. This gives you definition.  This gives you the sought after six pack.

The next fat deposit is actually much deeper. This fat deposit is actually under the abdominal muscle and surrounds all your internal abdominal organs such as the liver, intestines, pancreas, etc. . . . Another name for this body fat is visceral body fat. Having an excess of this fat deposit will give you an abdomen that sticks out like a beer gut. This type of fat is different from other types of fats in your body. It produces pro-inflammatory chemicals that can do things from aggravating arthritis, to causing heart disease. In fact, there is a direct link between abdominal girth and risk for heart disease. So it is very important to reduce this deposit of fat not just to give you a flat stomach, but also to improve your overall health.

Now that the anatomy lesson is out of the way, let's get on to the myths.

There seems to be a belief circulating in the gym that the more repetitions you do of an abdominal muscle exercise the greater effect it will have on your abs. This is absolutely false. If you were to biopsy an abdominal muscle and compare it to a biopsy of a bicep muscle they would be very similar. Though they appear on different parts of the body, and thus may be arranged differently, their makeup is the same. Skeletal muscle is basically the same no matter where it is found on the body and should be exercised the same way.

If you have an inch of fat over the top of your abs, and you want your abs to show through(six pack), the way you do this is to increase their size. You increase abdominal muscle size the same way you would increase the size of your biceps, quadriceps, lats, etc. . . . You would lift heavier weight with fewer repetitions. So instead of doing 100 crunches with no weight, which only improves your abdominal muscular endurance, you do 12 crunches while holding weight behind your head. This will increase the size of your abdominal muscles and make them show through the subcutaneous fat stores and skin.

Always remember this. Adding weight to your abdominal muscle exercises is important to increase the definition of your abdominal muscles. It can also increase your risk of low back injury if the proper form isn't executed. Get with a trainer or an experienced exerciser to make sure you are using the proper form with your abdominal exercises.

False. It is not possible to burn only the fat on your abdomen by doing lots of crunches, sittups, leg lifts, etc. . . . Generally speaking your fat will burn off layer by layer over parts of your entire body. Often times it will burn off in reverse order of how you developed it. So for example, if your abdomen was the first place you started to put on extra body fat, it will generally be the last place you will burn it off. Of course, there are always exceptions to that rule. For example, some studies have shown that higher intensity exercise does seem to target the central(deep abdominal) body fat stores.

For most people, lifting heavier weight will not increase the girth of your midsection. This is a myth that applies not just to the abs, but also to the rest of the body. Many women out there believe that if they lift heavier weights, it will increase their muscle size so much they will look "manish." This just isn't true.

Most women don't have enough testosterone in their bodies to grow muscles to the size of a man's muscles. The women who do this usually do so on purpose. Female bodybuilders take all different types of supplements including prohormones to increase the amount of testosterone in their bodies to support such large muscles. The average woman working in the gym without this extra supplementation just cannot accomplish this by lifting heavier weights alone.  The same applies for your abs. Your abs will begin to stick out somewhat, but this is the very thing that will give you definition. Don't worry. Adding weight to your exercises will only make you more defined.

In this article I have addressed some of the most prevalent myths circulating in all the gyms across America right now. Here are a few take home points:

• Adding weight to your abdominal exercises and decreasing repetitions can slightly increase abdominal size, thus increasing definition.
• Cardiovascular exercise to burn calories and dieting to restrict calorie intake will decrease subcutaneous fat stores and visceral(deep internal) fat stores to provide more definition of your abs and decrease the size of your belly.
• High intensity cardiovascular exercise my target central body fat stores directly.
• You cannot spot reduce body fat naturally. Not even the best abdominal exercises, whether upper abdominal exercises or lower abdominal exercises can accomplish this.

I hope this helps you to boost your abdominal exercise workout to the maximum level. Core abdominal exercise can be good not just for your look, but also for your health. Even the Best abdominal exercises in the world won't do you a bit of good if not used properly. Good luck and happy lifting.