
I think it's safe to say that after just a few minutes, you'll want to rip that jacket (layer of fat) off. Now imagine you perform full-body exercises such as running up hills, stairs or circuit training with the same jacket on. If you were to do bicep curls or crunches, you probably wouldn't generate enough heat to make you want to remove the jacket. To give you a better idea of how this process works, pretend the layer of fat you want to lose from your body is like wearing a jacket. You can think about it like this: If the muscle group is small, the amount of heat it creates will also be small. Using one small muscle group, such as the abdominals or the biceps, is not significant enough to create the amount of heat necessary for fat burning to begin. In order to lose fat, your body temperature must increase enough to trigger the metabolic effects necessary to burn fat.

And because both muscle groups are small, working them will not cause you to burn fat. Each type of exercise strengthens a specific group of muscles. You can think of doing situps and crunches kind of like doing a bicep curl. What is important to understand is that there’s a big difference between strengthening your ab muscles and losing the layer of fat on top of them.Īt the end of the day, when people say they want a six-pack or a flat belly, what they really mean is they want to get rid of the layer of fat covering the muscles in their midsection. Situps and crunches simply won’t do this for you, even though I'm sure you've heard otherwise. The only way you can lose fat from your belly is to lose fat from your entire body.


The truth is, targeted fat loss - also known as spot reduction - is not possible, no matter how many crunches you do or products you buy. It often indicates a user profile.Īnd since a toned belly is exactly what everyone is looking for, the market is saturated with all kinds of belly-busting contraptions and workout DVDs. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
