Friday, January 2, 2009

Ab Exercises Discussed

By Jose Loni

Ab exercises are not the answer to ripped abs. We are constantly bombarded with ads that promote ab exercises and machines, each claiming to be the answer to getting six pack abs. Achieving six pack abs, we need to look at our overall exercise activity to increase our overall metabolism and monitor our diet.

By monitoring the caloric intake of the food we eat and increasing our energy expenditure so that it's greater than our intake, our body will find other sources of energy. As a result, the body will utilize and burn the excess fat to fuel our activities.

When we do exercises that focus on large muscle groups and incorporate resistance exercises, we affect our metabolism. The increased lean body mass that results from resistance training increases the metabolic activity of the muscles, which then utilizes fat from the body as an energy source.

Anaerobic interval training has also been effective in increasing the body's metabolism by forcing the body to quickly adapt to the increased demands of the exercises. The interval training shocks the muscles to be explosive and reactive, which results in increased muscle mass. The increased muscle mass thereby increases the metabolic activity in the muscles, which has been shown to last for several hours after the exercise session.

Our diet is also something we need to consider. Eating quality foods made up of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals and fats, will enhance our energy levels and help our body to burn those foods for energy.

In addition, by increasing the number of meals we eat per day to 5-6 times and decreasing the portion sizes, we are better able to maintain our energy throughout the day and help maintain our blood sugar levels.

Increasing our energy expenditure and at the same time monitoring and decreasing our food intake, we can help our body to use the excess fat that we have as a fuel source.

The truth about ab exercises is that in order to get ripped abs, we need to watch what we eat and increase our overall activity levels. By stimulating our metabolism through interval training, we can help our body to be more efficient at burning excess belly fat and help us achieve ripped abs.

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