Anyone interested in fitness wants to have great looking abs – firm, rippled and well-toned, along with a trim waist. Stunning six-pack abs are possible, not doubt about it, but please be aware of the myths about achieving them.

Calories (the measurement of energy) are consumed during exercise. When you consume enough to deplete the available energy, and enough to reduce the sugars that convert easily, the body goes after stored energy. That stored energy is largely in the form of fat deposits in adipose tissue.

That process is not selective, unfortunately. Your body will convert fat deposits at random, and there is no way to control this behaviour. For example, you cannot reduce the fat around your abs only. You can still achieve the same effect, but the ab exercises does not only target that fat.

The actual outcome would be building new muscle mass and strength in that area. That’s helpful for a number of reasons. It keeps a firm, strong layer of muscle which helps keep the stomach and other internal organs well inside the plane defined by your hips. You also get a nice trim, flat look.

Abdominal exercises help in another way, too. Abdominal muscles are much larger that say your jaw muscles, and therefor they also consume much more energy. That means that as you work them, they have to be supplied with more energy to move through the range of the exercise. This results in buring more calories, which again causes a reduction in fat and weight loss.

You won’t find any drug or supplement that can safely or effectively be used as a substitute. You will need to work out on a regular basis, and perform moderate to heavy exercise to achieve this. Currently there is not shortcut if you want a trim waist.

Your age and genetics also play a role in the effectiveness. People differ, and some store fat around the middle more readily that others. Obviously your gender also makes a difference.

Many women in their 40s will naturally develop a pouch in the lower abdomen as their hormones change. Older men (forties plus) are also more likely to develop so called “love handles” since fat is more readily stored in the adipose tissue.

In order to achieve the desired effect you have to approach muscle fatigue. There’s no need to perform a hundred crunches to accomplish that. Done correctly, 20 reps is enough. This can be done without a visit to the gym. Office chairs are great for pelvic tilt exercises.

But for best effect, warm up and try the following:

Lie on your back, with your knees raised and cross your arms across your chest.

Then lift your shoulders off the floor and hold for thirty seconds.

You should already feel the effect on your abs.

Put your hands beside your head to make this more difficult.

Don’t use your hands to lift your head, just keep them still.
Your hands should remain still and must not be used to lift your head.

For maximum effort, put your hands above your head, then perform the same shoulder lift and hold, focusing on the abs.

Feel the burn. Repeat daily for ten minutes or twenty repititions. In a couple of weeks, you’ll see definite results.

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