6 Pack Abs: Are You Wasting Your Time With Cardio Workouts

Are Cardio Workouts Wasting Your Time?

A look into why typical long-duration steady-state cardio exercise routines are not the most effective way to lose body fat.

article by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist


Are you wasting your time with hours and hours of boring cardio workouts each and every week? Well, you should be warned that steady-state cardio exercise is not the best way to get lean and lose fat.

Many people (including many fitness trainers and health professionals) just assume that it's a "fact" that you need cardio exercise for fat loss. The truth is that although cardio can help some people to lose fat simply from burning extra calories and living a healthier lifestyle in general, cardio is not the end-all be-all of fat loss.

In fact, there are types of workouts that can be more effective for losing fat if they are done with the right intensity and with the right types of exercises. Resistance training workouts (weights, bands, bodyweight, etc) as well as certain types of interval training workouts can produce better results if done correctly.

The joints

One problem to be aware of is that excessive cardio exercise such as long distance running can have tremendous impacts on the joints. On the other hand, shorter, but more intense styles of interval training, as well as resistance training can actually strengthen the joints when done properly (instead of wearing down the joints).

The After-burn effect

Also, same-pace cardio does not have the same metabolism-boosting effect and "afterburn" effect that resistance training workouts or interval training workouts have on your body. In studies, it has been shown that a high intensity weight training workout or interval training workout such as sprints or hill sprints can increase the metabolic rate for up to 1-2 days following the workout. This means you burn more calories AFTER the workout compared to a typical cardio routine.

This occurs because these higher intensity forms of training (such as weight training done at high intensity and interval cardio) stimulate muscle tissue to a greater degree and subsequently, the body must do more work to repair and rebuild the muscles throughout the body. This requires more energy and thus the "afterburn effect" of a raised metabolism and higher calorie burn in the 24-48 hours after the workout.

Compare this to a slower, steady-state cardio workout and the studies have shown that this afterburn effect only lasts 1-2 hours instead of 1-2 days as with the higher intensity workouts.

The Fat-Burning Hormonal Effect

Another aspect we must explore is the hormonal effect that certain types of exercise have on your body. With long duration excessive cardio exercise, you can actually go into a catabolic mode and the body starts to produce excess amounts of cortisol. This is not good and can lead to muscle loss and a reduced metabolic rate.

On the other hand, resistance training and high intensity interval training can stimulate muscle building and fat burning hormones in your body due to the stronger effort required by your full body musculature. This is yet another reason that weight training and interval workouts can create a leaner, more toned look in the body compared to focusing mostly on cardio routines.

The Skinny-Fat Appearance

Have you ever noticed someone that does a lot of cardio seemingly almost every day, yet still has that "skinny fat" appearance?

I see it all the time... basically this is where someone appears skinny in their legs, arms, chest, and back, yet has a visible gut in their belly, with excess stomach fat.

This is one of the typical results of someone that spends way too much time with cardio exercise routines instead of focusing more on resistance training and intervals


Ab Truth Are you at last ready to make a change or is it just going to be same old you next year?

6 Pack Abs In 2009 How To Flatten, Tone And Trim Your Abs

6 Pack Abs In 2009 - Today let's talk to Mike Geary of The Truth About Abs and get some tips on how to flatten, tone and reduce the fat around our waist.


Q: Now Mike, there's so many things out there as to what works and what does not work...if you had to pick 3 things that work time and time again to get flat abs, what would they be?

MG: The first and most important thing to get control of in order to get flat abs is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is king when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs.

There's so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is...after all, we are bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, atkins, south beach, liquid diets, and hundreds more. There's so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn't even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.

The second thing that works time and time again, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn stomach fat. In order to really get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.

For the third thing, let's talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs, if you want real results, I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are ok for someone that is really deconditioned, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than crunches. Crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance, and remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles.

I provide a ton of great abs exercises in my book, but one of THE highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Almost nobody ever does this right. To be honest, the majority of people cannot do this at first, but I provide some strategies in my book as to how to progress to doing these correctly.

Q: What are people doing wrong when it comes to developing the coveted "6 pack abs"?

MG: Well, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those flat 6-pack abs is...are you ready for this? They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! WAY too much time spent on abs exercises. Sounds crazy, but it's true.

Remember, having a flat and visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage. In order to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and increasing your metabolic rate. That just does not happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs.

Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That's what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a flat sixxer!

Q: Which exercises are the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum defintion with their midsection?

MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor abs exercises like lying leg thrusts (all described and illustrated in my book).

However, maximum definition in the abs and midsection comes from losing bodyfat, and the most effective exercises featured in my program for that goal are various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettlebell exercises that almost nobody ever does in normal gyms), squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you want great looking flat abs, focus on those instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!

Q: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing...and that is fat loss. What recommendations have you used to successfully help your clients lose fat and keep it off?

MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which accounts for almost half of the book, but I'll try to make some nice simple generalizations to get people started on the right path immediately. The most important thing is that your diet is as natural and unprocessed as possible. It almost always comes back to the overprocessing of food that makes it unhealthy, and makes it totally wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body.

For example, why eat refined grains, when you can eat whole grains. Why eat refined sugar, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when you can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, organically raised meat, and so forth.

The point is to not fall for some gimmick like low carbs, low fat, high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macronutrient vs. another. Your body needs all macronutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Trying to cut an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I get into much more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat (especially that stubborn stomach fat) for life in my book.

Thanks to Mike Geary for answering our questions and giving us some great information on how to have 6 pack abs in 2009.

See Also

Abtruth
it is a page I put up that gives the total review of the Truth About abs, articles by Mike and more of his insight about training and nutrition for six pack abs.

Six Pack Abs Enough With The Excuses

Stop With the Lame Excuses and Procrastination and Get Your Butt in the Gym!
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

How many times have you said "Oh, I'm too busy... I'll get started on my weight loss plan tomorrow", or "I'll just wait until after the holidays to start working out and getting in better shape"?

Working as a fitness professional, I hear people every single day say that they want to improve their shape... whether they want to lose weight, build some muscle, get stronger, lose the fat on their belly get six pack abs... whatever it may be.

Can you guess what happens when I say to them, "Well, if you really want it that bad, then why don't you start today... seriously, why not start working out and eating healthy today and lets make this happen now". Well, what usually happens is that they say that they'll just wait until next month because they're "too busy" right now.

Come on... Give me a break! It's nothing but LAME EXCUSE after lame excuse as to why you don't workout regularly or eat right. This becomes an endless cycle of excuses and procrastination for getting your butt in shape. Once next month comes, now you have another excuse... work has been too busy, or you're just too busy working on the house, and so on.

Consider this... Do you really think that all of the people walking around out there in great shape with their kick-ass bodies are any less busy than you? Hell no! Chances are, they are easily just as busy as you, yet THEY find the time to keep themselves healthy and in great shape.

Let's make a pact and STOP THE LAME EXCUSES FOR GOOD! Start on your goal today!

The bottom line is... If you really want it, you'll find the time. It's all about priorities and getting in the right mindset.

If you are one of these people that's always using excuses as to why you don't have time to eat right or workout, then I have bad news for you... You are NEVER going to get in good shape for the rest of your life! You are going to continue to yoyo back and forth and struggle with your fitness FOREVER!

Sorry to be so "in your face", but sometimes we all just need a wake up call. I'll even admit that although I've got my fitness pretty well handled, I've needed these wake up calls in other areas of my life where I was struggling, and I've appreciated those people that showed me the way.

So what's it going to be. The start of a new you or the same old excuses and go out and buy bigger size clothes.

SEE ALSO

Ab Truth So How about it 6 pack abs in 2009 it's never too late to start.