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So you want to learn how to flatten your tummy? Well, you're certainly not alone. I've been working in the fitness industry for over a decade now and out of the 100+ clients that I've worked with, I'd say about 85% of them were looking to lose stomach fat.
They all come in and during our initial consultation, they usually tell me that they want to learn exercises that will help get rid of their belly. This is one of the most common misconceptions so I'll clarify this right now.
You can't spot reduce: Basically what that means is that you can't pick a specific area on your body and opt to lose fat off only that region. Sure, if you want to lose belly fat, you certain can - but if it's coming off your belly, you can rest assured that you're losing fat off other body parts as well.
Fat loss and fat gain are both dependant on your calorie intake. It's really quite simple in theory. If you ingest more calories than you burn, you'll gain weight. If you burn more calories than you ingest, you'll lose weight. Seems easy enough, right?
But Then Where Do People Go Wrong?
While it's a simple theory, there's a lot of factors at play. Most people misinterpret the information and since weight loss entails that you burn more calories than you ingest - people just stop eating and go on what's called "starvation" diets.
This is actually the worst thing someone can do. When people go on these "starvation" diets, guess what? Our body - which is highly adaptive - shifts into survival mode and because when it senses that it's "starving", it slows down the rate at which it burns calories in an effort to conserve nutrients.
And now that your metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn calories) has slowed down, what do you think happens when that dieter returns to their normal eating habits once they've met their initial weight loss goal?
Of course, they're just going to shoot right back up to their initial starting weight and more often than not, they end up heavier than they were when the first started the silly diet. This concept is now known as "yoyo" dieting.
The solution to "yoyo" dieting is actually to eat frequent, yet small portions of nutrient dense food throughout the day. Doing so will keep your metabolic rate revved up (think of it like throwing wood onto a fire) so you'll burn more calories throughout the day which in turn - as explained above - will ultimately help you lose weight.
How To Flatten Tummy - Which Exercises Are Best?
Contrary to what most people think, the best exercises to flatten your stomach aren't stomach isolation exercises at all. Rather, the best exercises to lose stomach fat - and body fat in general - are the exercises that burn the most calories.
These are usually the exercises that people avoid since quite frankly - they're hard to do. These are also the exercises that work multiple muscle groups at once and are responsible for adding a great deal of lean tissue onto your frame. The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be. |
