Getting a six pack stomach is supposedly all about Abdominal Exercises.
The facts are that if you dropped your body fat to less than 10%, there is a good chance you will then have a nice little six pack there for all to see. Now all you need to do is build it up a bit. So you see it is not really about building your muscles, it is about reducing your body fat so that we can all see your muscles!
There are plenty of advertisements showing machines that you can buy on mail order which are guaranteed to build up your six pack. Hey they even show you the model as proof. And of course it is sooo easy, you will have the best six pack in no time!
Well if only it was that easy then everybody would be walking around with a six packs but unfortunately that's not the case.
Most of these advertisements are for machines that are designed to assist in the process of exercising the specific abdominal muscles required to build yourself a six pack. And most of them do quite a good job of that. But what these advertisements always neglect to advise is the fact that you will never see those abdominal muscles without removing the fat that covers them.
The reality is that it is more important to reduce your body fat percentage, so to complete the process, if you have a bit (or a lot) of a layer of fat around your waste line, you need to work on that as well as the actual exercises.
While you will burn up some calories during your ab workouts, it is not that much in the big picture of fat burning. So please don’t fall into the trap of thinking your workout will do it all.
Another myth is that by working your abdominal muscles you will reduce the fat layer directly over those muscles. This is being referred to as "spot reducing". You can try it if you like, but it does not work.
During exercise your body will look for carbohydrates as the energy required to sustain the activity. If there are absolutely no carbohydrates in your body it will look for protein next and finally fats.
Carbohydrates and to a lesser extent protein are fast burning fuels for your body, and when you are exercising that is what it needs. Fat takes quite a lot longer to breakdown and use, so it is normally the last from of energy burnt during exercise.
While exercise is a great way of helping to loose weight, a well devised diet plan is the best way to reduce your body fat. Once you put this in place you will be well on the way to not only a great set of abs but one that is out there for all to see"
Steve Roberts regularly writes about fitting fitness into your life, and you can get more information about developing your Six Pack Stomach at his blog Lifestyle Health and Fitness.