BUT, to lose fat (no bodybuilder ever grew enough
lumbar and abdominal muscle to get up to a 40 inch
waist, so yes, it is
mainly all fat), you need to burn off the fat. The way to do this is not
through resistance training. Ever see the strongest men in the world
competitions? Most of them look like fat guys, but with lots of muscle
beneath the fat. That's what you're doing with your ab
exercises, just
building up the muscle beneath all of that FAT.
To lose fat, you need to do two things:
-
Create a calorie deficit
-
Burn calories
Solely relying on dieting will simply shrink your whole
body down, including your muscles. The worst of all side-effects from
simply dieting is slowed metabolism! That's why most Americans will
gain 6-10 pounds of fat between Thanksgiving and the New Years - their
metabolism is SO stinking low that their body will save everything that
comes into their stomach as fat because it's in survival mode.
The best proven method for burning the fat off of your
belly (and your whole body, since we CANNOT spot-reduce the fat off of our
bellies... have you ever seen a six-pack model with fat arms?)... is
steady state aerobics.
-
Jogging
-
Elliptical
-
Stair-master
-
Swimming
The calories burned while doing crunches is probably
equivalent to curling two 12 oz. soda cans just as many times (okay, maybe
not, but you get the point). These fat-burning cardio activities should be
no less than 30 minutes (you may have to work up to it) and no more than
45 (sometimes 60) minutes. If 45 minutes is too easy, go harder.
Do a cardio 4 times a week. If you're happy with the
results, taper back to 3 times. If you need more, do 5 or 6 days a week
cardio. And if you're SUPER serious and need to lose it fast, the best way
to double your fat loss is to double the cardio - but not in one session
(you'd be burning off more muscle than fat). That's right, do a morning
cardio session at say 6:30 AM, for 30-45 mins, then again at 6:30 PM, for
another 30-45 mins. Don't do this double cardio thing for too long (no
more than 3-4 weeks) because it is VERY hard on the body.
There you have it, the BEST way to lose that gut,
shrink your waist, and look more defined, without EVER doing a sit up.
