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Ab training has been done to death but it's time to take another look. Why? Because people are still training their abs wrong so all that ab training information must not be doing the right job.
Here's a list of the top Myths about Abdominal Training that you should avoid at all costs...
1 - There's no such thing as Spot Reducing - Endless crunches will not melt away the fat from your midsection. It just doesn't work that way. And despite the "burn" of high rep ab exercises, you barely burn any calories while doing those endless crunches.
Your fat burning time is best spent elsewhere on more effective "cardio" training.
2 - The Abs are a Muscle and should be trained as such. You don't need high reps and lots of sets to work your abs. This just leads to over training.
Now, abs are a more endurance oriented muscle so slightly higher reps may be more effective. However, you should keep the reps at 20 or lower and work on increasing the resistance and variety in your training.
Yes, you should be increasing the weights on ab exercises, just like your other exercises. The stronger your abs, the better they will look when the fat is stripped away.
Ever see a really thin guy with a flat stomach but no abs? In that instance, the abs haven't been trained and aren't developed enough to stand out even when the fat is stripped away.
3 - Don't train the abs more than necessary - What the heck do I mean by this? Well, your abs get a lot of indirect work from other exercises so you really won't need more than a couple of hard sets of weighted crunches to work your abs.
Your abs are a factor in exercises such as squats, dead lifts, seated or standing presses, dumbbell pullovers, pulldowns, etc.
Don't believe me? Next time you work out, do a few hard sets of standing stiff armed pulldowns on the lat machine and tell me your abs aren't sore the next day. I did them yesterday and my abs are more sore than my back today.
If you want to develop a flat stomach with your abs visible, you need to treat your abs the same as your other muscles. And you need to strip away the fat with a proper training and nutrition program designed around total fat loss (like that found in the Living Health Audio Program), not trying to spot reduce through endless crunches.
The number of ab machines constantly coming to market is mind boggling. Especially considering that they aren't needed and won't give you the results that you want unless you begin training your abs like regular muscles rather than like a machine that needs 100 reps to get primed up..
Let's set the record straight on ab training right now and give you the real information you need so you can say no to the next infomercial ab machine and yes to actual results.
1 - Training your abs consistently and persistently will eventually give you the flat stomach or six-pack that you want.
But it's not gonna happen if your abs are covered by a layer of body fat and doing endless sets of ab exercises is not the way to rid yourself of that excess body fat - even if you buy the most expensive ab machine on the most motivating infomercial.
2 - Skip a day in between your ab training days.
Your abs are a muscle, just like your chest, lats, arms and so on. You should train your abs just like these other muscles, with progressive resistance and high intensity - then allow them to rest and recover. Never train your abs more than 3 days a week.
3 - You don't need to do hundreds or reps and feel the burn to get great abs.
To get six pack abs you need to strip off the fat, but you also need to build the abs to get them to really pop out. You can see a great 5 minute abdominal workout in The 2 Day Workout.
If the muscle isn't developed, you'll just have a flat stomach but no abs. The name of the game is progressive resistance for sets of 8 - 20 reps, just like your other muscles.
You need a proper weight lifting program, nutrition plan, and cardio program in order to rid your stomach of that stubborn layer of fat and bring your abs.
You can get a great program in Maximize Your Metabolism or if you don't have time to read, you can get an incredible audio program in The Living Health Weight Loss Audio Series, or if you just need the exercises without the diet and other lifestyle changes, then get yourself a copy of The 2 Day Workout.
For a ton of f.ree, valuable tips, tricks, and secrets visit: http://www.MaximizeYourMetabolism.com
© 2002-2005 Wisdom Books, LLC & Christopher Guerriero WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: Christopher Guerriero, is the founder of the National Metabolic & Longevity Research Center and a best-selling author, speaker, and coach to millions. He is creator of the award-winning 'Maximize Your Metabolism' system. To learn more about this step-by-step program, and to sign up for FR*EE how-to articles and F.REE teleseminars, visit http://www.MaximizeYourMetabolism.com
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