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The 8 Most Common Abdominal Training Myths
The 8 Most Common Abdominal Training Myths
1. If You Train Abs Everyday, You're Guaranteed a Six-pack.
Let me ask you a question: If you wanted better arms, would you do 100 bicep curls and 100 tricep extensions every day? You wouldn't would you? Then why do 100 crunches every day? Seriously, think about that! Muscle tissue is muscle tissue. Your abdominal muscles need time to rest and recover just like your chest, legs or biceps. Unless you are using performance enhancing substances which can increase your recovery time, (thereby allowing you to train more often), then forget about training abs every day. Train them like any other body part or at most, every other day. You can learn more about optimal ab training frequency in my book, Firm and Flatten Your Abs (and you'll learn about the one exception to the "Don't train abs every day" rule).
2. You Can Eat Pizza and Hamburgers and Still Maintain a Six-pack as Long as You Workout Right After You Eat Them. Many people believe that they can eat anything they want and as long as they burn it off, they will still have great abs. This is yet another myth.
Following a diet that contributes to muscle growth and fat loss is the key to uncovering those reclusive abdominal muscles. Go into your local fast food restaurant and look around - how many people in there have the type of abs you want? Training cannot "cancel out" the negative effects of a lousy diet. Training alone doesn’t cut it and neither does diet alone. If you want to obtain and maintain six pack abs, you need to combine diet and training together at all times.
3. Sit-ups Build Abdominal Definition the Best.
It's ironic, but the most common abdominal exercise in the world is perhaps the worst exercise in the world for strengthening your abs and core region. Here's why: During a sit up, your primary trunk flexor, the Iliopsoas muscle, does most of the work. This over-facilitation often leads to lumbar lordosis and back pain.
4. Crunches Build Abdominal Definition the Best.
Crunches are a perfectly acceptable exercise, but they are the last one you should do in your core-conditioning program. The overuse of crunch-type exercises can lead to a reduction in thoracic extension and contribute to bad posture.
5. If You Do Sit-ups with Weights, Your Abs Will Show Better.
Doing sit-ups with weights can lead to over-strengthening the hip flexor muscles (illiopsoas) and the upper abdominals, which is a common cause of lower back pain. The pain is produced because of the muscle angle and attachment of the illiopsoas to the lumbar area. Imagine that a hand is reaching through your stomach, grabbing your spine and pulling on it as if trying to yank it out of the front of your stomach. That's what happens when you do weighted sit ups.
6. Broomstick twists and side bends will reduce your love handles Broomstick twists, along with sit ups, are one of the most common exercises performed to develop the muscles of the waistline. Like sit ups, twists are not only ineffective for muscular development, they can also be dangerous. I trongly recommend that you cut them from your routine. The Firm and Flatten Your Abs ebook will teach you a better method to develop the obliques and muscles on the sides of your waist safely and effectively. Many people believe that twists will reduce their waistlines. The truth is, twists and side bends have absolutely nothing to do with fat loss in your abdominal region! To reduce your "love handles," you simply need to decrease your body fat percentage. The best way to reduce your body fat percentage is... you guessed it... DIET!
7. Fitness Magazine Cover Models Are Born with Great Abs and Tiny Waistlines Some people believe that getting a body like a cover model is easy and commonplace. As a result, they often develop unrealistic expectations. Other people believe that magazine cover models are genetic freaks and that it's impossible to ever develop a set of abs like the models have. These myths about fitness models lead to many people to try becoming like someone else. Then they end up sorely disappointed when things don't turn out the way they expected. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Models, both men and women, often do have better than average genetics. This hereditary gift gives many of them the ability to maintain low body fat more easily than others. On the other hand, believing that it's impossible to ever obtain a body like a model is equally unwise, Looking at a model's photo, it's tempting to dismiss their physiques only to genetics (or plastic surgery). However, just by looking at their pictures, you have no indication of the amount of work they did to acheive their results. Many of these so-called genetically gifted men and women diet strictly and work out incredibly hard every single day, year-round to maintain their amazing bodies. So, set realistic goals and don't compare yourself to others, only to yourself. But don't sell yourself short either. It takes an enormous amount of effort to develop a body like a model, and if you were willing to work as hard as many of them do, the results might shock you.
8. It Takes Years to Get Great Abs.
It does not take years to get abdominal muscles. In fact, YOU ALREADY HAVE ABDOMINAL MUSCLES! You simply have to train them correctly to develop them to the maximum (without injury) and then you MUST reduce the fat that's covering them up (which is why you can't see them). For some, the fat loss may take a few weeks, for others a little longer. A lot depends on how much body fat you have now. If you have 100 pounds to lose, you CAN get a great set of abs, but obviously, it's going to take longer for them to show than for someone who only has 20 pounds to lose.
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